It all happened a very long time ago. Long before babies were conceived in their mother's womb. Long before any animal became wild and brutal. Even long before animals stopped talking, and long before the lion became the king of all animals, although, nobody knows how the lion became king. Well, I'm sure you were born then, and don't ask me if I was born then, because if I wasn't, how would I have known what happened? In those days, the animal kingdom was very peaceful and quiet. No animal lived in fear of being eaten by another animal because every animal simply planted and harvested what would feed it's entire family, and times when there were famine, they simply helped each other out with food, and from time to time, they all make it through the famine. The animal kingdom was a very big one, and all animals lived with its family in different huts. The lion, leopard, tiger and the cat lived very close to each other. The fox, wolf and dog lived very close to each other aswell. While the birds and the monkeys were neighbours. Everything was peaceful and calm. Until...
Aruna, the oldest of all monkeys called for a meeting of all the monkeys. The meeting was to be held in his own house as it was a family meeting that had nothing to do with other animals. "Good evening my people." He said with his shaky voice after clearing his throat. They all answered him in different ways which brought a little rowdiness to the gathering. After few minutes, they all settled down. "I am very sorry to have called this impromptu meeting." He started. "As they say, a toad does not run in the daytime for nothing. Either it is after something or something is after it." He clears his throat again as he drank from the gourd in front of him. "My people, I called you to inform you that we have eventually found a solution to our problem." As he finished saying it, a joyful noise took over the atmosphere. Some monkeys ran out jumping and shouting from trees to tress, while some simply went on their kneels thanking their creator. The atmosphere simply changed. Aruna did not even make an attempt to interrupt them. He knew they deserved to celebrate. For many years, they have wished to leave the animal kingdom to join the humans, but have been limited by their appearance which was a little different from that of the humans. They knew all they needed was just a little human look, and they have made several futile attempts to look like human. "My people, our only solution is in that big pot." Aruna said, pointing to a big pot outside his house. "We are to bathe with the water first thing tomorrow morning, and any part of our body the water touches would change to human." He explained to them. They were all still happy and glad. But, silence walked in when Aruna said, "but, there is a warning" They have all learnt from past mistakes not to joke with warnings. So, they all listened attentively. "We must use up the water in the pot before sun rise." Aruna said. They were all quiet and still because they felt there were more warnings. "That's all." Aruna said, easing their minds. "Bathe before sunrise?" One of them thought. To him, there was nothing stopping them from bathing before sunrise. They would wake up very early, and have their bath with the water. "Before sunrise, we would even be on our way to the human world." Another said to himself. And so, they started a party. They were so happy and delighted that it was just a matter of hours before their status would change. Every other animal was surprised at the monkeys' party. They wondered what could have led to their sudden celebration. The monkeys celebrated their soon-to-come transformation, and they ate and drank. They drank and drank and drank to stupor.
The sun ray was strong enough that it struck Aruna's face right there in the open field. Just like others, he had drank to stupor and had fallen off from his seat to be woken up by the sun ray. At first, he tried to shut the sun ray from his face when all of a sudden, he remembered the pot and the water. He let out a shrill cry which was loud enough to wake up others. He raced to where the pot was, and from the look of things, it was as if the sun decided to shine on the pot alone. The pot was broken and the content was spilt. Their hope of journeying into the human world was dashed by their carelessness. They cried and cried and cried. But, there was no point crying over spilt milk. "My people, the worst has happened" Aruna said, as tears betrayed his eyes. He encouraged them that they should used the little remains from the pot to wash some parts of their body. After a heavy debate, they finally agreed to use it to wash their faces. In a single file, they sorrowfully walked to the pot, and each took a small portion of the water to wipe his/her face. Seeing that their faces changed to that of a human being, they cried more because they had lost their one and only opportunity.
© 2016. Austus Ofmat Nwanne
The major aim of folktales is to learn one or two lessons from them, and I'm sure some of us are familiar with the story. But, let the lessons in it serve as a reminder. Join me again tomorrow as we take yet another folktale. Don't forget that this is just an appetizer, next week, we would kick off with the real deal.
HAPPY TUESDAY
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AUSTUS OFMAT NWANNE (Mr. Tackle)
Inspirational Speaker/Media Consultant,
Swift24 Multimedia Services.
+2348072970850
Mrtackle2009@gmail.com
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