Once upon a
time, a great famine broke out in the animal kingdom and food was in short
supply. The Tortoise was at his wit’s end as to how to sustain his family. By
then, he was the king of the animals. He craftily concocted a plausible story
as to the cause of the famine and the envisaged solution.
He convoked a
summit of all the animals and briefed them on the cause of the famine and
called for affirmative action on the part of one and all if the famine were to
be arrested. The Tortoise claimed to be an oneiromancer, a person who could
divine the future through the interpretation of dreams. According to him, “the famine was caused by the
deity, Apụ, the idol worshipped by
our forefathers but neglected by our generation. Apụ
is angry. That is why he decided to punish us with famine. The solution is to
restore the worship of Apụ. I
recommend that we commence within a fortnight.” The animals agreed. They were
eager to avert the food crisis. They fixed a date for the worship.
The Tortoise
chose Apụ not because he revered Apụ but because he found one with a
hollow cavity. On the appointed day, every animal was to cook as much food as
possible and bring it before this very Apụ
tree, which he had earmarked as the shrine for the worship.
On the appointed
day, the animals complied and brought plenty of food and fowl for the
sacrifice. The Tortoise addressed both Apụ
and the assembly. He killed the fowls and sprinkled the blood on the Apụ tree. Unknown to the animals, the
Tortoise had hidden his son and a musical instrument (ọyọ) in the hollow cavity of
the Apụ tree. When he gave the signal, the Son shook the
instrument and sang a short song. All the animals were convinced that it was a
response from Apụ, their god.
However, the lyrics clearly stated that any living creature that eats the food
offered to Apụ will die. The animals were disappointed and scared and
they left their food and went home.
In the night, the
Tortoise and his family feasted on the food sacrificed to the idol and carted
away the remainder to store in their larder.
When they were running short of food, the Tortoise convinced the animals
to bring food once again and worship the Apụ
tree, for Apụ’s anger must have
subsided, who knows! They complied and brought food before the hollow Apụ tree and the worship ended in a
fiasco again. The Tortoise and his family had a field day once more. Thus,
while the animals were in great want, the Tortoise and his household were
enjoying and growing robust.
The Monkey, who
knew the Tortoise as a disreputable fellow, began to suspect foul play. Thus,
when the Tortoise suggested to the animals that they try once more to sacrifice
to Apụ, in spite of the discouraging
debacles, the Monkey hid himself on top of a tall tree to watch the scenery. He
caught the Tortoise and his family red handed as they feasted and carted away
the food sacrificed to Apụ. The
Monkey denounced and accused them publicly. Of course, the Tortoise flatly
denied it and asked the animals not to mind the Monkey for he was a cynic and a
spoiler. They submitted the matter to trial by ordeal.
On the day
appointed for the swearing, the animals assembled but the Tortoise used music
interlude to divert attention for the animals got carried away by the music and
took to dancing. The Tortoise used their names and tittles for praise-singing.
It was enthralling and they liked it very much. They forgot the real issue at
hand and sought more and more music. The Monkey tried in vain to call them to
order.
When the
Tortoise got tired of playing, he purposely cut off the string of his
instrument (ụbọ) with his finger nails. The animals were ready to go to any length
to procure the string provided the music continued. But the Tortoise told them
that it was made from the breast sinews of Monkey. If the animals needed the
music they should go after the Monkey. Thus Tortoise shrewdly set the animals
against his opponent. All the animals pursued the Monkey and he quickly climbed
a very tall tree. They wanted to cut down the tree, but he leaped unto uko tree, a hardwood which they could
not cut down. The Tortoise was greatly pleased because as the animals chased
the Monkey, his case was closed and forgotten.
CRITICAL THINKING
It is easy to
play on the intelligence of a people that have a soft spot for religiosity. And
that was what Tortoise did. He found it easy to repeat the trick three times
because the animals were gullible. Our elders say “Ihe
ruo n’atọ, ya atọ - When a thing repeats itself, it gets stuck at third round.” It was
therefore not surprising that it was on the third round of the worship of Apu that the Monkey caught the Tortoise
and his family red handed. Consequently the false worship ceased. Evil thrives
when those who know the truth are afraid to speak out and good people are
nonchalant.
However,
Tortoise smartly played his political cards well. The culprit went scot-free
and the innocent paid the price. This is why people are afraid to say what they
know to be true. They dare not challenge the high and mighty if they are not
ready to be crushed. If the witness is not strong enough to beat his opponents,
he flees like the Monkey. This can cause brain-drain and ruin a whole society.
The moral of the story is that truth is costly; he who wants to speak his truth
openly should be ready to pay the price. “A
kid goat that wants to impregnate a she-goat must develop strong horns to
protect her because the family of goats never lacks a stillborn.”
Eboh M. P., Fables, Proverbs & Critical Thinking, Pearl Publishers International Ltd., Port Harcourt, 2015, pp. 32-36.
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