FINAL SCENE
The King, Jayin is sitting on the royal chair in the
palace. The chiefs enter with Opeke looking ruffled. Behind her is the
Spice-seller.
OPEKE: (pleading) Please, I have not told you
anything. Kindly leave me out of the problem. I
do not know what you have been talking about.
HEAD CHIEF: We cannot close our eyes to what is going on.
We caught you where you were
gossiping.
OPEKE: Please, leave me out of all these.
A CHIEF: There is no way we can close our eyes to the evil
in the land.
OPEKE: I am very sorry.
CHIEFS: You should not be sorry at all. You have assisted
us in getting to the heart of the matter.
HEAD CHIEF: You have not committed an offense, you only
told your friend the Spice-seller what you
saw between the King and his son.
JAYIN: What is going on in my palace? Why have you people
entered my palace without any regard
for me?
A CHIEF: Your highness, you will soon know why we are here.
ANOTHER CHIEF: Opeke, tell us what you told the
Spice-seller.
JAYIN: I know this woman must have gossiped to the whole
town. I know the kind of wife I
have. She talks too much.
HEAD CHIEF: What did you tell all of us? Restate your
story.
OPEKE: I did not gossip to anyone.
JAYIN: Foolish woman, what is the problem again?
OPEKE: I did not gossip to people.
HEAD CHIEF: But you told the Spice-seller something. Tell
us now.
JAYIN: What is it again, Opeke? I know you are always in
one problem or the other. Is it
during this period of mourning that we should be subjected to Opeke’s type of gossip?
A CHIEF: That’s why she has to talk now in your presence!
JAYIN: Opeke, can’t you talk or is something wrong with
you?
HEAD CHIEF: If she will not talk, will you (pointing to
the Spice-seller) tell us what she has
told you.
SPICE-SELLER: She told me that the King was the one who
killed his son by clubbing him.
JAYIN: This woman must have gone mad. I am sure that she is
mad. She is crazy. The world has
gone mad.
CHIEFS: It is not the world that has gone crazy. It’s
here in the palace that there is insanity.
JAYIN: (furiously) What do you all mean? How dare
you come to insult me here in my palace?
A CHIEF: Opeke, we may have to join you and the King
together in the crime if you do not talk.
OPEKE: I will tell you what I know about the crime. I was
not part of it. All that I know is that
I saw the King clubbing his son to death. I was not involved.
JAYIN: Now, I know that this woman is truly mad. What kind
of lie is this?
OPEKE: It’s not a lie, it’s the truth. I saw you, and I
am aware you have been trailing me with
Basa. That’s why I ran away from the palace.
JAYIN: You are crazy!
OPEKE: I am not crazy. I saw you, and you know it that I
saw you through the keyhole.
JAYIN: (furiously and angrily) I will have to deal
with this woman and her madness.
CHIEFS: This is not madness. She knows what she is talking
about.
OPEKE: I am not mad. I saw you with the club.
HEAD CHIEF: Now we know what happened to the prince. We now
know that his father killed him. He
did not fall from his horse!
JAYIN: He fell from his horse.
(The Chiefs
beckons at an aide, who is also the executioner to bring the calabash he was
carrying.)
HEAD CHIEF: (Hand over the calabash to the King) You
know what the tradition says. You know that once we hand over this calabash to you, we simply request your
head in it. We want you to commit
suicide. This is the end of your reign.
(Jayin is
very sober. He takes the calabash from them and enters the chamber with the Executioner.
Suddenly there is a loud noise of Jayin screaming and agonizing to death.
The executioner returns later with Jayin’s head inside the calabash)
EXECUTIONER: He is there in the calabash.
CHIEFS: We heard his agonizing voice. That serves him right
for killing his own son.
The End
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