The Swamp Dwellers

BY : Wole Soyinka

CHARACTERS:
Alu - the wife of Makuri. They have twin sons, one who has left and made money for himself
in the city and the other, Igwezu who has returned home to the village. She is a woman who
believes her son to be dead, and has believed it for a decade as he has not returned.
Accustomed to the ways of the village, she stands by the traditions of her people and the
land.
Makuri - His profession is a barber in the village. A trade which he taught to his son,
Igwezu. He is a man who believes deeply in his village's deity the Serpent of the Swamp. He
and his wife bicker their days away as he cannot stand her constantly believing that one of
their sons is dead, when he knows he isn't.
Igwezu - He has just returned from the city where his wife left him for his twin brother.
There, Igwezu also lost all of his money and went into debt to his brother. He has returned
and accuses Kadiye, the village priest of consuming his sacrifices for wealth and marriage
prior to his journey to the city that is why he has lost his wife, his money, and his dignity.
A Beggar - He is from Bukanji, a village of beggar in the northern Nigeria. It is a drought-
inflicted region. He usually doesn't beg. He is blind, but believes he has a healing hand and
can make any soil fertile once again. He believes in Allah, which is not the god of the swamp
dwellers. He becomes Igwezu's bondsman as he desires to serve him in order to help him
work the land of his parents in the village. He also senses that Kadiye is a man who is fat, as
his voice indicates that he eats much food.
Kadiye - The only priest of the Serpent God or swamp God. He receives sacrifices from the
ordinary people and perform all the rituals on behalf of the villagers to satisfy and pacify
the God. The swamp people sacrifices the best ones of their production in order to pacify
the serpent God so that they can yield a good harvest otherwise they might suffer from
loss.
Drummer - He alerts the villagers about Kadiye's arrival and movement. His character
shows Kadiye's grand lifestyle.
Awuchike - The twin brother of Igwezu. He goes to the city and leaves his home-village
behind forever. He makes money there illegally and quickly and becomes prosperous
overnight. He sales timber. He seduces his brother's wife Desala and keeps her as his
mistress.
Servant of Kadiye - He keeps company of the Kadiye and bears his master's loads. He is
seen to steal a little sum of money.

PLOT SUMMARY
The one-act play takes place in a humble hut perched on stilts in the swamplands of the
Niger Delta. The sparse furnishings include a battered swivel chair set beside a few barber
tools. Makuri and his wife Alu, both about sixty years old, are discussing their twin sons,
Igwezu and Awuchike. In their Yoruban faith system, twins are respected. It’s believed their
spiritual connection with one another extends even past death such that, if one twin dies,
the other may soon follow.
The couple’s son Awuchike left their village ten years ago to live in the city, during which
time he has enriched himself, but never communicates with his parents. Alu now remarks
that Awuchike is dead, not meaning he’s physically dead because she wouldn’t jeopardize his
twin brother’s life using careless words. Rather, she means that Awuchike, by severing
himself from his familial and cultural roots, is spiritually dead. Igwezu, Awuchike’s twin,
departed for the city eight months ago, but he has honored his filial duties, even sending the
swivel chair as he had promised.
When the play begins, Igwezu has just returned to live again in the village and has
immediately gone out to check his fields. Because of recent severe flooding, the swamps are
treacherous. Alu worries about Igwezu’s safety, anxious not to lose another son, and resolves
to go looking for him. Her husband chides her for needlessly fretting. To distract her, he
banters with her about infidelity, although he has no doubts regarding her virtue, and he
reminds of her of their passionate wedding night.
There is a knock on the door, and, opening it, they find a tall, white-robed beggar. Makuri
invites him in, and Alu washes and anoints his feet. The beggar is a Muslim from the north
who is blind, he explains, due to the “fly sickness” he experienced as a child. He speaks about
a long drought in the north that devastated the region’s agriculture, followed by rains that
produced abundant crops. Locusts promptly ate the yield, however, and his people were left
with nothing again. The beggar is seeking an opportunity to farm, and he asks Makuri for a
piece of submerged earth to reclaim from the swamp. He has ideas about how to salvage the
swampland so it might bring prosperity to all. Unbeknownst to him, the swamp is the abode of
the local deity, the swamp serpent, so Makuri denounces the beggar’s request as blasphemy.
The beggar, respectful of Makuri’s beliefs, says he will travel on.
At that moment, drums sound. The drummer enters the hut, bowing obsequiously to the next
entrant, a very large, opulently dressed man. He, in turn, is followed by another servant who
fans the flies away. This is the Kadiye, or serpent priest. He has heard of Igwezu’s return,
and, it becomes apparent, is anxious to know how much wealth Igwezu accrued in the city. As
the serpent priest, the Kadiye accepts sacrificial offerings from villagers for the serpent to
guarantee its protection from misfortunes. The Kadiye departs, saying he will return for a
shave when Igwezu is home.
Moments later, Igwezu enters the hut. He is in despair because instead of finding his field
flourishing, it is flooded beyond repair. Having had not yet heard Igwezu’s account of his
experiences in the city, his parents question him. He confesses he met with failure,
reluctantly intimating he was wronged by his twin brother, Awuchike, now a wealthy timber
merchant. Still present, the blind beggar tries to console Igwezu, pledging to become
Igwezu’s “bondsman” and help him restore the fertility of his farmlands. Moreover, the
beggar indirectly hints that the Kadiye could be a fraud. He asks Igwezu if the Kadiye is
“fat,” suggesting, though not saying, that such self-indulgence while the villagers starve
casts suspicion on the Kadiye’s spiritual sincerity. Igwezu confirms that the Kadiye is fat.
More drumbeats announce the return of the Kadiye, who asks about Igwezu’s success in the
city. In response, Igwezu says, “I lost everything; my savings, even my standing as a man.”
When the Kadiye expresses incredulity, Igwezu details the insults he endured in the city: he
lost all his money; he lost his wife to his rich brother; his brother gave him a loan but
demanded Igwezu pledge his harvest as security. Now, Igwezu finds his crops destroyed.
Igwezu reminds the Kadiye that he made the proper sacrifices to the swamp serpent to
ensure its protection, yet he has been forsaken. The Kadiye sits in the barber chair, and as
Igwezu’s anger rises, he holds the shaving blade to the Kadiye’s jowl and asks, “Why are you
so fat, Kadiye?” His faith in the serpent’s promise of salvation is broken. Igwezu declares,
“We can feed the Serpent of the Swamp and kiss the Kadiye’s feet,” but this will not secure
our well-being. This outburst angers the Kadiye, and he threatens retribution. Makuri
reluctantly advises his son to leave the village. And Igwezu knows that Kadiye will have the
entire village after his head. He knows he must leave the village at once and never return.
The Beggar desires to go with him as a guide, but he won't allow him to cross the swamps
with him. Igwezu must leave his village, alone.

The Rain Came

BY : Grace Ogot
GRACE OGOT
Born in Western Kenya’s Nyanza district, which lies along the shores of Lake Victoria
A member of the Luo people, an African ethnic group that resides in parts of Kenya,
Tanzania and Uganda.
Much of her fiction is set against the background of the Lake Victoria region and is based on
the customs, legends, and history of the Luo.
She is trained as a nurse and a midwife
She is married to a prominent African historian, Professor Bethwell Allan Ogot

CHARACTERS:
Oganda - which means “beans” due to her very fair skin.
She is the chief’s only daughter around at the tender age to be married and also the
protagonist in this story.
She is a very traditional and great woman where she is willing to sacrifice herself so that the
Luo will have rain.
Labong’O - He is the chief of Luo.
He has 5 wives and 20 children, among all Oganda is his daughter.
He is the bravest man and a great leader of the village. He always holds his promise to the
village where he promised would sacrifice himself or his family for the sake of the tribe.
Other than that, he is also a loving father and loves his daughter very much but he could not
bear the risk to safe Oganda.
Minya - the chief’s fifth wife and Oganda’s mother. She is a loving mother where she is not
willing to sacrifice her only daughter.
Grandmother - a protective grandmother where she protected Oganda by not allowing her
to leave her hut and listen to the truth that she has to be the sacrifice.
Osinda - Oganda’s lover who is a very brave man and will to do anything to save her lover. In
the story, Osinda went into the sacred land to save Oganda and take care of her until she
wakes up from the faint.
Kech - is son of a neighboring clan elder. He is a very handsome guy with sweet meek eyes
and roaring laugh but he is too short for Oganda.
Dimo - a tall young man who is brave and a great wrestler but he is too cruel where he is
always quarreling and ready to fight.
Villagers - selfish and so happy that the chief’s daughter has to be the sacrifice to have
rain. They are also very naïve, traditional and believes in animism where they believe
sacrifice would bring them torrent of rain.
Ndithi - the witch man
Podho - the ancestor of Luo
Plot Summary
In a certain Luo village in Western Kenya it had not rained for a very long time. The land was
parched, the cattle were dying, and soon the adults and children would be without water. The
local diviner said: "A young virgin must die so that the country may have rain." The great
chief Labong’o knew that this prophecy meant that he had to sacrifice his only daughter
Oganda to the lake monster so that rain would come. Father, mother, and daughter had lived
together and shared together closely like three cooking stones in a circle. Taking away the
beautiful Oganda would leave the parents empty and useless. But the chief knew that the
ancestors must be served.
The words of Ndithi, the medicine man still echoed in his ears that Podho, the ancestor of
the Luo appeared in his dream that he was asked to speak to the chief and his people that a
young woman must die so that the country may have rain. Her skin was fair as the skin of the
young deer in the wilderness. She has a tall slender figure, wearing a gold ring and glittering
brass chain around her waist. She will offer herself as a sacrifice to the lake monster and on
that day the rain will come down in torrents. Everyone will stay at home on that day or else
they will be carried by the floods.
So the chief struggles with the upcoming sacrifice. As a leader, he has a responsibility for
the well-being of the whole tribe, yet as a father, he does not want to give up his beloved
daughter. Those two aspects fight inside of him, and he knows that he will never be the same
again. Eventually, however, he decides to let his daughter go. He chooses the tribe over his
child. Yet he mourns deeply. He can hardly speak the words as he makes the announcement to
the gathered tribe.
The people's reaction is surprising. They rejoice. They sing and dance and think that Oganda
is the luckiest girl in the world to be chosen to die for her people. Oganda, sitting in her
grandmother's hut, hears this celebration and thinks that her father must have announced
her marriage. She is happy and excited until she learns the truth.
Oganda then shows a strength of character rare for a girl her age. While she weeps for her
fate, she manages to sit still throughout the celebrations she is forced to endure. She
remains silent as people congratulate her for being chosen to die. She walks under her own
power all the way to the lake where she will throw herself to the lake monster. She enters
the fearful sacred land. As she walks, she sings, mourns that everyone has consented to her
death.
Minya, her mother weeps to lose her only child while people are dancing and celebrating.
Oganda touched the chain around her waist as she thought of Osinda. She wished he was
there too among her friend.
In the morning the people prepared a big feast. But Oganda never touched any of it. She just
sip water.
In the afternoon, the whole village stood at the gate to bid goodbye. Her mother wept and
her father came bare-footed and gave his wrist bracelet to her saying she will always live
among them. Tongue-tied, she had nothing to say and looked at their home once more. She
could hear her hear beating faster. She whispered to her mother that whenever she wanted
to see her, she will just look at the sunset and she will be there. She then started to walk
southwards to trek to the lake.
At midnight, Oganda was tired and weary. She could walk no more. She sat under the big tree
and sipped water from her calabash. She rested her head on the trunk and slept. When
Oganda woke up in the morning, the sun was high. After walking for many hours, she reached
the ton’, a strip of land that separated the inhabited par of the country from the scared
place, karlamo. No layman could enter this place and come out alive – only those who had
direct contact with the spirits and the Almighty were allowed to enter this holy of holies.
But Oganda pass through this sacred land on her way to the lake, which she had to reach at
sunset.
Oganda held her breath as she crossed the barrier to enter the sacred land. She looked
appealingly at the crowd but there was no response. Their minds were too preoccupied with
their own survival. Rain was the precious medicine they were longing for.
A strange feeling possessed Oganda as she picked her way in the sacred land. There were
strange noises that often startled her, and her first reaction was to take her heels. But she
remembered that she had to fulfill the wish of her people. Then suddenly the path ended on
sandy land. The water had retreated miles away from the shore leaving a wide stretch of
sand. Beyond this was the vast expanse of water.
Oganda felt afraid. She wanted to picture the size and shape of the monster but fear would
not let her. The sun was still up but it was no longer hot. For a long time Oganda walked
ankle-deep in the sand she was exhausted and longed desperately for her calabash of water.
As she moved on, she has a strange feeling that something was following her.
Oganda pulled up and hurried but her whole body became saturated with perspiration. The
sun was going down and the lake shore seemed to move along with it. So she started to run
and be at the lake before sunset. As she ran, she heard noise coming from behind. It was
frantically running after her and it was about to catch up with her. Oganda ran with all her
strength and did not look back on the creature running after her. But the creature caught up
Oganda before she throw herself to the water. She fell flat on the ground and fainted.
When the lake breeze brought her back to consciousness, a man was bending over her, it was
Osinda. She told Osinda to let her die because the sun is going down. But Osinda told her
that they will escape quickly to the unknown land to run away from the wrath of the
ancestors and the retaliation of the monster.
He then covered the whole of Oganda’s body except her eyes with a leafy attire made from
twigs of Bwombwe. The bush was thick and the long grass entangled their feet as they ran.
Halfway through the sacred land they stopped and looked back. The sun was almost touching
the surface of the water. They were frightened. They continued to run, now faster to avoid
the sinking sun.
He told Oganda to have faith. When they reached the barrier and looked behind them
trembling, only a tip of the sun could be seen above the water’s surface.
Then, there was bright lightning. They looked up frightened. Above them black and furious
clouds started to gather. They began to run. Then the thunder roared and the rain came
down in torrents.