My First Wedding Day in the Bush of Ghosts

by Amos Tutuola

Before the wedding day was reached my friend had chosen one of the most fearful ghosts for me as my "best man" who was always speaking evil words, even he was punished in the fire of hell more than fifty years for these evil talks and cruelties, but was still growing rapidly in bad habits, then he was expelled from hell to the "Bush of Ghosts" to remain there until the judgement day as he was unable to change his evil habits at all. When the wedding day arrived all the ghosts and ghostesses of this town, together with the father of the lady whom I wanted to marry, my friend and his mother, my best man and myself went to the church at about ten o'clock, but it was the ghosts' clock said so. When we reached their church I saw that the Reverend who preached or performed the wedding ceremony was the "Devil." But as he was preaching he reached the point that I should tell them my name which is an earthly person's name and when they heard the name the whole of them in that church exclaimed at the same time -- "Ah! you will be baptized in this church again before you will marry this lady."

When I heard so from them I agreed, not knowing that Rev. Devil was going to baptize me with fire and hot water as they were baptizing for themselves there. When I was baptized on that day, I was crying loudly so that a person who is at a distance of two miles would not listen before hearing my voice, and within a few minutes every part of my body was scratched by this hot water and fire, but before Rev. Devil could finish the baptism I regretted it. Then I told him to let me go away from their church and I do not want to marry again, because I could not bear to be baptized with fire and hot water any longer, but when all of them heard so, they shouted "Since you have entered this church you are to be baptized with fire and hot water before you will go out of the church, willing or not you ought to wait and complete the baptism." But when I heard so from them again, I exclaimed with a terrible voice that--"I will die in their church." So all of them exclaimed again that--"you may die if you like, nobody knows you here."

But as ghosts do not know the place or time which is possible to ask questions, so at this stage one of them got up from the seat and asked me--"by the way, how did you manage to enter into the 'Bush of Ghosts,' the bush which is on the second side of the world between the heaven and the earth and which is strictly banned to every earthly person to be entered, and again you have the privilege to marry in this bush as well?" So as these ghosts have no arrangements for anything at the right time and right place, then I answered that I was too young to know which is "bad" and "good" before I mistakenly entered this bush and since that time or year I am trying my best to find out the right way back to my home town until I reached the town of "burglary-ghosts" from where I came with my friend to this town. After I explained as above, then the questioner stood up again and asked me whether I could show them my friend whom I followed to that town. Of course as my friend was faithful, before I could say anything, he and his mother whom we came to visit got up at the same time and said that I am living with a burglar-ghost in the town of the burglar-ghosts. But when my friend and his mother confirmed all that I said and as all the rest of the ghosts are respecting all the burglar ghosts most because they were supplying them the earthly properties, so they overlooked my offence, then Rev. Devil continued the baptism with hot water and fire.

After the baptism, then the same Rev. Devil preached again for a few minutes, while "Traitor" read the lesson. All the members of this church were "evil-doers." They sang the song of evils with evils' melodious tune, then "Judas" closed the service.

Even "Evil of evils" who was the ruler of all the evils and who was always seeking evils about, evil-joking, evil-walking, evil-playing, evil-dressing, evil-moving, worshipping evils in the church of evils and living in the evil-house with his evil family, everything he does is evil, attended the service too, but he was late before he arrived and when he shook hands with me on that day, I was shocked as if I touch a "live electric wire," but my friend was signalling to me with his eyes not to shake hands with him to avoid the shock but I did not understand.

Having finished the marriage service, all of us went to my in-laws' house where everyody was served with a variety of food and all kinds of ghosts' drinks. After that all the ghost and ghostess dancers started to dance. Also all the terrible-creatures sent their representatives as "Skulls," "Long-white creatures," "Invincible and invisible Pawn," or "Give and take" who fought and won the Red people in the Red-town for the "Palm-Wine Drinker," "Mountain-creatures," "Spirit of prey" whose eye's flood of light suffocated Palm-Wine Drinker's wife and also the "hungry-creature" who swallowed Palm-Wine Drinker together with his wife when returning from Deads'-town came and saluted my wife's father and they were served immediately they arrived. But at last "Skull" who came from "Skull family's town" reported "Spirit of prey" to my wife's father who was chief secretary to all the terrible and curious creatures in all dangerous bushes, that the spirit of prey stole his meat which the skull put at the edge of the plate in which both were eating as both were served together with one plate, because plates were not sufficient to serve each of them with a plate. But before my wife's father who was their chief secretary could have a chance to come and settle the matter for them, both of them started to fight fiercely so that all the ghosts and all the other representatives came nearer and surrounded them, clapping hands on them in such a way that if one of these fighters surrenders or gives up it would be very shameful to him....

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