The Song of the Wandering Stranger
One morning, shortly after I started primary school, I stood beside my mother as she finished frying akara (bean cakes) for sale. It was my duty to hawk them around the village before going to school. As I waited, I suddenly noticed a young handsome man walking slowly along the main road. He was completely naked, tall, about six feet in height, dark-complexioned, and perhaps between eighteen and twenty years old.
As he approached our house, he stopped, turned toward us, and began to sing.
Ẹsin ta ta ta oku o
Eniyan rin rin rin o sọ nu
Ko ma soun to 'ju ori ri o
Oni suuru lo l’aiye
Which translates roughly as:
The horse kicks and kicks until it dies.
Human beings walk and walk until they are lost.
There is nothing the eyes have not seen.
Only the patient truly inherit the earth.
He repeated the song several times.
Just as he finished singing, a lorry approached from the western side of the village and stopped very close to where he stood. A woman quickly jumped out of the vehicle, followed by about four other people. The woman gently covered the young man’s naked body with a wrapper. Everyone in the lorry came out and gathered around the young man. They carefully helped him into the lorry, and they drove away.
Later, we were told that the young man had been a first-year student at the University of Ife who had developed mental health problems and suddenly disappeared. His family had been searching for him for a long time.
Even as a child, the experience left a deep impression on me. To this day, I still remember the haunting beauty of that song and the mystery surrounding the young man who appeared briefly on that quiet village morning like a wandering spirit carrying wisdom beyond his years.
As he approached our house, he stopped, turned toward us, and began to sing.
Ẹsin ta ta ta oku o
Eniyan rin rin rin o sọ nu
Ko ma soun to 'ju ori ri o
Oni suuru lo l’aiye
Which translates roughly as:
The horse kicks and kicks until it dies.
Human beings walk and walk until they are lost.
There is nothing the eyes have not seen.
Only the patient truly inherit the earth.
He repeated the song several times.
Just as he finished singing, a lorry approached from the western side of the village and stopped very close to where he stood. A woman quickly jumped out of the vehicle, followed by about four other people. The woman gently covered the young man’s naked body with a wrapper. Everyone in the lorry came out and gathered around the young man. They carefully helped him into the lorry, and they drove away.
Later, we were told that the young man had been a first-year student at the University of Ife who had developed mental health problems and suddenly disappeared. His family had been searching for him for a long time.
Even as a child, the experience left a deep impression on me. To this day, I still remember the haunting beauty of that song and the mystery surrounding the young man who appeared briefly on that quiet village morning like a wandering spirit carrying wisdom beyond his years.
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