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| The tortise and the dancing palm tree |
Story! Story!!
Once upon a time, there lived a crafty and lazy tortoise, who dreaded anything hardwork and always looked out for shortcuts to get what he wanted. One day, he became so hungry and could not find anything to eat for days. He laid quietly in his hole thinking of a simple way to satisfy the growing hunger in him, after much thought, he said," I know just what to do."
Just far from the tortoise's little home stood a village called Oke Aro. This village was called so because it was beside a big river which was surrounded by palm trees.
The people of Oke Aro community were mostly traders. They had a big community market which was sold three times every week. The market was surrounded by a large palm tree plantation owned by the king of Oke Aro. Traders came from Oke Aro and it's neighbouring villages to sell their yams, beans, rice, cassava,potatoes, tomatoes, oil, goats, chickens, fruits, clothes, furnitures, farm tools, etc.
It was this lucrative center that the tortoise decided to get his food from. In the still and quietness of the night, when all market activities had ended and the whole town was asleep, tortoise sneaked into the palm tree plantation and made a hole under one of the trees. He remained in the hole he had created till the next market day. There he hid behind the trees and watched the traders and buyers go about their daily sales and purchases.
After days of studying the place, he decided to play a smart trick on the people. To achieve his trick, he went to meet Azu, the only medicine man in Oruke, a very remote village.
"I need powers to move things," he told Azu. Azu, who knew how cunning and greedy the tortoise could be, asked to know why he needed sure power. " I need it to help my wife, a big tree fell on her and I need to move it away." Azu believed him and gave him the power he needed. Tortoise thanked him and went away.
It was a bright, sunny day, when the whole town and its neighbouring towns gathered for the big market day. Everyone was very busy buying and selling. There were many noises coming from different angels of the market, from the movement of wheels and footsteps, to the gossip of the market women and angry barrow pushers, to the bleating of unfortunate animals ready to be sold or slaughtered. Amidst this hustle and bustle, Tortoise crawled into the hole he dug beneath one of the palm trees beside the market. With the powers from Azu, he started moving the palm tree towards the market.
A woman with a baby tied to her back was the first to see the strange sight, " Oh my head, see that palm tree,it's moving!" She screamed, bringing people's attention to the moving object which was approaching them. Frightened, the people abandoned their goods, bags, and lots of valuables and ran for their lives. When the tortoise noticed that the whole market was empty of people, he crawled out of his hiding and started packing as much food as he could to last him till the next market day.
Scared of the strange event, the people went to the king's Palace to report to him what had happened. The King could not believe his ears, so he sent messengers to the market scene to confirm the story. The king's messengers came back to inform the king that the people were telling the truth because most of their goods were gone. The King was shocked. "Who in Oke Aro could be responsible for this?" He asked no one in particular. To find answers, the king decided to go to the market on the next market day and face the strange tree squarely himself.
When the big market day came, the king of Oke Aro, its people and neighbors resumed it as if nothing had happened. The day's activities went on as usual, until one of the traders screamed, "THERE IT IS, THE MOVING PALM TREE!!!" All the people left their goods and activities and ran to save their lives. All except the king, he tried to be brave and face the strange tree, when he noticed that the spirit controlling the tree was no respecter of his crown, but kept moving towards him without stopping, he threw away his staff and crown and ran like a mad man pursued by an evil spirit. Again the tortoise came out when everyone was gone and packed as much food as he needed.
This kept happening for many market days despite the fact that the king and his elders had invited many medicine men that were recommended to them to profound solutions.One day a wise man told the king that he had a plan that would settle Oke Aro's problem permanently. The king, who had been desperate for a solution, encouraged him to try out his plan.
The wise man decided to build a magnetic statue of a sitting man in the center of the market, any object, animal or person that touched the status would be stuck for as long as the status was there.
"If the culprit of these crimes is mortal then we will discover him soon." He explained .
In order to experiment with the new idea, the king ordered all traders to resume selling again, as some of them were discouraged because of the past events. When the market was back to its busy self, the moving tree began its journey towards it.
Gracefully but swiftly it moved towards the traders causing a great commotion among them as they ran to safety. Excited, the tortoise got ready to pack a lot of food items as usual. His excitement was short lived by the presence of a strange fellow who sat in the center of the market unmoved.
"Who does he think he is?" Tortoise asked angrily. He kept moving the tree towards the man but unlike others, the man did not move. When Tortoise could not take the strange man's attitude any longer, he crawled out of the tree and moved towards him angrily. " Who are you and why are you not afraid of the moving tree?" He asked the status who only stared back at him without a sound.
"What arrogance!" Tortoise said and with that he landed a slap on the man's right cheek. His hand got stuck to it. As he tried to free his hands from the man's cheek but could not, he raised his other hand and slapped the man's left cheek, it got stuck too. Scared and intimidated, he tried to kick himself away from the strange man but unfortunately his two feet got stuck too.
"Please, please, let me go. I promise I will never disturb the people or steal again," he begged desperately.
Being a lifeless statue, the man said not a word to him.
He remained there stuck to the man's body for as long as the day went , crying and begging to be freed.
In the evening, the wise man, the king, elders and the people of Oke Aro came to see who the statue had caught. To their surprise, it was the lazy tortoise. Whatever punishment was given to the tortoise is left to your creative imagination.
MORAL LESSONS
A lazy mind becomes the devil's workshop.
There is no shortcut to achieving greater and lasting things.
Always remember that thirty days is for the thief but one day is reserved for the owner.
Nothing under the sun is hidden forever.
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