CAMEROON TRIBUNE (Yaoundé) 03 August 06 Magic Snake Missing! (Martin Nkematabong)

Wonders shall never end. A juggler has announced the sum of CFA one million for anyone who will discover a serpent which escaped from a mystic suitcase last Friday with two golden rings on its nose.

Alhadji Alpha, who is said to have spent over 25 years in Jericho reading magic and necromancy, grossly disappointed his fans last Friday during a public magic show at Elig Effa in Yaounde when he failed to gain control over his mamba which madly skipped over a magic case, frightened off an eager crowd and dived into nearby bushes.

The snake, which hitherto watched its master conjure and cast lots, gave a deaf ear to any magical verses and growls, violently wagged its tongue and meandered through heaps of refuse packed by the roadside and plunged into thick elephant grasses, scaring hundreds of onlookers in diverse directions. Many exasperatedly bumped on passing cars, sustaining serious injuries.

"It will be back in a few minutes," Alhadji Alpha said. "My master is angry with me. He needs some money," the conjuror tried to convince the panting crowd. But the panting spectators were held spellbound for the next 30 minutes. The mamba did not return, despite huge sums of money the magician burnt in public to appease his angry master.

"Taah! Someone is trying to size my waist," he noted. "There is a tempter on my toes. Taah! The evil one has merely five minutes to undo the web in which the sear-over (mamba) is entangled. Who wants to rub shoulders with the king of the coast!" Alhadji thundered. But his threats failed to bring the snake.

"Taah!" the magician yelped and set to search in the thick bushes. He sprayed assorted brands of perfumes and magic powder, pleaded with the sun, shook and listened to a deer horn clad in beats and cowries, then chanted praise songs, with ecstasy, to the devil. But the snake did not return.

Alhadji looked at his wristwatch. It was about 3h:30. The sun has set. "Communication no longer flows between me and the spirit," he regretted. "But the sea-rover is under control. It will tear the web before nightfall. Watch out!" he said, warning that the snake may spare no one who endangers its life.

"Do not throw stones at him," he told the disappointed, dictating a telephone number which he said belonged to the sea master. He announced that anyone who dials the number, indicating the whereabouts of the snake will earn a cash reward of CFA one million.
Magic Snake Missing!

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• CMR Press: Magic Snake Missing! - W von Papineäu, Mon Aug 7 15:28:36 2006