Simbi and the Satyr of the Dark Jungle

Amos Tutuola is a wonderful writer from Nigeria. He specializes in a kind of modernization of classic African lore. He is surely steeped in a lot of the myth and religion of the Yoruba. Simbi and the Satyr of the Dark Jungle is a wonderful tale. It begins with a wealthy Simbi growing bored of her fairy tale (ivory tower, perhaps?) existence. She wants to learn of the Poverty and Punishment. This beginning conjures thoughts of a young Siddhartha discovering suffering. But make no mistake, Tutuola is not just trying to rewrite the tale of Buddha. This is his own story. Simbi encounters terrible strife and suffering on her voyage. She learns what a terrible mistake it was to intentionally undertake to suffer. I enjoy this point. One should not bring suffering onto themselves. There is enough real suffering in the world already. It is a point that should be well taken but we shall see. I must also comment on the humor that Tutuola peppers throughout this tale. He is a writer with a comic flair. This is a fabulous fable for the twentieth as well as twenty-first centuries.