Have you ever sung the nursery rhyme "old Rodger is dead ''? If you don't here is it..
Old Roger is dead and gone to his grave, Hum,ha! gone to his grave. They planted a mango tree over his head, Hum,ha ! over his head. The mangoes grew ripe and ready to drop, Hum,ha ! ready to drop. There came a high wind and blew them all off, Hum,ha ! blew them all off. There came an old woman to pick them all up, Hum,ha ! pick them all up. Old Roger got up and gave her a knock, Hum,ha ! gave her a knock. Which made the old woman go hipperty hop, Hum,ha ! hipperty hop.
Bet you did not know how this rhyme came about. Today's story will unfold the story behind that interesting rhyme. Let's get to it!
Story! Story!!
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Once upon a time, there lived a stingy old man called Old Rodger, who did not like sharing his things or giving a helping hand to others.
He always had a perfect excuse to avoid giving out his belongings or helping people.
"Old Rodger, can I please use your hoe to weed my farm tomorrow?" Someone would ask him.
"No, I only bought it to weed my farm," he would say.
" Old Rodger can you please lend me your basket, I want to pack my crops with it "
"Oh no, I intend to use the basket tomorrow and I do not like sharing it."
"Can you please watch over my children for me dear Old Rodger, I want to run to the market to get some things?"
"No I can't, I have other important things to do," he would reply.
Soon everyone got used to Old Rodger and his way of life, and they decided to let him be.
A few years had passed and Old Rodger kept living a life of keeping all he had to himself. His wife and children had left him because they could no longer condone his stingy attitude. It was not long, Old Rodger got so sick that he was bedridden. Since no one was around to help him out, he died and his body was discovered a few weeks after. He was then buried outside his hut and a mango seed was planted over the head of his grave, as it was the custom of the village to remember the dead.
With time, the mango seed grew into a big tree and started producing juicy fruits.
Everyone waited for the tree to drop its fruits so they could have a taste of it since the custom of the land forbade them from plucking any fruits planted to remember the dead; it was believed that the dead person would let down its fruits when he/she wanted to. Just like old times,Old Rodger's mango tree refused to let down any fruit even though they were all ripped and ready to drop. Everyone knew Old Rodger could not change even in his grave.
One rainy night, a mighty wind blew across the village and all Old Rodger's fruits fell on the ground. An old woman was the first to discover the glorious sight of the long-awaited mangoes scattered on the ground. With much joy in her heart, she began to pick them up one after the other into the basket she was carrying. Unknown to her, in his grave, Old Rodger had gotten so angry that someone dared to touch his mangoes, without warning, his spirit got up and gave the old woman a knock on her greyed head.
In shock, the old woman dropped the basket of mangoes
and hopped away to tell the whole village what she had experienced. The villagers were not very surprised. They all avoided Old Rodger's mango tree from then on and created a song to tell the tale of Old Rodger's stinginess to other generations.
Am sure you can tell which song am referring to?
MORAL LESSON.
1:Whatever morals you took from this story is it's moral lesson for the week(you can drop it in the comment section, I will love to learn from you too)
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