The Village Witch Doctor

The Village Witch Doctor Summary | Detailed Summary

Many centuries ago, in a small village, live two middle-aged friends named Aro and Osanyin. Aro is from a rich family; Osanyin is the village witch doctor. Upon the death of Aro's father, Aro inherits a large sum of money, farms, and other valuable property. Out of fear that the money will be stolen by thieves, Aro decides to bury it in the bush. Aro asks Osanyin to accompany him to assist with the burial of the money. Osanyin agrees to help his good friend.

One night at midnight, Aro places all his money into two large water pots and sets out with Osanyin to bury it under the Iroko tree. After they dig two large holes and bury the money, they return to the village. Aro feels comfort in the knowledge that his fortune is safe from thieves. Unfortunately, Aro is unaware that Osanyin is considering stealing the money for himself. Not long afterward, Osanyin returns to the Iroko tree at midnight and unearths the two pots of money. He carries them back to his house and buries them in front of his shrine to the gods.

A few months later, Aro needs money badly and goes to the Iroko tree to dig up some of his buried treasure. To his dismay, he finds that all his money is gone. He is so distraught that he holds his head in both hands and bursts into tears. He then runs to his friend Osanyin's house to tell him that the money has been stolen. Osanyin pretends to be surprised by the news.

Osanyin tells Aro to return to his home. That night, Osanyin says, he will ask his gods who has stolen Aro's money. As soon as he finds out who has done such a deceitful thing, he will tell Aro. Then they will go together to inform the village elders, who will arrest the thief. Of course, Osanyin does not consult his gods at midnight. Instead, he goes directly to Aro's house and lies to him, telling him that, according to the gods, Aro's dead father stole the money back.

At first, Aro does not believe the witch doctor. Why would Aro's father take back the money he had left Aro? Eventually, unable to find another answer or believe that his good friend Osanyin could have stolen the money for himself, Aro begins to accept Osanyin's explanation. However, before Aro finally lets the matter rest, he and Osanyin return to the Iroko tree from which the money was stolen. In great anger, Aro raises his fists to the sky and curses the person who stole the money. Aro says, "My money will be recovered in the near or far future from whosoever has stolen it, by my son or my son's son, or one of my generations!" Reluctantly, his friend Osanyin reaffirms his friend's oath to the gods and asks that the gods assist in returning Aro's money.

From that day forward, Aro lives in poverty. As he grows older, his poverty worsens. Finally, Aro dies in poverty, and his son, Jaye, inherits only poverty from him. After struggling for years, Jaye marries, and his wife bears a beautiful baby boy, Ajaiyi. As each day passes, the family grows poorer and poorer. Ajaiyi's mother suddenly dies as a result of their poverty. After a few more years of struggle, Jaye grows weaker and poorer, until one day he is no longer able to work on the family farm. This leaves Ajaiyi with the sole burden of working the farm from morning to night in order to feed his father and himself.

When Ajaiyi turns thirty, he notices that all his friends have married. He decides it is also time for him to marry, and so he approaches his father about the idea. His father informs him that the tradition of their tribe requires fathers to make marriage arrangements for their sons. However, since they live in such great poverty, Jaye is unable to raise the money needed to pay Ajaiyi's dowry. Ajaiyi weeps bitterly at his cruel fate.

After some thought, Ajaiyi decides to pawn himself to obtain the money needed for a dowry. The following day, he visits a wealthy pawnbroker, who gives him enough money to marry a beautiful woman. In return, Ajaiyi has to work on the pawnbroker's farm from seven until eleven o'clock each morning.

Several months after his son's marriage, Jaye falls ill and dies; Ajaiyi has no money for the funeral ceremony. Because it will bring great shame not to perform his father's funeral ceremony, Ajaiyi pawns himself to a second pawnbroker to cover his father's funeral expenses. As a result, Ajaiyi is forced to work from seven to eleven o'clock for the first pawnbroker and from noon until four o'clock for the second pawnbroker. Unfortunately, this leaves only a few hours left to work the family farm. As a result, Ajaiyi and his wife slip deeper and deeper into poverty.

One day, Ajaiyi's wife encourages Ajaiyi to visit the village witch doctor, Osanyin, and beg him for help. She says that Osanyin can ask the gods why Ajaiyi and his wife have been forced into such great poverty. The couple is hopeful that, through Osanyin, the gods will suggest a way to end their poverty. Convinced, Ajaiyi decides to consult Osanyin to see what the gods have to say.

Osanyin reports that if Ajaiyi wants the poverty to stop, he must buy nine rams and nine empty sacks. Then Ajaiyi must put one ram in each sack and place them on his father's grave at midnight. Once this is done, Ajaiyi is to tell Osanyin immediately. To be sure that his father has accepted the sacrifice, Ajaiyi is to return to the grave the following morning. If he finds only empty sacks, it means that his father has accepted the sacrifice, and good luck and fortune will be his to enjoy. If this is the case, Ajaiyi need only take the empty sacks home, and his dead father will fill them with money.

Ajaiyi tells his wife what Osanyin has said; however, Ajaiyi also tells her they do not have enough money to buy the nine rams. Ajaiyi's wife encourages him to go to a third pawnbroker and borrow the money for the rams and sacks. Reluctantly, Ajaiyi borrows two hundred naira from a third pawnbroker. Unfortunately, this only turns out to be enough to purchase six rams and six empty sacks. Since he is unable to buy all nine rams, Ajaiyi wishes to return the money to the pawnbroker, not wanting to take the chance of going deeper and deeper into debt. Instead, his wife tells him to buy the six rams and place them on his father's grave. She says that Ajaiyi can explain to his father that this is only the first installment, and that he will receive the remaining three rams after he gives Ajaiyi the money.

Ajaiyi takes the six rams and sacks to his father's grave at midnight. As directed, he places one ram in each sack, then puts them all on top of his father's grave. Ajaiyi explains to his father that this is only the first installment; he promises to bring the remaining three rams once he is lifted out of poverty. Afterward, Ajaiyi walks to Osanyin's house to tell him that he has placed the rams on his father's grave. Osanyin praises Ajaiyi's efforts and tells the young man to go home. Ajaiyi will soon be known as a "money man," Osanyin says.

As soon as Ajaiyi leaves, Osanyin and his servants go to the grave and take the rams. They then return to Osanyin's home, where they slaughter and eat all six rams. Before daybreak, Osanyin has one of his servants return to the grave to drop off the empty sacks. When Ajaiyi arrives at his father's grave that morning, he finds the sacks. Joyfully, he takes them back to his house and places them in his room. He and his wife then wait for Ajaiyi's dead father to fill the sacks with money.

Ajaiyi and his wife wait many months; Jaye does not fill the empty sacks with money. The three pawnbrokers grow annoyed with Ajaiyi because he is not satisfying their demands. Life grows harsher for Ajaiyi and his wife. Ajaiyi's wife prompts him to again return to the village witch doctor to find out why they still live in poverty.

Osanyin tells Ajaiyi that he must bring the remaining three rams to his father's grave as a sacrifice. Only then will poverty end for the young couple. Horrified, Ajaiyi returns to his wife to relay the news. Growing angry, Ajaiyi tells his wife that he will visit his father's grave at midnight to confront him. He will demand to know why Jaye requires nine rams to end the poverty that he himself left to his son.

At midnight, Ajaiyi takes a long machete and three empty sacks to his father's grave. He fills the first two sacks with sand. He then goes to Osanyin's house to tell him that he has taken the three remaining rams to the grave site. However, instead of returning to his home, as Osanyin directs, Ajaiyi returns to his father's grave and craws into the third sack. Ajaiyi waits patiently to confront his father. Ajaiyi is shocked when, instead of hearing his father's ghost, he hears the familiar voices of the witch doctor and his servants as they carry the three sacks to Osanyin's house.

Osanyin and his servants began opening the sacks in anticipation of the feast they will soon enjoy. To their horror, they discover that the first two sacks are packed with sand. As they open the third, Ajaiyi leaps out, his machete in hand. Ajaiyi demands that Osanyin release him from his poverty that night or else be killed. Ajaiyi then threatens to cut off Osanyin's head unless he tells Ajaiyi where his grandfather Aro's money is hidden. Osanyin finally shows Ajaiyi where Aro's money is buried. Ajaiyi proceeds to dig up the two water pots of money that were stolen from his grandfather so long ago. Ajaiyi returns home, where he and his wife count the money. They find over four thousand naira in the two water pots, enough money to pay back the pawnbrokers and still lift the couple from poverty.