IGHO GOES TO FARM 8 8. From Market to Hunting

DAYS later, Ufuoma took Igho and Onome to town. It was nkwo market day when Ibedeni bubbles with traders from neighbouring communities, who come to trade in various articles. The most important of all was fish for which the town is famous. The inhabitants are mostly fishermen, but they also engage in a little farming, especially the women. But farming is mostly carried out by the Isoko people who reside in the hamlet part where Igho's grandparents lived, also known as Igwre Ibedeni.

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On this particular day, the market was already full when they arrived. Onome and Igho marvelled at the number of fish on display. Most of them were fresh and alive and still attempted to escape. At Obiofu quarters, Ufuoma took them to his friend's canoe at the waterside. Asede had just returned from inspecting his fishnets at Utekere, a major stream and outlet that flows into Ase Creek. It is rich in a variety of fish and wild games. Its origin is deep into the forest and linked to Azagba, another small town perched close to the bank of the mighty River Niger.

The stream is believed to be inhabited by a goddess called Utekere from which it derives its name. She is believed to be responsible for the stream's extreme fertility in fish all year round.

Utekere stream has many rich fishing lakes tucked in parts of it that the inhabitants harvest every year, with okpani being the most famous of such lakes. It is fish mostly from Utekere stream that Ibedeni harvests to feed its upland neighbouring towns in the entire Isoko communites, who come daily to buy. By late afternoon to early evening, those who had gone to fish in Utekere would return with canoes laden with fish. Buyers swarm the canoes to buy and then go upland to resell at Oleh and Ozoro.

Igho and Onome were fascinated by the sheer number of fish caught and the buyers haggling with the fishermen and their wives, who had come to assist their husbands sell at premium price.

Ufuoma told them the names of the fishes in his friend's canoe. He called them by their Isoko names: onwa, ohore, eba, eroo, ofe, ojase, evru, eroro, ogani, obu, ozeze, akata, etho, urue, and many others.

"So, how did he catch all these fish?" Onome asked.

"You can see some of the nets he used," Ufuoma pointed at a muddied fish net in the canoe.

"But look," Igho pointed, "it has spirogyra in it!"

"When a fish net stays too long in the water," Asede said, "it gathers spirogyra and mud and all manner of trash. That is why I brought it back so I can wash and dry it for a few days before taking it back."

"So, how will you catch more fish tomorrow?" Onome asked.

"Oh, there are many other nets and hooks still left in the water apart from this one," Asede assured her.

Asede then asked Igho and Onome to take their pick of fish from the lot in the canoe. They were excited at Ufuoma's friend's generous offer and didn't know what to pick. They then picked one each, but Asede would have none of that. He dipped a bowl into the heap of fish, scooped it full and emptied it in a big plastic bag and handed it to Ufuoma to give the old people at home.

Ufuoma, Igho and Onome thanked him profusely and left. At the market there wasn't much that caught their attention apart from the fish. At the end Ufuoma decided not to buy anything. Onome wanted to know why.

"So, why did we come to the market?" she asked.

"Well, I just wanted to show you the market," he said.

* * *

A few days later, Igho woke up early and stole past Onome in their room and went to knock on Ufuoma's door. Ufuoma was already up, but he wondered who it was. Only Grandpa sometimes knocked on his door before it was clear daybreak. So he opened the door without asking who it was. Ufuoma was surprised when he saw Igho. He let him in.

"You are up so early," Ufuoma said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes and no!" Igho said.

"Ummm some riddle this morning, eh? Why are you here?"

"I want to go with you to inspect your traps! I want to see what it's like." Ufuoma chuckled.

"Inspecting traps is not for small boys."

"But I want to go,' Igho insisted. "I don't want Onome to wake up and meet us. I won't be able to go. Let's go now, please!'

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Ufuoma looked at Igho again and shrugged.

"Don't tell me I didn't warn you!" Ufuoma said. "It's not a pleasant experience."

"Yes," Igho partly screamed in excitement, but quickly covered his mouth with his palm so as not to wake up Onome, who was still sleeping in the next room.

Ufuoma quickly gave Igho suitable clothes to wear. He knew the morning dew would be thick; he didn't want Igho to get too cold. He knew he would be cold anyway since they would wade through some streams and streamlets to get to some of his traps. He tapped gently on the old people's door and told them Igho was accompanying him to inspect his traps. Igho thought he heard his Grandma chuckle. He, too, smiled. Ufuoma slung his hunting bag on his shoulders, took his cutlass and they left.

It was still dark when they set out. Igho marvelled at how quickly Ufuoma walked in the dark and on footpaths that were not clearly marked from the surrounding bushes and deep into the forest. He made efforts to catch up with him. Huge trees towered above them and night birds still made frightening noises. At such moments, Igho ran up to Ufuoma and held him. Ufuoma would laugh out loud.

What annoyed Igho most was the morning dew. It was still a misty dawn. Although Ufuoma had warned him about the dew, Igho did not know it could be that bad. They had barely walked two kilometres into the forest when Igho realised he was already drenched as though it was raining. All the leaves of the bushes they passed were all heavy with dewdrops. As they passed by, the pregnant dewdrops, like tears, would melt into their clothes and get them wet.

It was worse under the big trees of the jungle. The dew here dropped like rainfall. In fact, dew under the trees fell hard like rain and got them drenched from their head and shoulders.

In spite of the inconvenience of the dew falling like rain that early, Igho was happy he was out there in the forest with Ufuoma inspecting his traps; it was an adventure worth all the efforts. Surely, he would have a great story to tell about it. No city boy could boast of such fortune.

Igho learned that Ufuoma had a variety of traps. There was the long trap fashioned like a fence, with knee-length sticks rising from the ground. Each passage or opening made into the body of the long fence is a trap carefully laid. Any animal attempting to pass through is caught. They caught two grass-cutters and three rabbits. They also caught a snail, a squirrel and a tortoise. Igho was intrigued; tortoise is believed to be the smartest and most cunning animal in folktales. How come it didn't outsmart Ufuoma's trap but got itself caught?

Ufuoma only laughed when Igho told him what he thought about tortoise ending up in a trap in spite of his fame. He told Igho he'd caught many before now.

The other bigger traps were those fashioned and laid as square holes on the ground but carefully concealed. It is meant for bigger games like antelopes and deer. When Ufuoma showed them to him, Igho doubted they were traps. But he became convinced when Ufuoma removed the dry leaves that concealed one of them and poked a stick through the hole. When the trap snapped, Igho fell back, shocked at the furry of its spring.

Ufuoma told him that if it was an antelope, the strong stick would hang its entrapped leg up in the air and the animal would thrash about till he arrived or it died from exhaustion.

Other traps were less complicated, especially for rabbits. Just one stick and a wire loop a few inches from the pointed tip where a piece of cassava is pinned, and as the rabbit passed through the loop to get to the cassava bait, it gets caught and it slips and dangles and gets strangled to death.

Only one such trap caught a rabbit. By the time they got back home at about 9am, they had a bag filled with games.

Chapter end