To see the mountain-creatures was not dangerous but to dance with them was the most dangerous
They were very pleased as my wife was dancing with them, but when my wife felt tired, these creatures were not tired, then my wife stopped, and when they saw her all of them were greatly annoyed and dragged her to continue with them and when she started again, she became tired before them, so she stopped as before, then they came to her and said that she must dance until she should be released. But as she was dancing again and when I saw that she was exceedingly tired and these creatures did not stop at all, then I went to her and said to her “let us go,” but as she was following me, these creatures grew annoyed with me. They wanted to take her back to the dance from me by force. So I performed my juju there again, and it changed my wife into the wooden-doll as usual, then I put it into my pocket, and they saw her no more.
But when she had disappeared from their presence they told me to find her out at once and grew annoyed by that time, so I started to run away for my life because I could not face them to fight at all. As I was running away from them, I could not run more than 500 yards before the whole of them caught me and surrounded me there; of course, before they could do anything to me, I myself had changed into a flat pebble and was throwing myself along the way to my home town.
But these ‘mountain-creatures’ were still following me and trying their best to catch me as I was a pebble, although, they were unable to catch it until I (pebble) reached the river which crossed the road to my town and also the river was near my town. But before reaching the river, I was very tired and nearly broke into two, because of striking harder stones as I was throwing myself, but at the same time that I reached the river, they nearly caught me there. But without any ado, I threw myself to the other side of the river and before touching the ground, I had changed myself into man, and also my wife, gun, egg, cutlass and loads as usual and at the same time that we touched the ground, we bade the ‘mountain-creatures’ good-bye and they were looking at us as we were going, because they must not cross the river at all. That was how we left the ‘mountain-creatures’. So from that river to my home town was only a few minutes to reach. Then we entered on my father’s land, and no harm or bad creatures came again.
When it was 7 o’clock early in the morning, we reached my town, then we entered my parlour, but at the same time that my town’s people saw that I returned, they rushed to my house and greeted us. So both of us reached my town safely and I met my parents safely too, with all my old friends who were coming to my house and drinking palm-wine with me before I left.
After that, I sent for 200 kegs of palm-wine and drank it together with my old friends as before I left home. Immediately I reached my home, I entered my room and opened my box, then I hid the egg which my palm-wine tapster gave from the Deads’ Town. And so all our trials, difficulties and many years’ travel brought only an egg or resulted in an egg.
But on the third day after we arrived home, my wife and I went to her father in his town and met them also in good condition, then we returned after we had spent three days there. That was how the story of the palm-wine drinkard and his dead palm-wine tapster went.
Before reaching my town, there was a great famine (FAMINE), and it killed millions of the old people and uncountable adults and children, even many parents were killing their children for food so as to save themselves after they had eaten both domestic animals and lizards etc. Every plant and tree and river dried away for lack of the rain, and nothing for the people to eat remained.