A Dance of the Forests by Wole SoyinkaA Dance of the Forests is one of Wole Soyinka's best-known plays. It was part of acelebration of Nigerian independence. Because it talked about political corruption inNigeria at the time, many people in the country were angry at the play.

After going to school in England, Soyinka came back to Nigeria in 1959 to write this play, immersing himself in Yoruba folklore as a way to connect with his homecountry. Play: It's about a group of people who call on the spirits of the dead, hopingthat these wiser spirits will help them. They are disappointed to learn that the spiritsare just as petty and flawed as they are.

On the occasion of Nigeria's independence, the play has been seen by many as acautionary tale. It tells Nigerians to be critical and look for new ways to improve, andit tells them not to become complacent. It also serves as a metaphor for not getting tooattached to pre-colonial Africa and being careful. "A Dance of the Forests" was one ofthe best things Soyinka ever did. When he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, it was said to be one of his best works.

The play starts with a dead man and a dead woman coming out of the ground in themiddle of a forest. Ask people who pass by to "take their case." Man and Woman werea captain and his wife in a previous life. They were tortured and killed by an Emperor named Mata Kharibu and his Queen, who was called Madame Tortoise. They werekilled. There is a gathering of the tribes, and the dead man and his wife have come.Aroni, a god, sent them to the gathering with permission from the Forest Head, inplace of the forefathers that the living have asked to join them.

Adenebi, a court historian in the time of Emperor Mata Kharibu, is now a councilorator. Agboreko was once a soothsayer for the Emperor, and now he's a carver, but heused to write poetry for the court. Demoke was once a poet for the court, and now he'sa carver. Aroni has chosen these four people because he wants them to learn abouttheir past lives and make up for their sins.

It turns out that another character, Obaneji, is the Forest Head disguised as a human.He wants the characters to dance with the dead man and woman as a show ofwelcome. Eshuoro, a spirit who is looking for revenge for the death of Demoke'sapprentice Oremole, comes and interrupts what is going on at the moment. In his storey, he says that Demoke killed him by pulling him off the top of an araba tree theywere carving. This caused him to fall to his death, and he died. He stands up forDemoke against Eshuoro's claim. Ogun is the god of carvers. There was a fire thatkilled 65 of the 70 people in the town of Demoke.

As the play goes on, we learn that the Dead Man was a soldier who led Karibu's men.Because Kharibu has taken the wife of the leader of the tribe, the soldier doesn't wantto fight against another tribe.

All of the characters from the early parts of the play are seen as Kharibu's court counsellors, even though they are from a long time ago. They don't help the soldier,who is castrated and sold as a slave. A pregnant wife of a soldier comes in at the endof the scene. I don't know how she dies. The audience will have to decide how.

With a petrol truck, people burn down the forests. You need to "pierce the hardened shells of habit and expose your original nakedness," says the Forest Head. This iswhat he tells you to do. It is clear to him now that he is going to fight on his own.When Demoke builds a totem, Eshuoro tells him to climb to the top. She then startsthe totem on fire. They talk about what they've learned.

The play starts with an introduction by Aroni, "the Lame One," who talks about theplay's setting and tells us what we can expect. Soyinka makes a list of the charactersand talks about them. The Dead Man was a captain in the army of Mata Kharibu. TheDead Woman was his wife. There is a prostitute named Rola. She used to be calledMadame Tortoise, but that was a long time ago. In this storey, another character, Adenebi, is the court orator. He doesn't know that there are dead people. He used towork for the court as a history. Demoke, the Carver, used to be a poet in his old life.An old man who sacrificed himself for the Forest Head's sake is called "The Elder ofthe Sealed Lips." When the Forest Head is disguised, Obaneji, he looks like a person.It looks like Aroni has made the Dead Man and Woman "two spirits of the living dead."

First, the Dead Woman pushes her head through the soil, then the Dead Man. In anempty spot in the forest, they both do this. People who are on stage say that the man is"fat and bloated." He is wearing traditional warrior clothes, and the woman is pregnant. Do not see each other. Adenebi comes in. Dead Man asks Adenebi for helpas he walks by. Adenebi gets scared and runs away. There are a lot of questions for theDead Woman and the Dead Man, because they think they should have been welcomedby the living. Obaneji comes in, looks at them, then leaves as well.

"When you see a man hurrying, he has a lot on his back." This is what Demoke saysto the Dead Woman when he comes in. Do you think I'm a waste of time if I'll takesomeone else's case for money or because I'm kind? When he asks her if she livedhere once, she tells him she did. He says it was before his time and goes on his way.

It's a good thing the Dead Man asks Rola to take his case. She agrees before realisingthat he is dead and becoming afraid of him. It was a bad idea for him to ask her forhelp when he was sick. She tells him that. The Dead Woman is sad that no one willhelp her, even though she was brought back to the world of the living. The Dead Manis ashamed of how Rola treated him. She says, "The world is big, but the dead are bigger."

It's sad for the Dead Man and the Dead Woman to be stuck in this situation. The DeadWoman says that she has been carrying the child in her belly for more than 100 years.From afar, gunshots can be heard. The stage is then cleared, and the dead couple walks off. Rola, Adenebi, Obaneji, and Demoke all show up on the stage at the sametime. Rola doesn't like the person who came into her house and said that she was herauntie. Adenebi talks about how important it is to have a "proper family life" and tohave privacy. "This whole family business makes me sick." People should be free tolive their own lives, says Rola.

The group sits on rocks and tree trunks and fights, with Rola in favour of how theworld works now. Invited people to the forest to dance as a show of welcome for adead man and dead woman. It's important that Demoke be in town on this day,because he carved a great totem.

The other people are impressed with Demoke's carving of a totem in town, and theywant to know why he isn't there to show off his work. During the meeting, Demoketells them that before the area had been cleared out, he was asked to carve a tree. Hedidn't know that it was going to be used for the tribes' meeting. Adenebi doesn't understand why Demoke would leave, so she asks, "Have you no sense of history?"He wants to know why Adenebi came to the forest, and Adenebi tells him that he hasa "weak heart."

There is a sound of bells and shouts, and then a dead woman and a dead man return. There are two people who died. Rola wants Demoke to go with her, but he wants tofind out more about the dead people. Obaneki takes Demoke and Rola, and they go ontheir own way without him. Follow them, but go back the way they came.

Murete, a tree demon, wants to come out of a tree. Aroni comes in, and Murete runs away. Aroni hits a tree and Murete screams in pain. On today, when the forest headneeded him the most, Murete didn't leave the woods. Aroni is angry with him. Peopleare having more fun today, says Murete. It was Eshuoro who bit off the top of his tree.Murete told him this. To be at the feast to welcome the dead, Aroni tells Murete thathe wants him there. Murete says that at the feast for the living, he'll drink millet wine.

: "These rites for the dead. " Murete says, "I don't know why you're taking them on."He then says that he saw a group of four mortals in the woods. Aroni gets worried, sohe calls Murete out of the tree and asks if he has seen the dead couple as well. Muretesays he hasn't and that he only talked to Agboreko, the elder of Sealed Lips, about it.

In this storey, Murete tells Aroni that the mortals are angry with him because he sentaccusers instead of illustrious relatives. Aroni asks Murete when he last saw Ogun, thegod of carvers. He mentions that one of the mortals is a carver, and that he doesn'twant him to get in the way of what he wants to do. Telling Aroni that he hasn't seen Ogun, Murete says he can "go on his debauchery" when he's ready.

When Aroni leaves and Murete gets back in the tree, Agboreko, the Elder of theSealed Lips, comes in. He is dressed in white and carries a bowl of millet wine. In thiscase, Murete tells him to go away, and Agboreko does. Murete starts to drink some of the wine. When Ogun comes in, he pushes the wine bowl to his lips so he drinksmore. So, Ogun takes advantage of Murete's drunkenness. When Murete points, Ogunsays, "Where did the four people go?" Then, he asks if Demoke was there. Muretesays that Ogun is Ogun, but Ogun says that he isn't, and that he was sent by Aroni.

When Eshuoro's name is mentioned, Murete gets angry and passes out. It's time forDemoke, Obaneji, Adenebi, and Rola to come back in. They're gossiping about thedead man and the dead woman. They talk about how "Aroni" has taken over. That'swhen the guilty are afraid.

In this video, Obaneji talks about the fact that he is a high-up clerk and knows manyof the country's secrets. He says that he doesn't like how much he knows, but then hesays that he also likes the fun side of record-keeping and that he loves passenger cars.

He tells them that the day before, an office worker took a bribe and put 70 people on alorry that could only hold 40 people. It started to burn. Only five people made it.

He tells him that he's the official Orator for the council. Adenebi says that it couldn'thave been one of their trucks. Obaneji thinks Adenebi has some power and can helphim find the person who took the bribe. Adenebi gets angry and says, "Have you noempathy for those who died?"

"He's just a small-time criminal," says Obaneji. "He should be hanged." Rola says,"He's a thief." Obaneji says he'll put the man's name in small print when Rola says,"He should be hanged." As a carver, Demoke works with fire. He says he is not afraidof it, but he would never want to die by being burned. How would you like to die? When his friends ask him what would be the best way to die, his answer is to fall tohis death from an even higher place and talk about his apprentice. he thinks that if hecould pull his body up further than it would go, he would be willing for it to fall to hisdeath after.

It doesn't make sense for Demoke to say that. Obaneji then asks Adenebi how hewould like to die, and Adenebi asks Obaneji the same question. Rola tells him, "Whydon't you say it? You should." You're the kind of person who would rather die in bed.Because Obaneji is angry, he doesn't understand why that is something to be ashamedof

He asks Rola how she would like to die, and she tries to kiss him quickly when heasks. Throws her off and Adenebi tells him off for being so rough. He says he's sorryfor being violent, but then says, "I have a very bad reaction to being mauled bywomen." Because he didn't do more sexual things, Rola says he will die alone in his bed. When they ask him what his curse is, he says, "Recognition is it."

She says she isn't to blame for anything like the overturned lorry when he asks forsilence. When Obaneji asks for silence, she tells him to go to the graveyard. Heresponds that many of her ex-lovers must be buried there, but she doesn't believe him. "Doesn't she look like the kind of person that would make men go crazy and killthemselves?" he asks. When Demoke realises that Rola is Madame Tortoise, aninfamous prostitute, she gets angry.

As Rola weeps over the revelation of her identity, Adenebi says he doesn't like her. Demoke tells Adenebi that the totem he made was for Madame Tortoise, as theprostitute keeps getting a bad rap. In response to a man who killed another to get herattention, Rola says, "I have no regrets." She also says that she is no worse than abusinessman. Do you cry to them when your businessmen do bad things to the lessimportant people? She says this.

In this scene, Demoke tells Rola that she doesn't look like her other face. He alsowants Rola to look at his totem. Adenebi gets impatient with the way things are goingand walks away in a rage. Dead Man and Dead Woman come in as he leaves. Demokeasks the Dead Man, who fell from the tree, if he is his old apprentice. Rola says that he isn't, but Demoke wants to know if he is guilty of killing the apprentice.

Demoke suddenly confesses that he killed his apprentice because he wanted to carvethe top of the tree. Then he goes on a long monologue, in verse, about how he wanted to carve the top of the tree and killed his apprentice. After sending the apprentice tohis death, Demoke was filled with creative ideas.

Soon, Demoke's father calls out his name. In the beginning, Demoke leads the mortalsaway as Ogun comes in. Ogun says that he changed his voice to sound like Demoke's father and that he is desperate to find the human. This is what the man says: "I'm sorryfor what happened to my apprentice. I think he was too proud and didn't show enoughrespect for Demoke."

Ogun leaves the room as two Councillors and Demoke's father, an Old Man, come in and join them. Afterward, Adenebi comes in and asks if the Old Man and theCouncillors are trying to catch "shady people." The Old Man tells him that they arejust trying to get some people out of the way.

This is madness, the Old Man tells Adenebi. They are trying to drive away the very people who are their guests, he says, and this is not right. Because of this, the OldMan says that Adenebi was in favour of this. Adenebi says that they talked aboutbringing back "the descendants of our great forebears...let them represent all that isnoble in our country."

He says that "the guests we were sent are slaves and henchmen," but he doesn't saythat they were slaves. They have only come to weaken us. To tell us how low we are.

She tries to convince the Old Man that their guests would have been beautiful if theyhad put on a show to welcome them. Then, she says that Demoke's totem is "pagan." The Councillor comes in and talks about the dead couple.

People who died have been taken under the wing of Aroni. Agboreko told the OldMan that. His next words are: "...and they are very close to her." Because I don'tknow. To answer the Old Man's question, Agboreko tells him he doesn't know, and that Murete won't tell him. People who say Agboreko thinks that Aroni is wisdomitself. The only thing that can stop him is if he wants to show how weak people are.And he knows how to spend his time.

The Old Man wants to know if Oremole is one of the dead. Agboreko tells him that he is not, but the Old Man doesn't believe him. ...Would the other people say bad thingsabout him? The Old Man wants to know, and Agboreko says he doesn't know what todo. One of the Councillors says that there is still hope, because the Forest Fatherhasn't spoken yet and there is a chance that Aroni is just acting on his own.

Everybody stares at Adenebi when he asks who the Forest Father is. They don'tanswer. In order to find out more from Murete, Agboreko goes to try to find out morefrom her. He tells the Old Man that he was with Demoke. It turns out that Adenebisaw two dead people who he called "those crazy people you see everywhere." That'snot all. He also says that the woman he was with was called Madame Tortoise.

It looks like the Old Man thinks that Eshuoro was the fourth person in their group,and that he led them all to their death. A servant of Oro was killed. Then the Old Mansays, "A servant of Oro was killed." Nothing will be done until we are all covered inblood, so nothing will stop. For Agboreko: The Old Man calls for him. Agboreko rushes into the room, where he tries to tell him about the two dead people who wantpeople to represent them. People start to get scared that Adenebi is like the othermortals and that he will be punished for his past crimes.

In a procession, the beaters (one with a whip), the dancer, an acolyte, a dirge-man, and an assistant come in. They give Agboreko a divination board and a bowl with kernelsin them. They go through a divination ritual, and the Old Man isn't happy with whatthey find. They keep going through the ritual, which includes a dance that is part of it.In time, they become more and more nervous, until they panic and run away in fear.

Adenebi calls out to his fellow humans, while forest creatures and forest spirits arearound him. Adenebi says, "I have always been afraid of being lost." Obaneji, Rola,and Demoke all come back in. Obaneji asks him if he knows who "burned out 65souls." Then Obaneji tells Adenebi that he is going to the welcoming of the dead, andafter hesitating for a while, Adenebi joins him off the stage and walks with him.

When Murete is at home, about to go to a party, he cleans his nails on a tree's bark.This is part 2. When Eshuoro comes in, Murete's neck is grabbed and he's told not totell anyone that he saw Aroni. Asked Murete if it was the day for the dead to bewelcomed. Murete said it was. says, "I know they want conquerors, and Aroni has sent them accusers because he knew they wouldn't welcome them."

Because Eshuoro didn't get a welcome, Murete knows that Eshuoro plans to turn itinto "a bloody sentence." In Murete's words: The Forest Father should be called. TellsMurete that Aroni is planning to let the four mortals go after they're welcomed by the dead. Eshuoro says he wants to stop it. When Murete protests, Eshuoro says, "Not bymy hand. I didn't do it." Humans always do bad things to their own heads. Who canstop them?

Eshuoro tells Murete that, out of all the sons of the Forest Father, he has been treated the worst by a person. Because of the totem that Demoke made in town, and becausethe apprentice fell from it, Eshuoro is upset. Murete tells him to talk to the ForestFather about it. "His axe cut off my head!" Eshuoro screams.

Murete doesn't care about Eshuoro's anger, saying that he's disrespectful of art in general. Eshuoro tries to hit him with a branch, so Murete runs away from the scene.Eshuoro gives a long and passionate speech about how he will get back at the peoplewho cut down his tallest tree.

In a different part of the forest, there is a Forest Crier and a lot of forest ghosts. Asked for help, he asks for help from the spirits and people who live in the forest. He alsoasks for help from the Forest Father, who can "unveil phantasmagoria of charactersfrom the dead." Forest Head and Aroni come in.

The Forest Head and Aroni talk about how they can control the four people who live on Earth. "They didn't think you were bad." What does the Forest Head say to Aroni?"Nothing. I don't know." In order to keep my identity a secret and make them acceptmy aloofness, I gave them dark clues about what I was like. It held everyone but the

woman. If Eshuoro can find them, Aroni tells Forest Head that he's set up a trail forhim to follow. It makes Forest Head happy. "If the child needs a fright, then the mother must call the witch."They will travel back eight centuries to the court of Mata Kharibu, who led an empire.Forest Head says that now they will go back to that time. After Aroni makes a circlewith his hand, the stage turns into the court.

For Mata Kharibu, there are two thrones: one for him and one for his queen, MadameTortoise. An African guitar is being played by a page. The King is angry and mockingat the same time, while Madame Tortoise is cruel in another way. Across the street,the court poet (who was Demoke in a previous life) stands with a scribe, who is also there.

Court poet: When Madame Tortoise says that she's sad, he says that sadness is nobleand that he hopes the queen's sadness will cover her. She says she has lost her canary.It was two days ago that the court poet heard a servant fall from the roof. Madame Tortoise says this is true, and he should believe her. She then tells him and anotherservant to go find her a canary. He goes.

One of the warriors in chains is brought in to the party. When Mata Kharibu says thathe thinks, it is because he was the Dead Man in his previous life. When the warrior says he's guilty, Mata Kharibu slaps him and then goes to behead him with a sword.When a doctor comes up and whispers in Kharibu's ear and tells him not to kill thewarrior, he stops him.

Warrior: The doctor tells the warrior that the wrathful king has saved him from him twice before, so think of him as a friend. Warlord: The warrior tells the doctor that hedoesn't believe in this war, which is being done on the side of the queen.

The doctor says that the war is now about a lot more, that it is now "a matter ofhonour." Since when did it seem right to steal the wife of a brother chieftain's wife? When the physician defends the king, the warrior says that the king's actions don'tshow that he wants to run a peaceful and good kingdom. Instead, they show that theking is corrupt.

The warrior doesn't want to talk about it any more, so he tells the doctor to go to Mata Kharibu and tell him that he was mad before, but that he has come back to his senses.They think this is a joke. The doctor tells the warrior to tell Madame Tortoise that "Iwill not fight her war," which shows that he is being sarcastic.

The doctor tells the warrior that he can't choose which wars he fights. The warrior is stubborn in his belief that he is doing the right thing, so the doctor gives up. Thedoctor asks, "Do you think your own life is yours to throw away?" The warriorreplies, "I have the right to choose how I want to die."

It makes the warrior happy to see that he may be in the clear after all. "Maybe I've started a new disease that spreads quickly," he says when the court historian, whoused to be Adenebi, comes in. He tells the warrior, "Nations live by strength. Nothingelse matters." He then tells Mata Kharibu that based on his research, he has found that

nations thrive on the bloodshed of war. He says, "The cause is always the accident,your Majesty, and war is fate."This is what Kharibu says: The warrior has taken 60 of his best soldiers with him, andthe warrior says that isn't a traitor. The historian talks about Troy, the fact that theTrojan War was fought over Helen, a woman, and says, "...history has always shownthat the soldier who will not fight has the blood of slaves in him." This is what the historian says.

The soothsayer, who used to be called Agboreko, comes in and says that there will bea lot of blood. Mata Kharibu says this as a reason to kill the warrior and his allies.Then, a slave dealer comes up and says that he can take the warrior and his men off the king's hands for a price. When the king agrees, the doctor speaks up for them andtells the king that the slave-dealer treats his slaves very badly. People should be killed,but not sold as slaves. The doctor tells the king that.

In the middle of his way, Mata Kharibu asks the soothsayer if their fate is already set in stone. It turns out that the stars aren't in Kharibu's favour, and when he is told that,Kharibu says, "I can't stop." I can't. The captain of my army cursed me. It's not fair forhim to say that unless he is crazy, I won't fight in this war. He says that unless he iscrazy, I won't fight this war. No, he's not.

History will not favour the warrior, the soothsayer tells his king. The smudge on themoon doesn't mean the moon itself is a bad thing. When the king leaves the room, thedoctor goes to the slave-dealer and tells him that he needs to improve how he treatshis slaves. This is what the slave-dealer doesn't get: He says that his boat is finebecause he doesn't like slaves. It happens when the slave-dealer and the historian agree on something. The slave-dealer leaves and the historian invites the doctor tocome to his house for sherbet.

The court poet brings a canary to Madame Tortoise when he sees her. "Beauty has theright to be a jerk." To answer her question, he tells her that the novice fell and broke his arm. One of them says, "The roof could fall on you," and they stare at each other."Didn't another soldier fall from the same place?" Mocking him, she says he doesn'thave to do anything that doesn't make her happy.

Everyone but the warrior is let go when the poet leaves. She tells him that he won't fight for her, and he tells her not to bother him. He says that even though he doesn'thate her, she has caused him and his men a lot of undeserved shame. They get into afight because she makes fun of him for being so in love with her.

If he falls in love with Madame Tortoise, he can take the throne from Mata Kharibu. She tells him that only she can save him from death. When he doesn't take the bait,Madame Tortoise gets angry and says, "Men have killed for me." "Many people havedied for me."

The warrior's pregnant wife, who will become the Dead Woman, comes running. The queen doesn't like that the warrior likes his wife more than her, so she orders herguards to castrate the warrior and make him a eunuch. He will protect "the harems ofother Mata Kharibus, drooling on wares they can't taste."

With her hands on her stomach, the wife of a warrior gasps as the stage goes dark. The warrior was a fool, Eshuoro says, and he wants to know what proof they have.Aroni and the Forest Head are watching this memory in the forest. Forest Head:Eshuoro, you need to watch your words. Ogun comes in to join you, as well.

Ogun tells Eshuoro that Demoke did what he asked of him and isn't to be blamed. As Ogun taunts him more, Eshuoro gets so angry that he jumps on Ogun, but the ForestHead doesn't even touch them. Soon, he won't be able to tell you about humansbecause you've become so used to their habits.

Ogun wants Aroni to let Demoke go, but Aroni says he needs him the most. It's Ogun's job to defend Demoke, and he says he's always done what he's asked. Peoplecalled the Questioner show up when Eshuoro leaves. The stage turns into "a dark wetatmosphere that drips with moisture and soft, moist soil." With Aroni gone and theForest Head sitting on the stump of a tree stump, the Questioner comes up to him. Thedead woman comes in.

People ask the Dead Woman who sent them, and the Dead Woman says that it was awoman without a womb. What does the Questioner say to the Dead Woman? "Was itbefore your time?" Because she is a woman, she was weak, he says.

The Dead Man comes in and says, "Three lives I've lived since the first time I wentaway/But still my first is with me. The pattern is the same." He calls the dead manMulieru and says that he once knew him. Remember that the Dead Man was once soldas a slave for the Forest Head.

In a split second, Aroni comes in and snatches off the Questioner's mask, revealingthat it is Eshuoro, not the Dead Man. That is what he says. "I thought Eshuorowouldn't be brave enough," he says.

What does the Forest Head do? He skips the questioning. He invites every person on Earth and an Interpreter to come with him. Interpreter: The Interpreter brings Rola,Demoke, and Adenebi on stage. The Forest Head dismisses the Dead Man, eventhough he protests.

He says the Interpreter isn't the one he knows, but he doesn't care. His acolyte has taken his place. The Forest Head thinks that Eshuoro may have sent him. WhenEshuoro comes in, he says that he doesn't need slaves. Interpreter: After Aroni hastaken dead woman off stage, mortals are given masks by the Interpreter and they walkaround in a circle.

The Dead Woman is brought on. She is no longer pregnant and is holding the hand ofa Half-Child, so she isn't as scary. It says in the stage directions: "As each spirit iscalled, one of the human three gets agitated, is taken over, and then speaks." TheSpirit of the Palm speaks, and the Half-Child is trying to figure out who is talking. Asa figure in red walks in the child's footsteps, the half-child is trying to figure out who is talking. Children play a game called sesan on another part of the stage. The childdigs a hole and then starts to play it. When the figure in red does what he does, heasks for help before saying, "I'll be born dead."

It starts with the Spirit of Darkness. Then the Spirit of Precious Stones, then the Spirit of the Pachyderms, and finally the Spirit of the Rivers. They move and speak togetherin a big chorus, but then they all stop. There is still a game going on between the Half-Child and the figure in red, but the figure in red wins. The figure holds up his seeds invictory.

There is a monologue by the Chorus of Waters. The Spirit of the Rivers replies. As acloud of dust grows, a distant noise gets more and more loud. Suddenly, theInterpreter starts to dance between them, which stops Aroni from getting close to thefigure in red,

They ask the Spirit of the Sun for help. Before talking to the Spirit of Volcanoes, theForest Head talks to the spirits of the forest for a while. The Spirit of Volcanoes saysthat it isn't the source of the noise, though. The Forest Head wants to know where thenoise is coming from, and the Ant Leader says that the ant is in a bad place. It keepsdeflecting, so the Forest Head asks the Ant Leader if he/she has a reason.

It looks like the ants aren't going to have a good future. Afterward, the figure in redheads for the forest head, while three girls enter. They become "perverted" when threepeople have power over one another, the Forest Head says.

In a split second, the figure in red takes off his mask and says that he is Eshuoro.Half-Child: He puts his hand out and tries to reach the Dead Woman. Child: Eshuorostarts playing a game that makes him want to play with the Dead Woman. WhenEshuoro grabs him, she throws him to the Triplets, and they start to toss him around.

Demoke tries to stop the child from being thrown, and he eventually succeeds. In thenext scene, Eshuoro stops him and asks for help from the Forest Head. He then tries togive the child to the Dead Woman. Is Demoke going to understand what Aroni is upto? Aroni tells him that he is holding a “doomed thing” and that the forest won't lethim through.

Demoke gives the child to the Dead Woman, and Aroni leads the mother and childaway. This is how it works: The Forest Head leaves, then Eshuoro, who is very happy.It looks like a picture of Demoke's token. This is how it looked when the villagepeople danced around it. In this case, there is no contact between them and Forest People.

He puts a jester head on Demoke, then pushes him in the direction of the totem. To getto the top, Demoke must climb. The totem is set on fire as Demoke rises. Ogun comesin to help Demoke when he falls. This is how it works:

Agboreko and the old man are brought on stage by Murete, who is drunk. As Demokeopens his eyes, the Old Man runs over and holds him up. He tells him that the fourthperson was the Forest Head himself, dressed up. It has been a busy day for mortals,but they have learned their lesson. Rola is "chastened" and comes forward. It's time for an epilogue as Igbale music plays. Demoke and Agboreko talk about the old man,Rola, and Adenebi say goodbye.