WHY HAWKS HOVER OVER BUSH FIRES

Once upon a time, the Tortoise courted the pretended friendship of a young Fowl. He told him how friendly he was with his late father. He gave him useful advice on how to evade being sacrificed to the pixies and won his confidence. One fateful day, the Tortoise met the Cock on the way as he was coming to pay him a visit. He convinced the Cock to follow him to visit his friend, the Ụdara tree because he had nothing in his house to offer such a great friend as the Cock. The Cock accompanied him to the Ụdara tree. When they got there, Tortoise sang to the Ụdara tree:

Udara dakwa m  n’ekpuru m o! Kpuru k’ekpu (2ce)

Tiim ọ dala-o kpuru K’ekpu! (2ce)

Ụdara fall on my back, Kpuru K’ekpu! (2ce)

Tiim, it has fallen, Kpuru K’ekpu! (2ce)

When the Ụdara fruit fell on the back of the Tortoise, as requested.  The Tortoise and the Cock licked its luscious sap. Then the Tortoise asked the Cock to sing “Ụdara dakwa m n’arụ m o, kpuru K’ekpu - Ụdara fall on my cock’s comb, kpuru K’ekpu!” Fearing that he might die if Ụdara should forcefully fall on his head, the Cock refused and said that nobody should joke with his head. He preferred the Ụdara to fall on his back, not on his head. But the Tortoise quarrelled with him saying that he ate his own Ụdara with him but would not reciprocate. The Cock was quick to tell him that his own Ụdara fell on his back, specifically on his hard shell. “Agwọ tụrụ mbe ọtụrụ okpokoro ya - Is it not said that a snake that bites the Tortoise is only biting his shell,” which means that it is like rain that falls on a rock which merely washes the rock without doing the rock any harm. The Tortoise replied “Ekweghi ekwe na-ekwe n’ute ekwere - Stubbornness leads to death.” “Ọkụkọ na-ata ọka na-ata aja sị na ya enweghị eze.  Ọbụrụ na onwere eze, ọka atagbu mmadu – Fowl that eats corn and sand says he has no teeth; if he were to have teeth he would kill a human being.” The Cock felt intimidated. Besides, he wanted to eat more Ụdara. So he agreed to sing as the Tortoise suggested. When he sang:

Ụdara dakwa m n’aru m o, kpuru K’ekpu! (2ce)

Tiim ọ dala-o kpuru K’ekpu! (2ce)

Ụdara fall on my cock’s comb, kpuru K’ekpu! (2ce)

Tiim, it has fallen, Kpuru K’ekpu! (2ce)

The Ụdara fell on its cock’s comb. The cock cried “jịọ jịọ, jịọ jịọ,” staggered and died. Our elders rightly say “Nga ọkụkọ na abọta ihe na eju ya afọ ka ọna abọta ihe na egbu ya - Where the fowl gets what satiates it is where it gets what kills it.”

The Tortoise happily licked the luscious Ụdara and carried the dead Fowl home to cook and eat with his wife, who made a very delicious meal out of it. After eating the Fowl, the Tortoise used one of the hollow bones of the legs to make flute. At his leisure time, he stayed in front of his house to play and dance to the sound of the flute:

Tịrọ tịrọ, tịtịrọ tịrọ; tịrọ tịrọ, tịtịrọ tịrọ!

Onye ọbula bịa gbara egwu, tịtịrọ tịrọ!

Alịị, bịa gbara egwu, tịtịrọ tịrọ!

Egwu  abịala na obodo  anyị, tịtịrọ tịrọ!

Tịrọ tịrọ, tịtịrọ tịrọ; Tịrọ tịrọ, tịtịrọ tịrọ; tịrọ tịrọ, tịtịrọ tịrọ!

Tịrọ tịrọ, tịtịrọ tịrọ; tịrọ tịrọ, tịtịrọ tịrọ!

Every one come and dance

Alịị (his wife) come and dance

Music has come to our land.

Tịrọ tịrọ, tịtịrọ tịrọ; Tịrọ tịrọ, tịtịrọ tịrọ; tịrọ tịrọ, tịtịrọ tịrọ!

The hawk was attracted to this fascinating music. He flew down to Tortoise’s house. He danced with Tortoise and requested to be allowed him play the flute for a little while. Tortoise refused because he suspected that the Hawk would fly away with it. The Hawk pleaded with him and asked Tortoise to hold him by his feathers if he did not trust him. He swore that he would not escape with the flute. Tortoise then clutched its feathers and gave him the flute to play for a few minutes. The Hawk flew away leaving the Tortoise with one of his feathers.

This pained the Tortoise, who began to trail the movements of the Hawk in order to recover his flute.  One day, while the Hawk was away, the Tortoise went to his house and told Hawk’s mother “Your son forgot to take his flute along with him. He asked me to bring it immediately because it is urgently needed.” She gave the flute to Tortoise who went home rejoicing and congratulating himself for being a good diplomatic strategist. When the Hawk returned, he heard the sound of music.

His first thought was “Could it be that the Tortoise has acquired another musical instrument?” He went to fetch his own flute and it was not there. He asked his mother who said: “Did you not send Tortoise to bring it to you? He came here and said you needed it urgently and I gave it to him to bring to you.” The Hawk was greatly enraged. In a fit of anger he threw his mother into the fire as she was preparing their food.  He later regretted this rash action and very much wanted to rescue his mother but it was too late. Till today, the Hawk continues to rue the day he threw his mother into the fire. The rescue mission is an on-going thing as all generations of Hawks engage on this remorseful perennial expedition. They always hover over bush fires searching for their great grandmother.

In the same vein, the bird, Ezike obi ọcha, also searches for his mother’s kitchen knife which the Mother Hawk had borrowed before the fatal incident. Children would ask him: “Ezike, mma-ekwu nne gi ofuru olezi? - Ezike, when was your mother’s kitchen knife lost?” And he would respond: “Akaahụ!  Akaahụ! - Last year! Last year!”

CRITICAL THINKING

Our people name their children “Ụjọ wụ ndụ - Fear is life.” They also say “Onye ụjọ ji ndu ya na onye iro ya - A fearful person preserves his life and that of his enemy.” In other words, by being afraid and refusing to fight, he saves his life and that of his enemy because our people say, “Ana eji anya ihere egbu mmadụ - One can easily kill because of shame.” It can be seen from here that fear is useful. The Igbo have a positive concept of fear in addition to its negative aspect for fear paralyzes.

The Cock ingratiated himself. He had premonition that he would die should the Ụdara fall on his head yet he allowed the Tortoise to manipulate him just to please the Tortoise and also eat more Ụdara. He was daft. Would he eat the Ụdara posthumously? It is as ridiculous as the silly joke: “If a motor car kills me, I will copy its number.” The Tortoise was not a good friend. To lead a trusting friend to his doom is a grave offense.

Hasty actions are always regretted, hence the apothegm “Haste makes waste.” One should think before acting. The Hawk lacked filial respect for his mother. If he had valued his mother, he would never have thrown her into the fire because of a mere flute he obtained by fraud. In the first place, the Hawk should have kept his promise to the Tortoise. It is not good to break one’s promise. The fact that the Hawk still searches for his burnt mother proves that people and things are valued more after losing them.

The moral of the fable is that one should never undertake dangerous adventures in order to please a friend or anyone else. Thinking and acting are two sides of the same reality. Reflection should always precede actions. Rash judgment should be avoided. One should guard against attachment to material things because it could lead to disastrous consequences. Finally, promises are meant to be kept. Therefore, it is honourable to always walk the talk.

Eboh M.P., Fables, Proverbs & Critical Thinking, Pearl Publishers International, Port Harcourt, 2015, pp. 97-103.