So immediately we entered the house she swept every part of it and then decorated it. After that she put water in the bath-room, then I went to bathe and before I finished she had put down clothes. Having taken off the animal skin which I wore she took it and hid it in an unknown place and I wore the clothes, but when I looked at myself in a big mirror which was in the parlour I could not identify myself again for the beauty that the clothes added to me and it was this day I believed that clothes are very important for the body, because as I wore it my appearance looked as fresh as an earthly person. Then I asked her where she got the clothes, as all the ghosts are not using earthly clothes, she replied that she got them from the earthly witches who are coming to her father’s town for “witch-meetings”. Having decorated the house or all the rooms, she went to the kitchen at once and cooked the food which was exactly the same as the earthly food. But I could comb my hair finish before she had put the food on the table in the dining room, then we ate it together. As this food was prepared in the method which earthly people prepare their food, so I ate it to my entire satisfaction, because it was that day I first ate the food which was prepared as good as this since I entered the Bush of Ghosts. Having finished with this food, we went to the parlour and then she brought drinks of all kinds, then both of us started to drink them, and then she started to tell me her story as follows:—
“My mother is a lame ghostess who can only creep about instead of walking. She is born and bred in the 7th town of ghosts and my father is also a native of the 6th town of ghosts which is about two hundred miles distance from this Nameless-town. He is the most powerful wizard among all the wizards in both the Bush of Ghosts and in the earthly towns. And my mother is also the most powerful of all the witches in both the Bush of Ghosts and in the earthly towns. Therefore, for this reason, both are selected by all witches and wizards to be their heads and to be giving orders to every one of them. So by that all of them are coming from every town of ghosts and from every earthly town as well every Saturday to my father’s house where there is a special big hall which is built for this meeting. But as both my mother and father are their heads, so we shall prepare all kinds of food and drinks before their arrival at my father’s town every Saturday.
“After they eat and drink, they will start to sing the song of witches and wizards, after this they will pray the prayer of the wizards and witches, then the meeting will start, but the most important of their discussions are on those who are not their members as how to rob and wreck them and to lodge the complaints of those who have offended them before my father and mother who will either give them the order to kill their offenders or not. Of course, they will wait and hear the last order from them before going back to their various towns. But if my father and mother do not order them to do any harm to those who they bring the complaint of, they must not do any harm to them, but if both give them the order to harm or kill them so immediately they return to their towns they will kill them.
“One day, when I sat down with my father discussing a matter with him, to my surprise, there I saw an earthly old woman who is a witch or one of their members come to my father and started to lodge complaints:—‘One of my neighbours who is depending on her only son called me a “witch” which is an insult to us, but for this I will kill her only son who is taking care of her as a revenge, so that she will not get anyone to assist her in her need and she will have nobody to look after her again, and she shall be in sorrow and hunger throughout her life.’ Having finished the complaint, then she hesitated and expected which order will be given her by my mother and father. So my father and mother decided the complaint in their minds within themselves for some minutes then both ordered the complainant to go and kill the only son of the woman who offended her and without hesitation she disappeared. But as this was a great surprise to me immediately she disappeared I told my father that—‘this is a sin’ and I reminded him again that—‘you ordered her to go and kill the son on whom his mother depends?’ But he replied—‘Yes, I do believe before you say that it is a sin, even it is more than a sin or worse, because I am living on such evil works and you are living on it as well through me and I do not care for any kind of punishment which God might give me about it, because I prefer evil works more than godly works and I am sure that I shall go direct to the everlasting fire which is the most hot and the most severe punishment. Even these evil works will appear as well on my “Will” that you are the one who have the right to inherit it after my death.’ But when he said that I will inherit all his evil works whenever he dies, I told him at once that—‘I shall not do any evil work throughout my life-time in this Bush of Ghosts.’
“Again, one night, my father and mother entered into a private room which is in a dark corner of the house, then both were discussing within themselves with a low voice whether to kill me next week for their wizard and witch meeting which is very near, because it is our turn to prepare food for our members who will attend the meeting according to our rule, as they have no other daughter or son who is to be killed and cooked and presented to our members, because every one of them will do so whenever it is his or her turn and it is not fair enough to depart away from this rule because of their daughter. So, therefore, as from this night they would not allow me to go anywhere and not to hear about this ‘secret arrangement’ at all, so that I may not run away from home. But as the time that both of them were discussing this matter within themselves was dark so they did not know that I hid near them and heard all their sayings and also heard the very day that they will kill me. But when the day that they arranged within themselves remained three days, all the wizards and witches were arriving in large number to my father’s house from all the towns of ghosts and from all the earthly towns.
“But my grandmother, who is the native of the ‘Hopeless-town’ which is the 5th town of ghosts and who is at present in the everlasting fire, had given me the power of a ‘Superlady’ before she was imprisoned in that fire for a little mistake she did to H.M. the King of ghosts. So through this power I had the opportunity to change to an invisible bird early in the morning that my father and mother would kill me, then I packed all my belongings, after that I bade both of them invisibly ‘good-bye’ and then I came to live permanently in this Nameless-town, which belongs only to women, and since that day I am not appearing to them personally but changing to a kind of a creature, because they would kill me as they are still looking for me to kill, because they have no other son or daughter to kill for their members, as it is a great pain to them if they cannot fulfil the order made for themselves and this rule cannot be cancelled, as uncountable members have killed their sons or daughters when it was their turn.
“Now, my earthly husband, I have the wonderful power to change to any form of creature as I sit with you on the same chair in this parlour.” But when she said so, I told her to change to some form at that moment to let me see. Then she said—“Look at me carefully.” First, she became an antelope with two short horns on its head, secondly a lioness and roared at me several times so that I nearly died for fear, thirdly, a big boa constrictor which made me fear most when she was coiling round my body, especially when it opened the mouth very wide as if it wanted to swallow me, and after this a tigress and jumped on me at the same time, after this she jumped away from my head and was jumping from room to room, having stopped jumping about in the rooms and house, then without hesitation she jumped outside the town, she was chasing fowls about in the town. After some minutes she killed two of the fowls and brought them by mouth to the house, then she came back to me on the same chair that I sat on, after that she changed to a lady as usual, and to my surprise she was on the same chair as before she started to use her supernatural powers and also held the two fowls which she killed outside with her hands.
Then she started another conversation with me for a few minutes before she went to the kitchen with the two fowls, she roasted both, after that she brought them to me with tea and bread. So we ate them together. But before we finished with all these things it was about ten o’clock in the night. Having rested for about an hour and when she noticed that I was feeling sleepy, then she went to the bedroom, she stretched many costly clothes on the bed, after that she called me to enter the room, but when I dangled one of my feet on the door of this room as a step and when I looked how this room was decorated and also how the bed was decorated and then looked at the bed itself how it was made with the finest and most attractive patterns which could be found in this Bush of Ghosts so I insisted on entering the room, but I was simply suggesting in my mind that—“Is this for me? Am I going to sleep on this fine bed on which only a king can sleep?” Because I was afraid to enter this room as it was beautified by all kinds of costly decorations, as all of them could be only made with supernatural power, because an ordinary creature could not make them attractively like that. But after she called me for several times to come inside the room to sleep on the bed, but I stayed at the door looking at both bed and decorations with much surprise, then she came to me and held my hand as smooth as a delicate thing and then drew me very gently and gradually into the room. Then I hesitated again to touch or to sleep on this bed, but when she saw that I did not attempt to sleep on it, so she pushed me on it for herself very gently as a breakable article. As I lay my body on this bed and felt how it was very easy for me, so I sprang up suddenly to go out of the room.
But at the same time that she saw me that I wanted to get down and go out of this room she pressed me on it with all her power for about one hour before my body and mind became at rest, and it was at that night I believed that—“clean places are driving a dirty person away as if it will hurt him.” But still I was unable to sleep as I was always thinking in mind how she had been changing herself to various fearful animals and also thinking that perhaps—“She may change again to another form and kill me in the midnight.” But having watched her for some hours and believed that she had no such harmful aim in mind at all, then I fell asleep unnoticed. Again to my great surprise there were “all-coloured lights” which lighted and shone as diamonds on to every part of this house, even I tried my best to find out from where the lights were coming, but it was in vain, because it was not quenched both day and night. As it surprised me greatly I asked her about it, she replied—“The power of lights is among my supernatural powers.”
This is how I married for the second time in the Bush of Ghosts, but I was not baptized with fire and hot water as I was in the 8th town of ghosts when I married for the first time, and this was easier than that, because we did not go to any church, but she is a “super-lady” who has the power to do everything. So I was unable to tell her some of my stories before I slept that night.
Before she woke me up early in the morning, she had put out the water, and soap which had a sweet and lofty smell; of course, it is in the Bush of Ghosts such soap could be found, even it is only from this “super-lady” it could be found, as it belongs only to her, then the sponge which was as fluffy as cotton, she put them in the bath-room which was as clean as a food plate. After that she woke me up, because if not I would not be able to wake for myself as this bed was so easy for me. Having taken my bath, then I went to the dressing room where she combed my hair for me, she powdered my face and also rubbed my body with a kind of sweet smelling oil. Then from there to the dining-room, so we drank tea together. After we drank the tea, she brought some cold drinks. When I was drinking it she left me there and went away, after a few minutes she returned with two maids who would be helping her to do all the housework. Having given them work to do, then she came to me in the parlour and sat down on the chair which was touching my own which was an easy-chair with cushions. Then she told me with a very cool lofty voice and smiling face to tell her my story which I related very shortly.
After this, one of the maids or servants came and called us for chop which was rice, etc. Having finished with the food, we drank some of the cold drinks which were always in the ice, after this, both of us went all round the town and also to a village which is not more than two miles away from the Nameless-town.