When he was young and sprightly, Tortoise rushed to Ụrashị to marry
a wife. Like every other youth, he was a fantast. He thought it was an easy
matter to get married. He faced the stark reality when he got to Ụrashị
unaccompanied by relatives and his in-laws asked him to pay 100 cowries as
bride price. Impecunious Tortoise was crestfallen and ashen-faced for although
he was young and agile he was averse to work. He became weak and like a child,
he toddled and sluggishly trudged home. Normally, return journeys are faster
but his first trip characterised by scuttling movement contrasted drastically
with his foot-dragging return journey. He was pensive like a frustrated poor
man. He did not know where to get that kind of money. “How can high bride price
deprive me of the bride I prize highly?” he asked himself
.He repeatedly ruminated over the matter. “Supposing I am unable to
raise the bride price, will Alịga be
able to elope with me? But that should be the last resort.” He kept on mulling
over the matter and eventually decided to go and cut palm fruits in order to
raise the money. He searched through the evergreen palm trees that adorned the
lush green vegetation in his environment and found a short palm tree, which he
was able to climb. He began to harvest the ripe palm fruits. As he was cutting
a bunch of fruits, some of the fruits fell to the ground and an antelope who
considered himself lucky ate some of them.
The Tortoise quickly descended and asked the antelope “Why did you eat
my palm fruits? I rushed to Ụrashị to
marry a wife and they asked me to bring 100 cowries as bride price. I cut palm
fruits to raise money for the bride price and you ate the palm fruits. Having
scuttled my plans you have to give me the money.”Antelope was alarmed, confused and dumb founded. He became nauseated
and so vomited the palm fruits he ate. Instantly Ant came from nowhere and
licked the vomit. Antelope asked the Ant “Why did you eat my vomit? I ate
Tortoise’s palm fruits. Tortoise rushed to Ụrashị to marry
a wife and they asked him to pay 100 cowries as bride price. To raise the bride
price Tortoise cut the palm fruits, which I ate and he asked me to pay for it.
I vomited the palm fruits. Having eaten the vomit, you have to pay the money. Ant was bereft of words for though he was
industrious, he stored food, not money. He was lamenting when the Lizard came
to feast on him. Ant said to the Lizard “Don’t eat me. I licked the Antelope’s
vomit. Antelope ate Tortoise’s palm
fruits. Tortoise rushed to Ụrashị to marry a wife and they asked him to pay 100 cowries for which he
cut the palm fruits. You have to pay the money.” As Lizard was contemplating
what to do, Eagle flew down to snatch away the Lizard and he told the Eagle
“Don’t take me away. I narrowly missed eating the Ant that licked Antelope’s
vomit and Antelope ate Tortoise’s palm fruits. Tortoise cut the palm fruits to
raise money for bride price because Tortoise rushed to Ụrashị to
marry a wife and his in-laws asked him to pay 100 cowries. You have to pay the
money.”As the Eagle perched on a tree trying to hatch a plan on how to
raise the money, a hunter came and pointed his gun at the Eagle. He said to the
hunter “Don’t shoot me. I narrowly
missed snatching away the Lizard that missed eating an Ant, which ate
Antelope’s vomit. The Antelope ate Tortoise’s palm fruits. Tortoise cut the
palm fruits to raise money for bride price because Tortoise rushed to Ụrashị to
marry a wife and they asked him to pay 100 cowries. You have to pay the money.”
The hunter went home disgruntled and flabbergasted. His dog came to welcome
him. As the dog wagged his tail, the hunter angrily said to his Dog “Do not
welcome me. I aimed my gun to shoot the Eagle who missed snatching away the
Lizard that tried to eat the Ant, which licked the Antelope’s vomit. Antelope
ate Tortoise’s palm fruits. Tortoise cut palm fruits to raise money for bride
price because Tortoise rushed to Ụrashị to marry a wife and they asked him to pay 100 cowries. You have to
pay the money.” The Dog stood gaping at his master in disbelief. Greatly
perturbed he mulled over the matter: “If it were meat and eggs I know how to
steal them but not money,” the Dog mused.
He was contemplating this when a nursing mother called inviting him to
eat her child’s excreta. The Dog said to the woman “Don’t call me. I welcomed
my master and he shunned me. My master aimed his gun to shoot the Eagle that
wanted to snatch away the Lizard, which missed eating the Ant that licked the
Antelope’s vomit. Antelope ate Tortoise’s palm fruits. Tortoise cut palm fruits
to raise money for bride price because Tortoise rushed to Ụrashị to marry a wife and they
asked him to pay 100 cowries. You have to pay the money.”The woman agreed to pay provided the dog continues to eat her
child’s excrement. They struck a deal and she saved the situation. Owing to his
indebtedness to the nursing mother, the dog still eats faeces till date.
CRITICAL THINKING
Young Tortoise was wet behind the ears. No bachelor ever goes alone
to marry a wife. A wife belongs to her husband’s family and community because a
wife does not exist in a vacuum. Therefore, relatives and consultative preparations
are very essential in marriage transactions. Since bride price is always an
issue, there is need to court the sublime wisdom not to let high bride price cost
a bachelor the bride he prizes highly.
Nor should one pass one’s responsibility to others, because others may
have their own axe to grind on a number of issues. The Tortoise passed his
responsibility to others because he was a scapegrace, a lazy, irresponsible,
and mischievous person.However, the crux of the
story is a food chain; the hierarchy of different living things, each of which
feeds on the one below. Thus, the story posits the ontological nexus or the
natural interconnectivity among existents. Being is one. If the Antelope eats
palm fruits, and Ant eats the vomit, Lizard eats the Ant and Eagle eats the
Lizard and man eats the Eagle while Dog eats man’s excrement, by virtue of
substantial change there is transmutation, the assimilation of one form of
being into another that is hierarchically higher than it. There is no fixity in
the food chain, for flies and maggots can feed and breed on man’s putrid sores
and when man dies ants and microbes feed on his decomposing corpse. The
question then is, are flies, maggots, and microbes hierarchically higher than
human flesh and why?
The human being is spirit in
matter. The mystical spiritual dimension, the soul, makes human being an animal
with a difference. The three powers of the soul: the memory, understanding and freewill
imply intellect and will, and hence rationality and volition, which imputes
moral responsibility to the human person. At death there is dissolution of the
union of soul and body, spirit and matter. When the human person yields up the
ghost the soul which is immortal and incorruptible is liberated from
corruptible body. When the human essence is gone living organisms might as well
be hierarchically higher than the corpse. Life is of essence here hence the
maxim “Better a living dog than a dead lion.” The soul is the animating
principle; when it leaves the body there is no more consciousness, feeling,
thought, and will.
Eboh M. P., Fables, Proverbs & Critical Thinking, Pearl Publishers International, Port Harcourt, 2015, pp. 37-43.
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