Immediately they entered this town without their wish, they entered a big house and met an old womans at with sorrow in one of the rooms that were in that house. She was the owner of the house.
They hardly saluted her when they hurriedly begged her for the cold water with which to quench their thirst that which had nearly killed them, because that day was muggy.
The woman was greatly feared them having seen their horrible attitude and having noticed that they were mono-coloured persons, for she had never seen such the mono-coloured persons as these gang of refugees in her life. Anyhow, as she was a good natured old woman, she showed them the pot of water with her finger. She was se old that it was hardly for her even to stand and walk away from her seat and she was even poorer than a church rat, for she had no any issue or one who could feed her.
It was after they drank the water when they could notice that the whole people of this town and with their domestic animals were multi-coloured, and they were greatly wondered and feared in respect of this multi-colour and thus the old woman was looking at them with wonder and fear in respect of their own mono-colour as well.
Having rested for a few minutes on standing, because the woman did not tell them to sit, they told her to allow them to stay in her house for some days and then to continue their journey. “Where are you coming from and where are you going?” the old woman asked with the weary voice.
“We are just coming from the Sinners’ town, and we are looking about for the right path which goes to our village and to go back,” they explained with respect.
The old woman paused for a while, and then asked “On which path did you travel to this town?” “We travelled on Path of Death.”
“On Path of Death? and you did not meet any danger on it before reaching this town?” the old woman nodded and then asked patiently. “Just so,” they replied softly. The woman was greatly wondered to hear this, because there was no a person who could travel on Path of Death for two days without being killed by the noxious creatures.
“I am afraid of your mono-colour, anyhow, I shall have mercy on you to allow you to stay in my house, but I will show you to the king first who will permit me to do your request, because he will be the one who will punish you if you offend me in future,” she explained quietly.
The whole people of the town were rushing out of their houses and were following them to the palace of the king as the old woman was taking them along. And the king was also terrified when he saw them with their mono-colour.
“On which path did you travel to this town?” the king asked this question as well with great wonder. But as Simbi, the leader, had the gift of the gab more than the rest of her gang, she replied very sharply, “We travelled on Path of Death hence there is no any other path after that.”
“Hah!—a!—a! you travelled on Path of Death which belongs only to death, poverty, punishment, illness, cruel, etc., etc.!” the king together with his incalculable people that surrounded him exclaimed unexpectedly immediately they heard this explanation from Simbi.
Then the old woman told the king that they asked her to allow them to be staying in her house and she told him to approve the request of the refugees before she would allow them to stay. When she told the king like that, the whole people exclaimed “Not at all! we shall not allow you (refugees) to stay in our town, hence you are the mono-coloured persons and we are the multi-coloured people.” And the king himself said sharply “We don’t hate yourselves but your mono-colour.” But he agreed when Simbi explained their difficulties which they had met in the past or before they came there. And he told them that everyone of them must find a kind of work a to be doing for her living, he told them that he did not want any thief in his town.
They thanked him greatly and then followed the old woman back to her house.
She gave one room to each of them to be living in, because there were many rooms in that house. She told them that everyone must be feeding herself, and they agreed.
And everyone was earning her living, but Simbi being a lady of strong physique among the rest, she made a big farm at a little distance from the town. She planted many kinds of crops.
One day, when the crops were ripen, Simbi noticed that some animals were coming to the farm from a long distance and they were eating the crops. Having discovered this, she went round the bush which surrounded this farm and she discovered the path of those animals on which they were travelling to that farm.
But there was no other kind of a trap except to set the rope or to dig a deep pit at the centre of an animal’s path. Therefore, Simbi dug a deep pit at the centre of the path of the animals. Though they were not animals as called but their appearances was just seemed so.
Three days after, Simbi went there. But she was greatly surprised to meet inside the pit three kinds of creatures. They were in the forms of tiger, snake, and a rat who was a hole dwelling animal respectively. And a hunter fell into the pit as well, by a mistake, in the mid-night, when he was travelling on that path just to kill any animal he could find. This hunter was a native of the town of the multi-coloured people.
All the three animals and the hunter were unable to come out of the pit. Having seen all of them there Simbi wanted to pull the hunter alone out as he was a person like herself, though he was multi-coloured person, and after that to kill those evil spirits who were changing to that of bush animals whenever they were going to the farm.
But as she was trying to pull him out, those animals explained as if they were persons, “Because this hunter is a person like yourself, therefore you are trying now to safe him alone among us. Perhaps he may be one who will cause your death in future.”
“So the more you safe him out, the more you will safe us out as well, though we are bush animals,” they persuaded Simbi just to think that they were animals. “Please don’t mind them, they are bush animals, just take me out and after that I will shoot them to death for you,” the hunter said hurriedly, because he too thought they were bush animals.
But Simbi was afraid indeed to take out only that hunter, when the animals insisted that unless if she would take them out as well. She paused for a few minutes with fear, and she was thinking of what to do next to safe the hunter alone.
A few minutes after, she remembered to ask the hunter of what he would do for her if she helped him out of the pit. For she thought as those animals were not human, they would not be able to make any promise, and for that reason, she would free from their blame if she took out only the hunter.
“Listen to me, my dear hunter, what kind of a help you will render to me if I take you out now?” Simbi asked from the hunter.
“You see, Simbi, the promise that I can give you now is that as from this day, I shall be keeping watch of your farm just to safe the crops from the animals which are eating them.”
“Yes, tiger, what is your own promise?” she asked boldly. “As from this day, I shall be killing one bush animal every night and bringing it to the farm. Therefore, try to be going to the farm every morning to take the animal,” tiger promised loudly.
“Yes, rat, what is your own promise?” “You see, I am a hole dwelling animal who can dig a parallel hole under the ground to a distance of twenty miles. Therefore I promise now that in a few days’ time I shall dig such a hole from your room to the property room of the King of the multi-coloured people’s town. I will pass all the king’s properties, as gold, jewels, clothes, etc. from that property room through the hole to your room,” the rat promised.
“Yes, snake, what is your own promise?” “I cannot tell you now the kind of my own promise. The reason is that some of the persons are kittle cattle and perhaps this hunter who is only a human among us inside this pit, may be one of the kittle cattle persons and he may be in future laid you heart bared.
“But in the indirect way, I heartly promise now that any day it is difficult for you, believe me, wherever you may be, I will come there just to fulfil my promise or to render my help to you,” snake promised calmly.
After everyone of these victims had promised Simbi and everyone heard each other’s promise except snake’s promise which was indirect and the rest did not understand it.
Then Simbi took them out of the pit and everyone went to his own way. But when Simbi went to her farm in the following morning, she was greatly surprised to meet there one animal, which had been killed and had brought there by tiger, as he had promised. And the hunter fulfilled his own promise as well for he was keeping watch of the farm so that the animals might not eat the crops.
A few weeks later, the rat, as called, who was the hole dwelling animal, dug a parallel hole under the ground from Simbi’s room to the inside room in which all the properties of the king were kept. Then he packed all the properties therein and brought them through the hole to her room.
But it remained only snake, as called, to fulfil his own indirect promise which Simbi never understand.
A few months later from when the properties of the king had brought to her room by the hole dwelling animal, rat, as called, one day, when the king wanted to go somewhere, he opened the door of his property room just to take some of the gold, etc., that which he wanted to wear to the place that he wanted to go.
In the first instance, he could not believe his eyes when he found none of his properties inside the room. His family rushed to the room when they heard him horribly exclaimed “Where are my properties! Who had done this?” he asked painfully from his family. “It should be a number of burglaries who had carried away the properties,” his people were puzzled.
“I wonder, the windows or the door were not broken and there is no any sign which can show that the properties were carried away by the thieves,” the king doubted. “Let us look at the partitions perhaps there may be a sign which will show that the properties were packed out through there,” one of the king’s family advised.
The king hardly heard this advice to the end when he drew a three legged powerless stool near the window and off he climbed from the stool onto the partition. And hardly reached the partition when he fell headlong onto the floor and then he fainted. “Eh! the king falls and faints!” his family exclaimed until he became conscious. Then with pain he staggered back to his throne.
“But it is very disgraceful to a king like you to climb the partition for yourself in looking for something! If you don’t respect yourself you must respect your office!” his prince who just heard and came in warned him painfully.
“The best thing which your majesty should have done, instead of climbing the partition for yourself, is to give the order to one of your bellringers, to announce what has happened with bell to everywhere in the town, perhaps some one may know one who has stolen the properties and then to bring the news to you,” a young lady advised the king.
“Oh yes! you are right, lady, and it is today I believe that one person can never have the whole senses of this world. Thank you, lady! All right, call me one of my bellringers!” the king ordered. “Here I am, your majesty,” the bellringer prostrated with face turned to the floor and was expecting what order the king would give. Neither to behead him or to send him to somewhere, he never knew which was which.
“Bring me my long smoking pipe!” the king ordered another man while the bellringer was still prostrated in his front.
When the pipe was brought, the man loaded it with newly withered tobacco and then plenty of hot-red coals (fire) were taken from the nearby heath and put them into the pipe.
It was this kind of a long pipe the king used to smoke in the day that a serious thing happened to him, or the day when an offender was to be beheaded before him or the day he had to sacrifice human to his gods, etc. But as he was too perplexed by the loss of his properties, so that he was unable to blow out the smoke from the pipe. “Please help me to blow out with your mouth the first smoke!” he ordered one of his chiefs. But about four chiefs grabbed the pipe from his mouth at a time, of course the rest left it for one of them at last.
He put it in the mouth and blew out the first thick smoke. After that he replaced it to the king’s mouth. Then four of them (chiefs) held the rest part of the pipe while he was enjoying the smoking. Because this pipe was too heavy for the smoker to hold it for himself. Then the rest chiefs or those who stood round were blowing the air onto him with the woven large fans while the bellringer was still prostrated.
“Yes, my chiefs, which is the right message to send the bellringer that which he is to deliver to the people of the town?” the king asked. “He is to announce with the bell for the people about your majesty’s stolen properties,” the chiefs explained. “Thank god, I think I am called to be sacrificed to the god but it is only to ring the bell,” the bellringer gladly remarked having gone out of the palace.
Then he rang the bell to every part of the town. He announced to the people that any one who might know whereabouts the stolen properties should report to the king.
But because the hunter who was among those animals (as called), who had been fallen into the pit and had been saved out together with the animals the other day by Simbi, the owner of the pit, had heard when rat, the hole dwelling animal, was promising Simbi on that day that he (rat) would bring all the king’s properties through the under ground hole to her room, and because this hunter had since then kept in mind the promise made by rat, therefore, immediately he heard the bellringer announce the stolen properties, he went to the king as a liar. He explained to him that all his properties were in Simbi’s room. And without hesitation, the king sent a large number of guardsmen to her room.
Then they arrested her and took the properties and herself to the king. Without asking her how the properties came to her room, he ordered his guardsmen to tie her with a rope to the big tree which was at the front of the palace, ready to be killed to the gods in three days’ time, at the presence of all the town’s people.
There were many gods under this tree and several thousands thieves, wrong doers or offenders or those who had no even an offence had been sacrificed to those gods.
Having seen Simbi tied to the tree, both adults and children of the town came there. They were stoning at her, flogging and slapping her. Within one hour every part of her body was bleeding, she begged them with sorrowful voice, but they did not listen to her, and it was after she fainted of pains before they went back to their houses. Thus Simbi remained unconscious till the third night that she would be sacrificed to the gods.
When it was twelve o’clock of the third night, the pains were so much that she started to blame herself. “Hah! if I had obeyed my mother’s warnings not to try to know the poverty and the punishment, all these should have not happened to me.”
Luckily as she was still blaming herself like that, she perceived a snake at a long distance. Within that moment this snake changed to the gnome and he came to her. She did not know that the snake which she had saved out of the pit the other day was a gnome and not a snake.
At the same time, the gnome reminded her “This is a critical night for you and I come to fulfil my promise this night. And that was the reason I did promise you indirect the other day, because of that hunter who has put you now in this trouble. Do you remember that you have saved him from the pit the other day?” “Yes I remember,” Simbi said calmly. “But he is going to cause your death now.” “Anyhow, take this juju-powder, it can wake a dead person.” “At all costs when it is one o’clock this mid night, the princess of the king will die unexpectedly. Whenever you hear the king and his family that they are weeping, tell anyone of them who comes out at that time, that you can wake the princess from dead, if the king can manage to get the head of a hunter who is also a liar.
“When the king brings it, then you will mix this juju-powder with the blood of that head. After that you will put the mixture into both eyes of the dead princess. Doubtless, she will wake up from dead at once. By so safe her, her father, the king, will not kill you for the offence, but set you free.
“And as that hunter is the only a hunter and a liar in this town, and as the head of a hunter who is also a liar must be brought to you before you can wake the princess, I believe that the hunter must be the right man in this town whose head will be available. Therefore the king will behead him, and bring his head to you to be used.”
After the gnome had explained like that to Simbi, he gave her the juju-powder, after that he caressed her head and then he disappeared. Simbi was even healthier than ever immediately the gnome caressed her head, all the pains and bruises were vanished at once.
As a matter of fact, when it was one o’clock mid night, Simbi heard the king and his family were weeping bitterly. When she asked for the cause from a man who was passing near the tree to which she was tied, the man replied that the princess had just stopped the last breath.
“Has she been ill for a long time?” “Not at all!” the man replied painfully. “But if the king can get the head of a hunter, who is a liar as well, I will wake up the princess from the dead, because I have such a power.” “Is that so?” the man wondered. “Yes, indeed!”
At the same time the man ran to the palace he repeated of what Simbi had told him to the king. And the king himself ran out of the palace. He hurriedly asked her of what she had told the man and she repeated it. Then he loosened the rope away from her body and without hesitation he held her left hand in a lovely way, he took her to the room in which the dead body of the princess was laid and ready for burial.
At the same time he gave the order to his statesmen to print a notice “THE HEAD OF A HUNTER WANTED! and they did so and pasted them to every wall and tree.
Within one hour that the notice had been pasted a man having read it came to the king. He reminded him about the hunter, who had told the king that his properties were in Simbi’s room.
Immediately he heard this from that man, he sent four of his guardsmen to go and bring the head of the hunter. When the head was brought, Simbi mixed its blood with the juju-powder which the gnome gave her. Then she put the mixture into both eyes of the dead princess. And to the king’s and his family’s greatest surprise, the princess woke from the dead at once.
For the great admiration the king had on her marvellous work, he set her free. After that she came back to her room with happiness.
The hunter wanted the king to kill Simbi, but he died instead.
Then Simbi and her gang were enjoying their lives and they had forgotten all their punishments of the past.
But Bako, the Siamese twin, was always stealing goats, rams, cocks, etc. from the town. If the rest cautioned her she would not agree. She would tell them that it was so her Siamese twin sister was stealing goats, etc. at home. The people of the town suspected that their animals were missing in great number every day, but they did not understand how they were missing.
As the old woman who was the owner of the house in which they were living, had one hen that which had six chickens at that time, and as Bako had seen this hen, she did nothing more than to be keeping watch of its movement, just to steal it.
A few days later, when Simbi had just freed from her trouble, one evening, when Bako noticed that the old woman, their landlady, had gone to somewhere, she went to the corner where their landlady’s hen and its six chickens were scratching the ground for their food. She looked thereabout perhaps somebody might be near. When she was quite sure that there was nobody near, then she threw some corn on the ground from the hen to her room. When she saw the hen started to eat the corn with greed towards her room, then she hid herself at the back of the door of that room.
When the hen and its six chickens were swallowing the corn until they entered her room un-noticed, she shut the door while the hen and its chickens were inside the room. Without hesitation she caught them and killed them. After that she roasted them and kept them inside the cupboard ready for the mid night when she would eat them. Of course, the rest did not see her as she was playing this trick.
Within two hours from when she had roasted them the old woman came back from where she had gone to. But when she noticed that her hen and its chickens did not return home and they had never kept very long like that from outside, having struggled before she could stand up from the seat, she went round that area, she was calling them, but she did not see them at all. Then she was announcing loudly and sorrowfully “If my hen with its six chickens entered your house by a mistake, please tell me and I will come and take them back to my house!” But there was nobody answer, because all the people of that area and the rest refugees did not know anything about the hen, except Bako who stole them. She sat at the outside of the house by that time and she was looking at the old woman as how she was hurriedly going from house to house. Even she was sympathising with this old woman as if she was not the one who stole them and she was also cursing: “A very bad revenge and woe shall come unto one who has seen you as old and weary as this and then stole your hen on whose only chickens you are living.”
At last when the poor old woman believed that the hen and its chickens could not be found and that somebody had stolen them, she cursed loudly, “Anyone who has stolen my hen shall become like that of the very hen before tomorrow morning. Everybody will see him or her in the plumage that my hen possessed and its six chickens will be following him or her about. And if there is god almighty, this my curse shall come to effect!”
Having cursed like that with sorrowful voice, she went back to her house. She was mourning the stolen hen as if it was a dead person, for she had nothing more than this hen in her life and she had no one who could be feeding her.
And as she had cursed like that, truly speaking! before five o’clock early in the morning, Bako’s head had already changed into the cock’s head and with a very big comb on this head and with a very big and long beak. Everyone of these changes was bigger than those every cock could possess. Every part of Bako’s body was full of soft and strong feathers and it wondered everyone greatly as how all the feathers which she had pulled away from the dead body of the hen managed to grow again on her body.
The very brass ring that which the old woman had put in the left leg of the hen, which was the mark of distinction from other hens, was in the left ankle of Bako as well. Both her shoulders and arms were full of strong wings and all were belonged to that hen which she had killed and roasted.
Even Simbi and the rest refugees remarked in that morning “Hah! this is too wonderful and too terrible to be seen for both adults and children!” Because as the old woman had cursed in the evening, it was not yet five o’clock in the morning when Bako was crowing repeatedly with the voice that which was louder and more huge that an ordinary cock’s voice should be. Her crow was hearing continuously from the dark corner of the room in which she hid for her fearful appearance. Of course, there was nobody noticed in the first instance that it was from her room the crow of cock was hearing.
But when it was eight o’clock and when the rest refugees noticed that she had not come out from her room, except the cock’s crow that was hearing from there, then Simbi forced open the door of her room. She entered inside it. But she ran back to the verandah with great horror immediately she entered and saw her in this fearful appearance. And when Simbi was so much surprised that she did not know what to do, she ran to the outside of the house and then she cried loudly to the whole multi-coloured people of that area.
Within two seconds, that place had full of people. When some of the brave men entered the room and met Bako in the form of a cock they were nearly frightened to death. But anyhow they dragged her to the outside. And the rest people were greatly shocked with fear when they saw her terrible form, and all were exclaiming at the same time “Hah! this is first of its kind! We have never seen this in our lives!”
Within a few seconds that those people and the rest refugees were still exclaiming like that the news had reached everywhere in the town and to the king as well, as such a terrible news as this was travelling even quicker than the air to everywhere without being published. And within two or three minutes, two of the king’s guardsmen arrived. They said that the king sent them to come and bring this cockish lady (Bako) to the palace.
To everyone’s horror, as she was escorting along to the palace, all the six chickens which she had already killed and roasted together with their mother, were following her and crying continuously as if she was their mother, although she had already changed to their mother. Immediately she was escorted to the centre of the town the whole people saw her and they were hurthing here and there just to see her. And to their fear, whenever this cockish lady saw a hen, she was doing to that hen exactly as a cock was doing whenever it saw a hen.
Having taken her to the palace, she stood before the king and his councillors, and Simbi with the rest refugees stood behind her, they were expecting what the king would say, for they could not leave her and escape.
“How did you manage to change into this fearful form of a cock?” the king asked with astonishment. “Kokoroko-o! Koko-roko-o! Kokoroko-o-o!” Instead of explain herself to the king, she was simply crowing loudly and continuously like the cock of three years of age.
Having failed to explain herself and because she was too terrible to be seen for the king and his councillors and to the common people of the town, then the king told his councillors “If a man keeps too long in looking at this cockish lady, probably that man will change into the same form of a cock!”
Having announced like that, without hesitation he and his councillors were preparing to leave the town. But when the king together with his councillors, all of whom were responsible for the town, were leaving the town in respect of Bako, the cockish lady, what more for the common people of the town? But the right thing for the common people to do was to leave the town as well with their king, etc.
Then the whole people were following the king, etc. the rest refugees and the cockish lady also were following them, whereas they were leaving the town for her and then to hide themselves in another town. And to their disappointment, was that as they were reaching every town just to take a shelter from there, if the inhabitants of that town saw them together with Bako in the form of the cock, they were not allowing them to stay in their town. Thus they were driving them away from all the towns and villages that they reached.
At last they rushed to a bush, they hid themselves there, but at all costs Bako traced them out.
After a few days that they were in that bush, one of the king’s advisers prostrated before the king and his councillors. He advised the king to make enquiries from the common people, if the cockish lady had offended one of them who had cursed her to become like that of a cock. The king with his councillors thanked this adviser greatly for the helpful advice which he had brought.
Then the king announced to the common people whether the cockish lady offended one of them. Luckily as many of these common people who were living near to the old woman’s house, the owner of the hen, were among them and they had overheard when the old woman had been cursing one who had stolen her hen therefore, they explained that they heard when the old woman had cursed one who had stolen her hen to become like that of her hen. They explained further that they could not definitely say whether Bako was the right lady who had stolen the hen. Although she changed into the cock instead of a hen as the woman had cursed, thus the people explained.
Without hesitation, the king sent two men to go and carry the old woman to him. They carried her by head to the king, because she was too old and weary to walk for herself.
Then he asked whether she was the right old woman who had cursed Bako to become like that of a cock. She replied at once that she did not curse anybody direct, but she cursed one who might had been stolen her hen with its six chickens.
The whole people were very sorry for this old woman having seen as she was very old, weary and helpless and they were greatly surprised also to see a young lady like Bako steal her hen or to see anyone who could steal anything which might belong to this old woman, who was extremely reched. At the same time, many of the people contributed a large amount of money, they gave it to the old woman. “By the way, why did you steal the hen?” the king asked painfully.
“It is not my fault at all to do so. I shall be grateful if His Majesty the king will listen to my explanations. I am a Siamese twin and my second is now in my village. So whenever she steals anything in my village, I will feel it at the same moment she steals the thing wherever I may be, and at the same time I will steal the same kind of the thing that which she steals. And this is the reason why I stole the old woman’s hen and that means my Siamese twin sister stole a hen in my village!” Bako explained loudly to the king, etc. “Terrible!” the king and others exclaimed. “As the spirit of your Siamese twin sister had forced you to steal another person’s property, it is so it will force you to die!”
“Escort her and the rest refugees into my shrine and I shall sacrifice them to my gods when it is mid-night, because I believe all of them are thieves!” the king gave order to his guardsmen. But he hardly explained like that when the rest refugees took to their heels, they entered into another bush, and Bako followed them in that form of a cock. The guardsmen chased them to catch, but when they could not overtake them, they shot many of the nameless refugees to death before they came back to their king.
Thus Simbi, Rali, Sala, Kadara, Bako who was the cockish lady and the rest of the nameless refugees who were not killed, left the town of the multi-coloured people, but Bako was still in the form of a cock, and Simbi was unable to take her sword along with her. It was that sword with which she had beheaded the king of the Sinners’ town.