The Oppressive Sun of South Western Nigeria – As Captured by D.O. Fagunwa in Igbo Olodumare (Forest Of God)

The first sentence (yes, sentence, not even paragraph!) of “Igbo Olodumare” by D.O. Fagunwa is over 300 words long. My readers are free to draw their conclusions on such a very long sentence but as I read it, I realised there is something very special about its content. Whoever lived in South Western Nigeria would understand how intense the heat could be during the dry season. Long sentence or not, Fagunwa captured this experience very well and in a very African manner.

Here is my attempted translation. Not being a master of the Yoruba language, I won’t claim to have done a great justice to the passage. Nevertheless, will like to share this with you. After my translation, I show the passage in the Yoruba language so that those who can read in Yoruba can enjoy it first hand (and hopefully provide their own translations as comment!).

Here is the Translation

Once upon a time, in the heat of a hot afternoon, after having my lunch, I headed out to the outskirts of my home town. I climbed a hill to its zenith, and perched under a tree.

What an unbearably hot afternoon! The heat was such that buckets of sweat, more than enough for a bath, poured out of the bodies of my fellow citizens, and we felt like hot pots that had been on open fire for hours.

I took off my tops leaving on just my trousers. Although previously I had carefully pitched my hat on my head, I removed it and a cool, soothing breeze hit the back of my head.

The heat was truly on under the unbearable sun. By now all farmers had laid down their tools, retreating into their huts. The labourers who specialised in moving goods from one point to another lacked the energy to speak, conserving all what was left for manoeuvring down the hilly roads in my home town as they panted heavily.

The hot sun had swallowed every single drop of water on the dusty road, the wind blew the abundant dust in every direction, turning the clothes of those unfortunate to be wearing white as brown as the dusty ground.

Those driving on the roads were not spared as  their bodies were covered in layers and layers of dust, like the plants and vegetation on the sides of a very dusty road. What about the passengers in the vehicles on the road? The dust became an unwanted powder which defaced rather than beautified their faces: they were as dusty as external walls covered with piles of dust.

All humans were covered in dust and the animal kingdom was not spared by the intense heat. The cold blooded lizards were busy running around but as they ran through the dry leaves on the ground, it was very clear that the land was patched and crying out for water. For the large birds however, they had all gone quiet and disappeared into the shade as the intense heat was too much for them.

Below is the original text in Yoruba:

Losangangan ijϙsi, nigbati mo jeun ẹkeji tan, mo kuro ni ile mi, mo bo si ehin odi, mo gun ori apata nla kan lo, nigbati mo si de oke lohun tan, mo bo si abe igi kan ti o hù si ori apata, mo joko, mo lé góngó, bēni ōrun nã mu gidigidi, ara omo araiye gbona bi ikoko elubo, ōgun bo ara gbogbo enia, afi be enipe nwon bu omi si ara ni, emi na boa so ara mi sile, afi sokoto lo kù si idi mi, emi ti mo ti de fila ri, ti mo te fila mi siwaju kongo, mo si fila kuro ni àtàrí, ategun alafia si nfe si mi ni ipako, osan pon gidigidi, awon agbe papa ti sa kuro ninu oko, nwon nrerin ninu ahere, alãru ko le soro mo, nwon nmi hele bi nwon ti ngun ori oke, oju ona le bi okuta, gbongbo le bi ìdáro, ile pupa bi epo, eti sokoto funfun baje, eti ewu agbada di pupa, anu awon onimoto se mi, ara won kun fun ēri, o dabi eweko oju ona, awon ti o si joko si ehin oko, awon wonni kun atike ijangbon, nwon pupa bi egbe ogiri, eruku bo omo araiye gbogbo, ogunlogo awon eda alaye ni nwon mo pe orun na mu, awon alangba nsare, ara won ndun hánránhánrán lori ewe gbigbe, awon eiye nla ko si kemo, nitori mo ti gbo igbe elulu, mo ti gbo ti adaba, eiye agbe ti ke, aluko ti soro, olukuluku won si ti dake minimini si ibiti Olodumare so won lójò is, afi awon eiye kekere gbogbo, ti won ko tobi ju alapandede, ni wnon nfo sihin fo sohun, ti ara won ko bale bi ewe oju omi, nwon nti ori igi de ori igi bi nwon ti nke bi omo adie.

Final Thoughts

Please note that the signs on the vowels were a faithful reproduction of the edition that I read (published by Nelson Publishers, 2005).

This is one of the earliest books written in Yoruba language. My copy is a 2005 reprint but it claimed the book was first published in 1949. Authors who wrote in their mother tongue abounded in South Western Nigeria but D.O. Fagunwa set the pace and the rest simply followed.