SCENE THREE
Olubi and Oluwo, the two nobles are discussing the bizarre event at the palace in front of Elenre's house, expecting his wife
OLUBI: Wonders will never end in this world. But some people really have medicine and charms. I am sure that the king must have underrated Erenle. But come to think of it, did the king think they were winning his wars without the use of terrible charms and worst kinds of spells and egbe.
OLUWO: Didn't you see how Erenle was invisible and the palace guards could not kill him with the swords?.
OLUBI: Is it not incredible and magical that the sword broke into two parts? The king must have felt disgraced. The climax was when he ordered that the man should be speared and it just wouldn't kill, Erenle. The man was impregnable.
OLUWO: But what happened is a lesson to Kabiyesi and all of us. We enjoyed their company when we used these truculent men who are vast in voodoo and medicine to fight other vassal states and chiefs. We did not know that these same people will now confront us!
OLUBI: To me, this event sounds not only outrageous but it is very interesting. It looks like it was the king's goat that devoured the king's yams. Or how else can we explain it?
OLUWO: Now that Kabiyesi is now holding Elenre, we must detect the reason he cannot be cut into pieces, or else he will turn against all of us.
OLUBI: The man may possess some supernatural powers with which he will fight back. The earlier we discover his source of power, the better of us.
OLUWO: But one thing is baffling to me. I do not understand why he could not disappear with his colleagues when they were vanishing from the sight of the king.
OLUBI: Maybe his spell, failed him. It must have suddenly lost its value and essence. Maybe the ground refused to take his command. It could have opened up to swallow him.
OLUWO: Anyway, the most important thing for us now is to map out a strategy and see how we can carry out the king's assignment. We should be very careful.
(Ijaehin, Elenre's wife is ushered in by Ajike, a teenage girl. She is dressed in traditional apparels with a shawl over her shoulder.)
IJAEHIN: (Courtesy before the two nobles) I greet you noble ones. I was away to see a friend when Ajike breezed into their compound to inform me about your presence and your intention to see me. What is it that I have received noble ones in our abode?
OLUWO: We are delighted to be here Ijaehin. We have come here to see your husband and we were told he was not around. Then we requested to see you and we were informed you went to see a
neighbour.
OLUBI: Where did Elenre go?
IJAEHIN: He told me he was going to the palace to see Kabiyesi in company of his friends and colleagues.
OLUWO: Palace?
OLUBI: (Looks surprisingly) Palace? Is that possible? We are just coming from the palace.
OLUWO: Is it not from the palace that we have just come?
OLUBI: Hm.......... Can you tell of the places a man visits with his legs or the number of times he roves his eyes when he sees beautiful women?
IJAEHIN: That really is the problem with you men. Always, your eyes rove around. Some of you would have loved to have eyes as round at the Owl's to detect preys in dark. Hm.
OLUWO: (Looks at her) Why don't you sit down Ijaehin? Leave us alone with the owl.
(She sits down)
OLUBI: Where do you think that we can find your husband now?
IJAEHIN: He should be in the palace. Unless something else happens on the way, I believe that he should be in the palace.
OLUWO: He could be with some other beautiful women?
IJAEHIN: Who can hold you men as you cross this our landscape? Am not fighting Elenre over his bid to acquire another woman, but someone the oracle forbade.
OLUWO: A lost dog often won't hear the whistle from his master. I know some men can take things too far when it comes to chasing women. I heard that it was Panu, his backbone in medicine that is offering him his daughter in their village and they are planning a big celebration.
IJAEHIN: I am not interested in whether he is acquiring another woman or not. Does our tradition not allow a man to be polygamous? I am not against his marriage to another person. But I just do not want an evil leg in this house.
OLUBI: But no evil power can attack Elenre. He is so powerful that he will crush everyone. He is a man of steel.
IJAEHIN: Steel? (Laughs hysterically) Yes, he is strong, but not very strong. I remember the periods I stayed in the forest making sure his light never dies in an earthen-pot?
OLUWO: But people said that Panu prepared the most powerful medicine that made him invisible.
IJAEHIN: I am telling you leave Panu out of this. Elenre is vast in medicine. He inherited this particular one from his father and works hard to sustain it. In fact there is this medicine that makes him invisible when he is attacked by iron and object. His grand father gave it to him.
Hm....... all this noise about his invisible is unnecessary. Just a simple thing will make him vulnerable.
OLUBI: A simple thing?
IJAEHIN: Yes, You just remove a leaf from the roof of a thatched house and you will render him impotent.
OLUWO: How?
OLUBI: You don't mean it!
IJAEHIN: I meant it. Just take the leaf and aim it round his neck like a razor. It will just cut off his neck.
OLUWO: (pretends) That is impossible.
OLUBI: That is the kind of weird stories you hear around the man. I do not know how our people easily manufacture these tales.
IJAEHIN: It's up to you whether you believe me or not. All I know is that what I told you is the truth. Anyway, noble ones, do you intend to wait for my husband or you will leave a message for him. I was busy with my neighbour and I still have to finish what I was doing.
OLUWO: We too have lots of work to do. Anyway, whenever he comes back, tell him that Kabiyesi will like to see him in the palace. There seems to be an insurrection in one of the vassal territories. The King wants him to lead an expedition to that place and route out the disgruntled people.
OLUBI: (Stands up from his seat) We thank you Ijaehin for attending to us. Greet your husband for us when he comes back and do not forget to deliver the king's message to him.
OLUWO: (Stands up too) Thank you Ijaehin. We will go now. (Ijaehin sees them off. Both men depart. She begins to sing).
SONG:
The shrew and the squirrel
They were both fighting
And I have come to separate them.
But suddenly the shrew
Bite my nose
Please rescue me from her.
My wares are still at the
Market place.
Chorus:
Jo mi Jo.
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