The Midnight Goat Thief
Once upon a time, Hare, tired of living alone, decided it was time to find himself a companion. He decided to make the journey to the neighboring village to meet his future in-laws.
As was customary, he needed someone to accompany him on this important occasion. So, he asked his long-time friend and happy-go-lucky fellow Baboon. He readily agreed.
Then, Hare and Baboon were on their way to the in-laws. When they were half through the journey, Hare stopped Baboon near a dense shrub and said,
“Say friend Baboon, there is one important favor I need to ask of you.”
“Yes, friend Hare, let me know what it is I can do.”
‘Do you see this herb?’ said Hare.
“Yes, friend. It is the herb used to cure a tummy ache,” said Baboon.
“Well done friend!” said Hare. “When we get to my in-law’s place, they will give us food. When I eat the food, I may suffer from a tummy ache. Friend, you will quickly run back to this exact place, to this shrub. Dig up the roots and bring them back to cure me.” Baboon agreed and they continued their journey. At sunset, they reached the in-law’s village. Hare and Baboon were well received and given a room to rest. Both Hare and Baboon were hungry and looked forward to the meal. A feast was made in their honor and brought to their room. As they took the first bite of the meal, Hare interrupted Baboon.
“Friend, I think that problem is already starting. My tummy is rumbling and is starting to ache. Do you remember the herb? Rush and get me some of it! Otherwise, I may not survive the night!”
Baboon panicked and quickly sprinted off to get the herb for Hare’s tummy. Meanwhile, Hare settled comfortably and devoured the whole feast all alone. When he had his fill, he called for the dishes to be removed. Soon, Baboon, huffing and puffing, tumbled into the room with the herb.
“Here you are friend, I ran as fast as I could. I found the tree. I dug the roots and I brought them to cure your aching tummy!” Hare exclaimed, “Hmm, about that … ! As soon as you left my tummy suddenly felt better and I could eat. Now I feel quite strong!”
“So, where is my food then?” asked Baboon. Hare told Baboon the host had cleared the dishes. Baboon was disappointed but the two friends went to sleep. In the middle of the night, hunger kept Baboon awake. Hare suggested a plan to steal and eat a goat from the pen outside. Baboon readily agreed to the plan and soon the two pals accomplished their mission and returned to their room.
But lo and behold, while Baboon slept, Hare stealthily smeared him with the blood of the goat they had just eaten, which he had secretly brought with him to the room.
In the morning, the hosts woke up to find their goat missing. They questioned the two friends who both denied the crime until they saw Baboon stained with blood. He was apprehended and killed. Hare apologized for his friend’s behavior, thanked his hosts and left. Meanwhile, Jackal, a friend to Baboon, received word on how Hare had tricked his friend and led him to his death. Jackal decided to avenge Baboon’s death. So, Jackal visited Hare and asked for his company to his in-law’s village. In the same manner, as they were halfway through the journey, Jackal asked Hare,
“Say friend Hare, there is one important favor I need to ask of you.”
“Yes, friend Jackal, let me know what it is I can do.”
“Do you see this herb?” said Jackal
“Yes, friend. It is the herb used to cure a tummy ache.”
“Well done friend,” said Jackal. “When we get to my in-law’s place, they will give us food. When I eat the food, I may suffer from a tummy ache.
Friend, you will quickly run back to this exact place, to this shrub. Dig up the roots and bring them back to cure me.” Hare agreed but before they continued their journey he excused himself for a bathroom break. Without Jackal noticing, Hare secretly dug up the roots of the shrub and hid them away. They continued their journey. At sunset, they reached the in-laws’ village.
As usual, the visitors are welcomed, given a room and they retire for some rest. Soon, food was served.
“Friend,” said Jackal, “I think that problem is already starting. My tummy is rumbling and is starting to ache. Do you remember the herb? Rush and get me some of it! Otherwise, I may not survive the night!”
Immediately, Hare produced the herb and Jackal had no choice but to share the meal with Hare. Again, in the middle of the night, Jackal woke Hare up, spelled out the plan and they killed and ate a goat. Jackal secretly kept some blood on his hands to later smear on Hare while he slept. They retired and Jackal waited for Hare to fall asleep. But Hare’s eyes remained wide open. He checked again and again until the sun came up!
Soon, the in-laws burst into the room looking for the midnight goat thief. Jackal was caught literally red-handed with blood! Hare had slept peacefully through the night even though his eyes never closed for a single moment!
Mother’s Legacy
Atule lived in the village of Ukpoke with her mother, having lost her father at the tender age of six. She was the only child of her mother, who was a peasant farmer. Atule was a very beautiful girl. Men, women and children appreciated her beauty. Atule’s beauty was even more evident in the evenings when the golden beams of the late evening sun shone on her dark skin on her way from the river. She was respectful and obedient. Atule had come to the age when she would assist her mother who had labored to bring her up. As a result of keeping bad friends, Atul’s beauty suddenly went to her head. Instead of assisting her mother, Atule became disobedient, rude and hostile. She did not assist her mother in any domestic work; rather, she would consciously dress to enhance her beauty and began to showcase herself. All efforts by her mother and neighbors to convince her that she was on the wrong track did not yield good results. Atule would go out in the morning and return late in the evening to eat and sleep. The next morning before cockcrow, Atule would take her bath and get ready for the unrewarding day.
At some point, her mother could no longer bear it; she decided to punish her. Each time Atule came in when the soup was on the hearth, her mother would go back to the pot of soup. Even though she had already added all the ingredients that the soup required, she would dust her palms into the pot of soup, and seemingly invite all the ingredients to come into the pot of soup. Meanwhile, her daughter would sit down to watch her and from there she thought she had learned how to cook soup, not knowing her mother was deceiving her. One day, as fate would have it, Atule’s mother died. She had no option than to go and stay with her mother’s relatives. While she was there, she continued with her lifestyle. Her mother’s relatives could not tolerate her, just like her mother. For that reason, Atule left for Jagba Jogbo with her new suitor. In the tradition of Jagba Jogbo, when a man married a new wife, the woman must cook soup for the family of her husband. The soup must be cooked with vegetable leaves. It was regarded as the simplest and cheapest to cook. Unfortunately, Atule could not cook the soup because she had not learned how to cook any soup. She did not know how to use any of the ingredients her husband’s family gave her. Instead, she ate the smoked fish meant for the soup while the pot with water meant for the soup was on the hearth. Each time, she would open the pot of boiling water and dust her palms into the pot and invite all the ingredients to come into it. She did it several times, but each time she opened the pot there would be nothing inside. She tried and tried again but nothing happened. But to her, that was how her mother did it in her time. She never knew her mother only deceived her as she was not ready to cook but eat. Her husband’s kinsmen, who had arrived for the new wife’s meal, started murmuring. Her sister-in-law decided to get closer and see what her brother’s wife had been doing. Unfortunately, she had done nothing. The sister-in-law wanted to assist but she could not because she was not happy with her. She quickly ran to her brother and told him what was happening. The mother rejected Atule because it was taboo to marry a wife who could not cook soup in their community. The family of her husband simply gathered and told her to go and that, until she had learned to cook, she could not come back and be Atule’s wife. Atule cried and wept because she was ashamed of her refusal to learn from her mother and now she had nowhere to go and learn what she was supposed to have learned. However, she went back to her sister’s house to learn what she was supposed to have known earlier.
A Mother’s Love (The Story of Two Crows)
Once upon a time, there lived two families of black crows. One crow was an older black crow and the other was a younger black crow with a white chest. The older black crow did not have any children while the black and white one did. Every morning, the older crow would watch as the young mother sang beautiful songs to its infants on a tree next to them. After a while, she started to feel jealous because all the babies she had died. She also wondered why she did not have a white patch on her chest like the younger crow. Every night, she would complain angrily to the gods, “Why is it that every time I have my own children, they end up dying while hers live? You gave the other crow everything. I don’t even have a decorated chest like hers!” The more she complained, the angrier she got. So, one day she decided to start a friendship with the younger crow. She wanted to make sure the young mother trusted her before she proceeded with her plan. Every day, she would visit the nest where the infants were and gave them seeds and nuts to eat. After a while the little crows began to get used to this new visitor. One day, as the mother crow was headed out to fetch food for the children, she asked if the older crow would watch over the baby crows. Upon hearing this, the older crow was glad and smiled mischievously, “Yes, of course! I will keep your children safe, take all the time in the world!” The young mother crow flew away leaving her children behind. While she was gone the older crow turned her eyes to the baby crows and looked for the one with the white patch on her chest similar to her mothers. “Yes, this is the one I want,” said the crow. She quickly lifted the baby out of its nest and flew away, leaving the other baby crows afraid and crying for their mother. While the young mother crow was flying, she felt a sharp pain on her chest and knew something was wrong. Suddenly she could hear the sounds of her baby crows crying out for help. She quickly flew back only to find that the youngest of her babies was missing. The mother wept bitterly as she looked for her child. She went from tree to tree and asked if anyone had seen her baby, but all the other crows said no. She continued her search far and near but did not find her baby. After a week of non stop searching she found a nest on top of a large tree away from the other crows. Inside the nest she saw her baby. Before she could do anything, the older crow appeared. “What are you doing here?” She asked.
“I trusted you with my babies and you stole one of them. Please return her to me!” the young crow replied. The older crow looked at her with surprise, and said “This is not your baby. This is my baby. I gave birth to her a few weeks ago.” When the other crows heard the two of them arguing they came over to see what was wrong. After listening to both of them, they said, “the only way we can prove whose baby this is is by determining the love you both have for it.” The other crows brought two giant leaves and put them in front of both crows. “The one who can cry the most tears and make this leaf wet will be the one who gets the baby.” The older crow was upset and said, “No, this does not determine anything. I do not need to cry to prove that this is my baby.” The other crows replied “Yes, you do. These tears will show us whether you really love your child.” With no choice left, the older crow reluctantly agreed and asked if she could go first. She first started by looking at the baby crow and squinting very hard, but nothing came out. She then tried blinking many times, but nothing came out. She then sang mourning songs and thought of sad memories, but nothing came out. She even tried to use the wind’s force by opening her eyes wide enough, but nothing came out. After a few minutes of nothing, the other crows gave the young mother her chance. The young mother went next to the nest, looked at her child and started singing a song: “Dear beautiful child, this is your mother. I am here crying for you because I love you.” As soon as she started singing, tears flooded down her face and washed the leaf away. The other crows were astonished at her sadness and quickly ordered the older crow to return the child to its mother. The older crow returned the child and said, “Maybe this is why all my children die! I have been too busy giving attention to other children and neglecting my own. And even when I stole this beautiful child, I did not feel the same love for her as a mother should.” After this day, the older crow was able to have her own child and she loved it with all her heart.
THE BABY MOUSE AND THE BABY SNAKE
Once upon a time, a mouse gave birth to a baby mouse and the snake gave birth to a serpent.
The mouse prohibited its baby from playing at the brook near his house, lest he drowned and died.
One day the baby mouse and the serpent met, and became friends and played together.
In the evening when they finished playing, both the baby mouse and the serpent went to their mothers.
When the baby mouse got home, his mother remarked that his hair was wet and spoke to him harshly. Mother Mouse: Did you go to play at the brook that I forbade you from going?
Baby Mouse: No, I did not go to the brook.
Mother Mouse: Then how come you are so wet?
Baby Mouse: It’s the saliva of my friend serpent that made me wet.
Mother Mouse: Listen very carefully! Since the time of our ancestors, snakes have never been our friends. They still consider us their favorite food.
Now, starting from today, never dare to play with a snake, it is not your friend but your enemy. Besides, if you dare to play with him, it could kill you and eat you, stay far away from him. When the small snake got home, his mother observed and made remarks about the hair in his little mouth.
Mother Serpent: Since when did you start to eat by yourself without keeping some for me?
Serpent: No, I have not eaten anything.
Mother Serpent: But where did the hair in your mouth come from?
Serpent: I was playing with my friend little mouse.
Mother Serpent: Oh! What an idiot!
You mean our favorite meal is now a friend? Do we not have them as part of our delicacy every day? Here’s what you will do tomorrow when you go out to play; when he comes close to you, bind him, inject him with venom and you bring him here for us to eat.
Serpent: yes mom, I understand. Tomorrow I’ll bring him to you. The next morning, the serpent arrived earlier at the spot where the two friends meet to play. The serpent was smiling while he called out to his friend the young mouse with good humor.
Serpent: My friend, come, come out to play!
The prudent Baby mouse observed how eagerly the serpent approached him, he then remembered his mother’s advice and told the serpent:
Baby mouse: I cannot come near you. We must not forget our mothers’ advice. You’re not my friend, you’re my enemy now, your goal is to kill me and take me to your home as food.
The serpent went back home very disappointed and said to her mother:
Serpent: Look, the little mouse was warned by his mother, he even refused to approach me for playing.
Since that day a terrible hatred settled between the snake and the mouse.
No King As God
The Great King
There once lived a great and powerful king in an African village. Everybody feared him and came to pay obeisance to him. When an ordinary man came before the African king, he would shout in greeting: “May the king live forever!” No King Like God!
There was one man in the village who refused to greet the king in that manner.
Instead, he would say: “There is no king like God.” After many visits to the king, and many repetitions of this phrase, the king grew angry and plotted to destroy the man. The King’s Plot
The king gave the man two silver rings and told him they were his to keep, but in fact the king meant to avenge himself through them. The man, whom everybody now called No-King-as-God, took the rings, put them into a dried and empty ram’s horn, and gave them to his wife to keep for him. A week later the king called No-King-as-God and sent him to a distant village, to tell the people to come and help build up the city walls. The Unfaithful Wife
As soon as No King Like God had gone, the king sent for his wife. He offered her a thousand *cowries if she would give him the rings which her husband had put in her care. The man’s wife was tempted by the great offer, so she agreed and brought the ram’s horn. When the king looked inside, there were the two rings safely stored.
He placed them back in the horn, and gave it to his servants with instructions to throw it far into a lake. They did so, and as the horn fell into the water a great fish swam by and swallowed it. The Worried Man
Now, as No-King-as-God was returning home from his journey, he met some friends who were going fishing. He went with them and caught a great fish which he took home.
When he got home, he asked his wife where the precious rings were, but she replied that she could not find them. He was very disturbed and disappointed. The Surprise Discovery
They were still talking when a royal messenger came and told the man he was wanted by the king at once.
As the man set off for the royal court, his son who had been cleaning the fish suddenly struck his knife on something hard and he called to his father. The father pulled out the horn, and when he opened it and looked inside he saw the rings which the king had given him for safe keeping. “Truly,” he said, “there is no king like God.” No King Like God!
When the man arrived at the palace, he greeted the king in his usual way, “No King Like God”. The king demanded the rings which he had given the man, and signaled his guards to close round him to kill him.
But No-King-as-God put his hand under his robe and pulled out the horn and handed it to the king. The king opened it and took out his two silver rings. The king wondered how the man could have found the rings and said aloud, “Indeed, there is no king like God“. All his counselors shouted in approval. Then the king divided his city into two, and gave half of it to No-King-as-God to rule.
The Best Cook With A Sore and the Wise King
Mamara was a very beautiful lady and a good cook, but she had an ugly sore at the back of her left hand that refused to heal. This restricted people from patronizing her. Mamara lived in a town called Komiko. One day, the Duke of her town decided to host his fellow Dukes and other dignitaries at his daughter’s wedding. He needed a cook to prepare food for his guests. In hopes of finding the best cook, he sent his chiefs searching far and wide. Although they knew that Mamara was the best in her community and all the neighboring villages, they did not contact her because of the ugly sore at the back of her hand. As the searching continued, the various chiefs recommended different cooks; one of the chiefs recommended Mamara, but other chiefs rejected her. Meanwhile, the wedding was fast approaching and the search for a good cook has not yielded any result. The other arrangements for the wedding were almost concluded and the Duke and his wives were getting worried. The chief who recommend Mamara advised the Duke to conduct a contest for the cooks so that he could choose the best of them. The Duke took his advice and provided everything it would take to conduct the contest. After the contest, Mamara was judged to be the best and the winner. The Duke accepted the result of the contest and picked Mamara to do the cooking, though other chiefs were against the Duke’s decision. But how would the expected Dukes and dignitaries from other communities feel when they heard that the cook who prepared the food for the guests of the Duke of Komiko had an ugly sore on the back of her left hand and, worse yet, they had eaten that food? The Duke in his wisdom decided to employ a doctor to treat the cook. But he would not like his guests to see the dressing of the cook’s sore in case there was a need for her to appear publicly. Therefore, he decided to give a prize to the best cook. He invited the award designer and specifically told him to design a prize for the back of the Cook’s left hand. His intention was to cover the ugly sore so that nobody would see it. The designer designed a very beautiful prize for the back of the left hand of Mamara. It was publicly presented to her and she put it on. The dressing on her hand was covered completely; only the prize could be seen and, because it was very beautiful, the crowd burst out into applause. The king pleaded with the people not to tell anybody who had not known that the Cook had a sore, and they obeyed. On the day of the event, the Cook prepared food for the Duke and his guests. They all ate and were happy. Thereafter, each of the guests began to invite the Cook to prepare food at their events. Throughout her lifetime, nobody who had not known before knew that Mamara had a sore, because the people cooperated with the Duke and never spoke of it again.
The Boy Who Wanted to be a Man
There once was a young man who couldn’t wait to be a man. He asked his mother every day,
“Mother, when am I a man?”
“When you provide food for your family.”
“Oh.” He nodded his head and went out to play.
Every night before he went to sleep, he asked his
father, “Father, when will I become a man?”
“When you build a house to rest in after a hard day’s work.”
“Okay,” the little boy said as he closed his eyes and went to sleep.
He asked his mother and father every day and every night until one day his mother’s answer was different. “You are old enough to become a man. Go out and see if you are able to be who you have desired to become.”
But the boy didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know the first thing about having a family or feeding them!
And so, because he didn’t want anyone to know he was clueless, he set out to find a family on his own and figure out a way to feed them himself.
The young man walked through the forest until he came upon a beautiful bush, full of red and purple berries.
“These look good to eat! I will feed them to my family, once I have one.” So, the boy gathered the berries in a sack and kept walking. As he was turning back home, he saw a snake dropping from a tree.
“Look, my family is falling down just to meet me.” So, he picked up the snake and put it in a satchel. The young man almost made it home when he stumbled across a wild piglet sniffing around a patch of trees.
“My family will not even allow me to walk by them without making sure that I notice them and take them with me.”
So, he tied up the piglet to a tree next to his home and went inside for bed. He made sure he asked his father the same question before sleep came and this time, his father’s answer was different as well.
“It is time for you to show that you can be a man. Tomorrow set out to do what you know to do.”
But the young man didn’t close his eyes that night because he didn’t even know how to build a house!
But he didn’t want anyone to know he was clueless.
So instead of asking questions, the next day the young man took his snake, berries, and piglet, and traveled a little way past his ‘old’ home. He found a flat piece of land and decided, “This is a good spot to build my house.”
He placed all his ‘family’ there and went to gather materials. He found straw and small pieces of wood, leaves and fine rope.
A long time passed, but before dark the young man had built a small hut. He gathered his ‘family’ and went inside.
“My father was right. After a day of hard work, all you want to do is relax in your own home.”
He decided it was time to feed his family. He took the berries out of the sack, untied the piglet, and brought the snake out of the satchel. “I am now a man. I have found my family, provided them food, and have built my own house. Look at my piglet eating those beautiful berries!” But suddenly the piglet started squealing and turning colors.
“Oh, no!” the young man cried. “The berries must be poisonous!”
The piglet was squealing and stomping, causing such a commotion all around – then suddenly stepped on the snake! The snake was gravely injured and with its dying breath, struck the pig with a poisonous bite.
The young man jumped back, fell, and knocked his tied straw hut down with a loud thump!
When the scattered straw settled, all theyoung man could see were mushy berries, the purple piglet, and the squished snake. He walked home dejected and told his parents what happened. His parents hugged him but told him cheerfully:
“We knew you would have trouble son, but you wanted to grow up so badly. You are not aware that it takes quite a while to know how to be a man. Enjoy being our little boy! Enjoy every day, while you can, because tomorrow will come, whether you are ready for it or not.”
The young man didn’t ask any questions that night but went to sleep soundly with a smile on his face, thinking about all the time he had to enjoy being a boy before he had to become a man.
The Poor Woman In the Neighborhood
There was a poor woman in the neighborhood that had a daughter. The poor woman was a native soap maker. Making native soap required empty palm bunches and some other materials. Each day, the poor woman and her only daughter gathered the materials to make soap. When the soap was ready, people would come from the neighboring villages to buy it. One day, the poor woman and her daughter prepared soap and waited for buyers, but nobody came. They waited all day into to the late evening, but still, no one came to buy soap. Meanwhile, they had no food to eat at home. At some point, the poor woman’s little daughter could not bear the hunger anymore. Her cry forced her mother to go to the rich woman in the neighborhood to beg for food. The rich woman in the neighborhood and her seven daughters booed the poor woman and drove her away from their house. The poor woman went outside the gate with her daughter and began to beg and cry but the rich woman and her daughters did not care; rather, they went out and drove her further away. One of the rich woman’s daughters sniped at her: “Do you think we would ever need anything from you?” The poor woman and her little daughter went home without any food. They felt as if they would be hungry forever. As they were approaching their house, they saw somebody standing in the road. At first, they did not recognize the person, but when they got closer … behold! It was the poor woman’s sister-in-law. She came to visit and also brought a lot of food with her. The poor woman quickly opened the door, took her in and told her about their ordeal. Her visitor presented the food she brought for her and the poor woman quickly cooked. They ate and slept.
The herbalist told them to pay him some money; in addition, he asked them to bring an empty palm bunch. At that time, palm bunch was very scarce. The only place it could be found was the poor woman’s house. Because of what they had done to the poor woman, they were afraid to go to her house and ask for help. Finally, to save their mother’s life they summoned enough courage to go to the poor woman’s house. When they got to her house, the poor woman asked for half of the rich woman’s wealth before she would give out one empty palm bunch for the preparation of the concoction that would cure their mother’s ailment. The rich woman’s children pleaded for leniency, but the poor woman did not yield. She insisted on her demand. The rich woman’s children invited other people in the neighborhood to come and help them to beg the poor woman to accept one quarter of their mother’s wealth in exchange for an empty palm bunch.
They came and pleaded, but the woman refused. She told the people what the rich woman and her daughters did to her and her daughter when they had no food to eat. The people sided with the poor woman and blamed the rich woman and her daughter.
Meanwhile, the rich woman’s sickness became so serious that her daughters had no other option than to give the poor woman half of their mother’s wealth to save their mother’s life.
The moral of this story is that we should not take our good fortunes in life for granted. Conditions could change: the needy of today could become the rich of tomorrow and vice versa. When we are blessed, we should share our blessings with those in need.