The spilling of centurial woe and its odour in Ochoro Land
By Awuol Gabriel Arok, Juba, South Sudan
May 9, 2017 (SSB) — Once upon a time in the land of Ochoro, the birds and the animals held a big meeting to discuss the bad treatment they were receiving from human beings. They decided to send a delegation to the owner of the sky asking him to change their fate, and if possible to turn them into human beings.
Now the owner of the sky received them and listened to them patiently. “Human beings do not even respect our leaders, they said, they kill even the elephant and the leopard.” “They catch us and keep us in cages, “said the birds, “We have claws and teeth and yet they are not afraid of us,” said the animals again. Then the owner of Heaven said, “If I decide to help you, will you all agree to do whatever I tell you to do?”
Then all the animals began to talk at once, and they made wonderful promise that they would follow the Creator’s advice in every possible way, and do whatever he told them to do.
With that wonderful promise in place, the owner of the sky spoke again and said “many promises have been given, let me wait and see what you will be able to do, go to the city; when you come to the place where three roads meet, you will find a pot of palm oil. Dip your paws into the pot and rub yourself with the oil. Within seven days your fur will disappear, and you will become human beings.”
The birds and the animals were very happy and thanked the owner of the sky. They ran back into the forest singing and rejoicing.
Good sense is like a slave, it leave its master when he needs it most. The animals started a great celebration in the forest. They were drinking palm wine and were singing “Today we shall be human beings. Our skins will be smooth like oil, we shall walk erected like smart fix trees and we will fight with weapons sharper than teeth or claws.
The feasting went on until nightfall and they quite forgot about the pot of oil. The monkey first remembered and he led them off to the city.
Now that day the sun had been very hot and all the oil had dried up in the pot such that there were only a few drops left. The monkey got there first, so he dipped his hand into the pot and he rubbed his palms and face. Seeing that the oil was almost finished he jumped into the pot and rubbed the rest with his bottom.
That is how he lost his fur in those places and he almost became a human being. When the other animals arrived, there was nothing left for them at all.
Then they remembered what the owner of the sky had said, “many promises have been given.” They cried over their ignorant and set out again for the bush.
But human beings in the town saw them and started to chase them, most of them escaped into the bush, but the dog, sheep, goat, cow, and chicken were caught and from there till date they live with human beings.
When human beings saw the guiltless and the weighty of the animals and birds kingdom, strict rules and regulations were set to shield off any rudeness and vulgarity against the animals and birds kingdom, from there onward human beings, birds and animals live together in peace and harmony.
And Ochoro land once again shines as the owner of the sky bless it with heavy rain of hope after a long absence of rain in the land.
The author is reachable at jjmkamzeearokson@yahoo.com
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