Hyena, Leopard and the Lion: A fairy tale
5 min readRanting about the infinite disgusting state of this Country will make one develop unnecessary ulcers for nothing, trust me – I have chosen fairytale today to save myself from that
By Kon Joseph Leek, Juba, South Sudan
June 6, 2016 (SSB) — Once upon a time, there lived three friendly animals, Hyena, Leopard and Lion [all carnivorous]. They lived in a vast rhododendron somewhere by the Riverside [River Nile].Their drinking place was a shallow stream, kind of a ford said to be connected to the Nile.
One morning, they woke up hungry and therefore thought of going for hunting which they all agreed. So, they went for hunting across that small stream. They ran, prowled, rushed and stopped, roared and snarled over anything for the whole day and the result was futile, not did they get just a mouse!
Returning back to their dwelling hungry and thirsty, they walked back not talking to themselves, just a deadly silence, they could only hungrily yawn. Their silence was barely interrupted by the beautiful lullaby of the nightingales that were singing in the wilderness– and this helped them pushed their way forward.
Upon reaching the stream, they found several animals drinking, those animals [herbivorous] had taken the advantage of coming there because of the absence of the dangerous carnivorous but the herbivorous were not lucky enough. Before they could quench their thirsts, the Lion suddenly interrupted their drinking with blood cuddling roar that prompted the herbivorous to run haphazardly and scattered like the children of Israel, causing the stampede among themselves [herbivorous].
With the zeal of someone who did not eat last evening and has again stayed all day long with empty stomach, the three carnivorous of Hyena, Leopard and the Lion were already on four herbivorous of giraffe, buffalo, Thiang and the cop
They dragged them under a big tree in the center of rhododendron. There, the leader [the Lion of course] politely asked any of the other two [hyena and leopard] to do the distribution of which the excited Hyena proudly raised up its paw to be chosen by their boss to do the distribution. The lion allowed him, without understanding the nuances of the differences [seniority] of the three of them, the Hyena went on ’King Lion will go with the giraffe and Thiang added on it, Leopard with the cop and I [the Hyena] with the buffalo’.
Upon hearing this, out of petulance, the Lion silently rose up cleared his throat and pat out phlegm on the tree. The hyena abruptly kept quiet from laughter, he knew that he had dared stepped on the Lion’s tail and started being too pedantic despite the fact that he knew what was coming because there was already an ominous sign that something unpleasant was on the way.
Lion’s intention was lucid, no need to be such snappish! Before he [Hyena] could blink twice, the Lion jumped on him, caught him by the neck with his teeth and threw him away where he badly ricocheted on the tree like a stone leaving him uncontrollably peeing and shitting and eyes rolling brightly like bulbs
Then the heated Lion snarled to the leopard that, ‘do the distribution now’. With laughter and giggles of fear, he honorably accepted and began the distribution, with soft voice he went on, ‘giraffe should be given to you King Lion for your lunch and the buffalo for your supper [and it was already evening and out of blue, the terrified leopard was speaking of lunch!], then Thiang to the Hyena and I should go with the cop’ he ended his distribution
‘Very fantastic, really great and exciting ….indeed great, where did you learn that distribution?’ the Lion asked the Leopard with eyes glittering with amusement and happiness, ‘I just learn it now from the Hyena’, the Leopard answered, of which the Lion just nodded. Leopard, learning the distribution is simply based on, “if he did not think twice he could have been wrestled down like his friend, Hyena”.
Looking at the above fairytale story, it is related to how we [human beings] sometimes behave. To my own observation, it implies that whatever the system of governance or administration used by a person of authority, especially in our Africa, a key factor that governs his affairs and interests are his interests whatever the case.
The concept of personal interest is used almost to argue for any given policy that who so ever that goes against it is made to ricochet on the tree like what happened to the hyena unless you are a family member
Using of the personal interest as a cornerstone of administration is the road more travelled by almost all the people presently. Darwinian Theory where, “people who do not promote their own interests will become prey for those ones who do” is what is working to most of us including King Lion. This is where he [Darwin] talks of the “man eat man world” and “the survival of the fittest!” (Book titled; origin of species by Darwin)
You too can have your personal interpretation
The writer is a commentator on contemporary issues; he is reachable on j.konleek@gmail.com
The opinion expressed here is solely the view of the writer. The veracity of any claim made are the responsibility of the author, not PaanLuel Wël: South Sudanese Bloggers (SSB) website. If you want to submit an opinion article or news analysis, please email it to paanluel2011@gmail.com. SSB do reserve the right to edit material before publication. Please include your full name, email address and the country you are writing.
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