Fitzgerald Iyamabo
Let me tell you a story my grandfather
told me. It is a story his grandfather told him, and his own grandfather
before him. Back in those days, in the ancient kingdom of Benin in present-day
Nigeria, the sky wasn’t far away from the earth. If an adult stood
up straight and stretched his hand, he could touch the sky. Why, you
ask? Well, the sky was made of the sweetest food you ever imagined. It
tasted something like the sweetest croissant with honey baked into it,
only better. And it was very light and fluffy.
Anyway, people did not need to go looking for food every day because the
sky was there, so of course there were no hunters or farmers back then.
Then, however, people started to get greedy and wasteful. Often they cut
off more of the sky than they needed. The sylphs and fairies that tended
the sky warned them not to do so, but no one listened. They warned them
that if they kept wasting the food, a day would come when the Owner of
the sky would take back His gift. But still no one listened.
Even worse, people also started to kill the innocent animals that lived
in the forest. They had gotten tired of eating the sky every day, and they
decided that they wanted meat. The gnomes that worked in the forest were
distressed. They warned the people to stop killing Osanobua’s1 creatures,
but they continued killing and eating the animals. Worse yet, they also
wasted the meat. They would kill an antelope, for instance, eat a little
bit of it, and throw the rest away or let it go bad. So the poor creature
would lose its life for nothing.
One day a hunter (and there were now hunters among the Binis2) was returning
from a hunt. Listen to this. He had an elephant on his back, an antelope
in his bag, and a rabbit in each hand. When he heard a small cricket chirping
in the sand, he wanted that as well! He started digging for it with his
big toe. This was too much for Eshu,3 the mischievous one. He caused the
hunter to stumble and fall under the weight of the elephant. He was crushed
by the elephant and died immediately. The people were frightened by this,
which was a lesson that greed can get you in trouble.
But you see, people forget things quickly. Very soon, they had gone back
to their old ways. Osanobua, the patient One, watched sadly as the people
continued to disobey Him. But even the patient will one day lose his patience.
One day a pregnant woman cut off a large piece of the sky. When she took
it into her house, her husband warned her that she might not be able to
eat the whole thing, but she reminded him that she was pregnant and eating
for two. After a while, she realized that she would not be able to eat
everything. She called her husband, and he started to help, but they still
couldn’t finish it. Frightened, they called their neighbors to help.
It seemed that the more food they ate, the more remained. Very soon the
whole village was eating, but they soon knew it would be impossible to
finish the food. |
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During Reading Strategy
Complete the Chart as You Read
Guided Reading Question 1
From whom did the narrator learn this story?
Click
to answer
Guided Reading Question 2
Of what do the sylphs and fairies warn the people?
Click
to answer
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By this time it was night, so they went into the bush
and quietly buried what was left. They thought that in this way they
would not be found out, as if you can hide from the all-seeing Eye
of Osanobua! Anyway, they woke up the next morning relieved that nothing
seemed to have gone wrong. The pregnant woman was the first to go outside
her house. Her husband was still inside when he heard her shriek loudly.
He rushed outside, and what he saw made his heart start pounding in
fear. The sky was no longer there. Then he looked upward, and many,
many miles away, he saw the sky. They both started crying loudly, along
with the other people who had gathered there, but it was too late.
Then a loud Voice boomed from above: “For years you have enjoyed
the many gifts that I gave to you, but you did not think you had to
obey my instructions on how to enjoy these gifts. I will still bless
you with food, but now you will have to work for it. Because you did
the opposite of my will, instead of getting food from above, you will
get it from below. You will till the ground until your body aches,
before I permit any food to appear. So shall it be from this day forth.” |
Guided Reading Question 3
Why is it ridiculous that the people should try to bury the food?
Click
to answer |
The people cried
bitterly, but it was too late. And from that day forth, my friends, the
sky has remained far from us, and we have had to depend on the soil for
our food. So now you know. Greed will always bring grief, whether it
concerns food, riches, attention from others, or anything else. We are
allowed only our fair share and no more. |
Guided Reading
Question 4
What are the consequences of the people’s greed?
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to answer |
