I DIP 
A IN 
f4THE 
1 1 SEA DAPO ADENIYI Front of the house. High noon 
with sun-spots. A light sound of 
breeze and waves from the 
backwaters. Iscariot is lying face-up on 
the ground, his box for a head-rest; he 
swipes at a fly, rolls over on his side 
where his face is now trained directly 
on Bakhud's quarters. The window up 
is shut. Silence. Humbi enters, and 
Iscariot rolls over in the opposite 
direction, turning his face to the road. 
Humbi goes across and taps him. 
HUMBI: Iscariot Iscariot. 
ISCARIOT: Ugnh? 
HUMBI: Iscariot 
ISCARIOT: Ugnh? 
HUMBI: Wake up, wake up. 
ISCARIOT: What is it? [Going back 
to sleep, Humbi gives him a pinch in the 
side so he rises sharply on his 
buttocks.] 
ISCARIOT: You nut? 
HUMBI: He is back. 
ISCARIOT: Who? Habibu? 
HUMBI: No, not Habibu, the man, the 
one who came before. 
ISCARIOT: [Rising, anxious] And he 
told you he will like to see the box now? 
HUMBI: [Aghast] What box? 
ISCARIOT: [Sinking back again, 
slowly] I thought he might be willing to 
take his measurement, that's all. 
HUMBI: What measurement? 
ISCARIOT: [Puts his head back on the 
box. Philosophically,] He'll have to take 
measurement some day anyhow. We'll 
all take measurement. 
HUMBI: What is he talking about ? 
Get your friend down quickly because I 
think it's him he wants to speak with. 
ISCARIOT: [Staring at the sky, 
thinking] Nobody ever wants it yet it is 
a necessity. Nobody ever comes forward 
willingly. 
HUMBI: [Shaking him awake from his 
day-dreams] I said get him to come 
down you heard me before the man 
wanders off again. 
ISCARIOT: Where's he wandering to 
this time? 
HUMBI: How do I know? He's right 
there now standing his face turned to the 
sea. He wouldn't even reply if you 
talked to him; that's what I can't 
understand, why he keeps mute, he 
hasn't spoken a word since. 
ISCARIOT: But you saw him go off 
the last time. I should like to know 
where he wanders to each time. 
HUMBI: Oh hurry Iscariot or he... 
[looking the way back to the exit] he 
might just go drown himself. I don't 
know what is the matter with him. 
ISCARIOT: Why would he do a thing 
like that to himself ? Is he a couple of 
screws loose or something ? 
HUMBI: You should have seen him 
yourself Iscariot, acts like he's never 
seen water all his life. He's been 
running about in the water his hands 
stretched out probing the sand under 
the water with his hands 
[demonstrating] sometimes he would 
run up east and race back westward 
with all his dress on. It's dangerous 
doing a thing like that in the sea but he 
doesn't seem to realise it. 
ISCARIOT: You don't know him 
who he is, where he comes from? 
HUMBI: I belie ve he' s a mute Iscariot 
ISCARIOT: But why does he prefer 
it drowning? [Rising again as if on the 
spark of an idea] perhaps you could 
talk with him and persuade him about 
the other options. 
HUMBI: What are you talking about! 
ISCARIOT: [Sinking back again.] I 
should have known. 
HUMBI: [Glancing again at the exit] 
We must get Bakhud before it is too 
late.[77ie rams bleat from the house, 
Humbi pauses, heads for the side of 
thehouse and picks a number of grass 
tufts, returns and pushes them through 
the window to feed them. Iscariot 
keeps his blank indifferent gaze at the 
sky. Rams bleat again - suddenly 
Humbi makes a discovery. Whatever 
it is makes him look in Iscariot's 
direction with suspicion, puzzled and 
fearful he looks again into the house, 
peeping in, looks back all the way 
again to Iscariot] 
HUMBI: [Hushed tone] Iscariot. 
[Iscariot giving neither reply nor 
motion, Humbi draws close to him.] 
57
Photograph of the Bar Beach by Ako Amadi, exhibited last year in Lagos. 
HUMBI: Iscariot. 
ISCARIOT: [Without movement] 
Something eating you ? 
HUMBI:[Tappinghim, nervous] Look 
look Iscariot its no joking matter. You 
know what I found? 
ISCARIOT: That your friend has gone 
dipping himself again, of course ... 
HUMBI: It's the rams Iscariot. Look 
do you know what I have been noticing 
for some time now, the rams have been 
vanishing one by one for a while. 
Between how many days and now, I tell 
you the number has reduced again by 
two rams. 
ISCARIOT: And that is why you are 
going to burst your arteries, because a 
ram or two have decided to duck behind 
planks and you can't see them? 
HUMBI: [Stubbornly] If they ducked I 
will know. And why will they duck ! 
You can even hear it from their 
bleating. Look ... [Glancing shortly at 
the exit] there was a whole crowd 
of them less than five ... 
[Movement of the bolts behind the door 
up, but door is not opened. Humbi 
starting crawls rapidly on his hands for 
the safety of the house' lower section, 
waits. Iscariot also has raised his back 
Prolonged silence. As Humbi plans to 
rise and return, door up the stairs is 
jerked open and Bakhud starts to race 
with the usual load of scrolls. Humbi 
BAKHUD: [Stooping still, looks up to 
Iscariot] I thought you said you had no 
dossiers on those ones they took care of 
the other time. 
ISCARIOT: I tried hard but, no 
from the ground in expectation. Silence. cooperation. 
down the staircase, one opened scroll in ISCARIOT: The men of the town 
his hand, followed closely by Ighuahide hoarded all the facts. 
petrified, scrambles under the staircase BAKHUD: Town. You don't mean you 
got as far as the town ? I can' t remember but with one leg partly visible. 
Iscariot has risen to his feet but Bakhud giving any leave that you get in touch 
does not even appear to take any with them. 
notice of him or of anything else save 
the top of Iscariot's box which he makes ISCARIOT: Of course, Bakhud 
his goal. He stoops by the. box and starts 
to crease his brows grasping some BAKHUD: [Thinking, looks down to 
meanings which he proceeds to compare the box and on the scroll] But then what 
with the inscriptions on the opened page you have here sure looks like the dossiers 
of his scroll.] 
1 
ISCARIOT:Which Bakhud ? 
BAKHUD: The ones that went into the 
ground. 
BAKHUD: What cooperation? 
all right, or what I think they ought to 
be. 
ISCARIOT: [Embarrassed] I hadn't 
thought of that Bakhud. 
BAKHUD: In that case let's just see. 
58
[Continues to probe through the signs 
on the box] It is the same dossiers all 
right Iscariot. yes... [Checking] a headon 
collision, all right, two locomotives 
... Yes ... one having a ... what is ... 
[Squeezing his brows harder to grasp] 
premonition of a coming clash - 
[Looking up, excited\yon are actually 
sure of these facts Iscariot? Now dear 
me you really got yourself something 
here ... the first lorry dashed its foot 
against abump and then the drone of the 
engine-cries lowered. [Looking up 
again] I don't get it. What you are 
trying to say is the first vehicle sank into 
a pothole and because of the severity of 
this the engine almost gets cut out. Am 
I right ? [Thinking.] It is safe to deduce 
from this then that the engine caught 
cold, catarrh, asthma, bronchitis, never 
mind the precise prognosis for now, you 
interpret this to mean a premonition that 
a disaster is lying ahead ... I am right? 
So that there was this clash or head-on 
with another van which yet was more 
than a thousand feet away. Interesting. 
This is really interesting. [Rising, his 
face a flood of excitement.] I'll really 
suggest that you come up right away 
and give me the full picture so I can 
arrange them in one neat calligraphy. 
[Near to whistling, beams sweetly but 
as he peers down the South and his eyes 
catch the roadside post, he appears to 
whince andlose some sweetness, glances 
down at the box for reassurance.] 
BAKHUD: Wait. Wait... Iscariot. We 
have to cross-check certain details of 
this occurrence. This being, we might 
say, an eye-witness account ...but can 
you swear to the accuracy of the distance 
with the on-coming van? I mean did you 
take a tape-measure unit along todoublecheck 
? 
ISCARIOT: I...didn't think about that 
Bakhud. 
BAKHUD: Well then. Well so it means 
we have to take a little risk on that point. 
It's a reasonable risk I should think for 
no one in his right frame of mind except 
of course one disguising as your wellwisher 
but in fact wishing you anything 
but well will expect you to run between 
two fast moving vehicles with a tape to 
take measurement. [For amoment looks 
down thoughtfully on the box.] Not bad. 
Not bad at all. [Motions to Ighu, turns 
towards the staircase, he stops. ] I nearly 
forgot. There is one other thing I meant 
to ask you, I don't know if you have an 
idea. There is this riddle that I still 
believe defeats the carpenter's tapemeasure: 
the riddle of the distance 
between the road and death. Has that 
never occurred to you Iscariot ? Now I 
am sure no metricology can speak with 
certitude that the road boasts an equidistance 
with dying. The immeasurable 
medium-lane burrows through dug-out 
holes of the earth, that road to the other 
life knows no reverse. There we have a 
straight and uncontestable FACT - no 
man plying on that road once comes 
back hereinafter to tell a tale. 
[Looks to Iscariot for a response but 
Iscariot keeps staring blankly. Bakhud 
waits some more, gives up. ] 
No idea. No idea. All right, still you've 
not done badly. 
[He begins to climb the stairs, looks 
down and catches a view of Humbi 's 
protruding leg.] 
BAKHUD: Somebody it seems forgot 
one of his legs here, (to Iscariot)know 
whose it is 7[Starts to descend back, 
looks deliberately toward Iscariot's 
legs.] No I think you have your-two 
intact so it can't be yours. Except you've 
begun to keep spares. [Bakhud hands 
Ighu his scroll and edges close to the 
spot where the leg is , attacks it as 
though it were a great snake while 
Humbi struggles to draw his legs in. 
Bakhud pulls at the leg and a struggle 
ensues, Humbi continuing in his bid to 
rescue it. Humbi loses out and Bakhud 
drags him all the way to the open, 
Humbi crying out a plea. He breaks 
free and struggles out of the reach of 
Bakhud's hands, particularly Ighu who 
is handicapped by the luggage of 
scrolls. ] 
BAKHVD:[Panting] The .. the ... 
bloody rascal. What's he doing in there 
as if he were a rat that I know he is ? [To 
Humbi] Come, come on, you bloody 
thing. 
HUMBI: I, I brought petitions about the 
rams Bakhud. 
BAKHUD: [Aghast] What! 
HUMBI: I came to report about it 
Bakhud. 
BAKHUD: And what about them? 
HUMBI: They ... they've been 
vanishing, vanishing for some time I 
noticed Bakhud. 
BAKHUD: [Stealing a glance through 
the house] Vanishing.Who appointed 
you a keeper over the rams Humbi? 
[Glancing rapidly round the faces of the 
men about him. To Humbi - ] 
Yes. I said who made you an advocate 
for the rams ? We've got little or no 
business with those creatures - true, we 
took over their habitation and forced 
ourselves upon them as compulsory 
neighbours. The best we could undertake 
at any stage, if one or two of them came 
into mishap or accident from time to 
time or even took a short stroll into the 
second 1 ife is organise a mourning session 
on their behalf. I've never heard of it - 
and so I guess is Iscariot - no, never have 
the fats of rams afforded the luxury 
boxes, Never.[<4 rustle of leaves and 
sound of feet on gravel from beside the 
house. All attention is diverted that way, 
a man appears. His turban wrapped 
round his cap is drawn downward to his 
chin so that his cheeks, mouth and jaws 
are covered. He is dripping wet from his 
head to his feet, his sandals from the 
same country as Bakhud. He is tall and 
thin, his long dress and turban making 
him look like a staff. He advances up 
slowly to a reception committee that is 
too surprisedandwonder-strucktoknow 
what to do.] 
(Excerpted from a full-length play, The 
Return of Habibu Timbuktu) IGRI