Rooted in the original Yoruba epic, Tutuola’s work hardly fits into strict genre boundaries. And yet, we dare to say: again a fairy tale, and again a lot of things at first look like gobbledygook, although they are not at all.

For ten evenings, the people of Abeokuta sing, dance, drink palm wine and listen to their leader’s story about adventures of his youth. At times comical, at times grotesque - and overall surprisingly bizarre, this story is extremely close to a picaresque novel in its richness of action and the hero's movements in space. The narrator makes six journeys and returns with treasure. But material enrichment is actually just the tip of the iceberg.