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Once upon
a time, a very big famine came upon a certain village called Amaegbu.
This was truly a big famine. Everything was dry, at home and in the
bush. During the day, people could not rest because of the sunshine
and heat. At night, the same thing -- no one could sleep. There
was neither wind nor breeze anywhere. Everything that was planted in
the farms withered and died. Nobody, man or woman, could find anything
to eat. And not just people, but even goats and chickens were going
hungry.
Among the
people who lived in the village of Amaegbu, there were two who were
different from all the others. One was a blind man, who used a cane to
find his way around. The other was a lame man, who crawled or slid
along on the ground to go from place to place. These two men used a
shed on the edge of the village market as their home.
When
things were good, the blind man and the lame man did not enjoy great meals.
However, they always managed to get enough from what the market women were
not able to sell and therefore gave to them at the end of the day.
That was when times were good. But when the famine came, the market
often did not even open. Besides, many of the women did not have
enough of anything for themselves, their husands and their children, let
alone anything to give to the blind man and the lame man.
As time
passed, the blind man and the lame man became very, very hungry -- almost to
the point of dying of hunger. One day came and passed. Hunger.
Another day came and passed, and nothing was different, except more
hunger All that the blind man and the lame man could do was be patient
and try to console each other.
Then one
night, the blind man called out to the lame man, saying: "My man, are we
supposed to sit here and die without making any kind of move to help
ourselves? Is there nothing we can do?"
The two
were sitting in their hut in the corner of the market.
"Like what
could we do?" the lame man asked.
"Like
looking around to see whether we can find something to eat somewhere."
"Like
where?" the lame man asked.
The two of
them continued conversing, and in the end they decided that the barn
belonging to the head man of the village, Chief Afo Ejugh Olu, was where
they needed to go. They waited until the moon came out. The
blind man provided the legs and carried the lame man on his shoulder.
The lame man provided the eyes and directed the blind man as to where to
walk. That is how they made their way into the chief's barn. The
barn was full of food: yams, cocoyam, corn and many other things to eat.
The blind man and lame man took as much as they could carry and made their
way back to their shed. There, they made a fire, roasted some yam and
corn and ate a meal such as they had not seen in five or six months.
Early the
next morning, the village was shaking and quaking. The Chief's
servants and finger lickers sound the ekwe to announce that the land had
done a somersault, that something that should not happen had happened.
Everyone was
asking, "What happened?"
"There had
been a theft. Someone had stolen from the Chief's barn.
The Chief
himself was so angry that his eyes were shooting sparks, and it appeared as
though smoke was coming out of his nostrils. It was not just a matter
of stealing, but the fact that someone had had the audacity to set foot in
the Chief's barn.
Everyone
in the village of Amaegbu was shaking and quaking as they came out to the
market clearing. The Chief sent messengers to Igwe Nka Ala to bring
back a fearsome oracle called Ezi Okwu Bu Ndu (Truth Is Life, which also
meant Lie Is Death). Everyone in the village was to swear about the
theft which had occurred. Whoever was the thief would be strangled by
the Oracle.
People began to
swear, one by one. The men. The women. The young.
The old. Everyone swore, but the Oracle killed no one.
Everyone
stood staring and wondering about was going one.
All of a
sudden, the Chief remembered the blind man and the lame man. "Bring
them, and let them swear as well," he said to his servants.
The
village people shook their heads in bewilderment at the Chief's order: The
blind man could not see, and the lame man could not walk. How could
they steal?
The Chief
did not care what the people thought in their hearts or muttered under their
breaths. He ordered his finger lickers to carry one with his order.
One finger licker led
the blind man before the Oracle and asked him to swear. The blind man
swore as follows: "Great Spirit who sees and knows everything, as you know,
I have been blind since I was born. You know that I have never so much
as set my eyes on the Chief's barn!"
"He has
sworn! He has sworn!" the people of Amaegbu shouted.
The Oracle
did nothing to the blind man.
Next came
the lame man, crawling and sliding. "Great Spirit," the lame man said.
"You know that I am lame and cannot even walk. You know that since I
came into this world, I have never even set foot in the Chief's barn!"
"He has
sworn! He has sworn!" the people of Amaegbu shouted.
The Oracle
did nothing to the lame man.
Everyone
in the market square stood still in puzzlement. Everyone had sworn,
but the Oracle had killed no one.
The Chief
opened began to speak, but as soon as the first word came out of his mouth
he began choking as if someone was holding him at the throat. His
servants rushed to help him but could do nothing about the unseen hands that
were strangling him.
The Chief died.
Right there in the market square, he thrashed about and died with
stiff legs and a contorted face.
Everyone
was amazed and wanted to know how come. Who better to ask than the
dibias who came with the Oracle. The dibias shook their divining
rattles and asked Ezi Okwu Bu Ndu for an explanation. Here's what the
Oracle answered:
Truth
comes in many sizes, and I always tell the biggest one. The biggest
truth is that someone who hoards food while others are dying of hunger is
the biggest thief.
The people
Amaegbu shook their heads in wonderment and disbelief. While some of
them stood around talking about what would happen next to their village now
that the Chief was dead, others made their way to the Chief's barn to see
what they could find to eat. "Ome nta eme imo,"
they said, "a man who acted as though he could do everything, let him dig a
grave and bury himself!"
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To be continued --
Analysis and commentary in the next week or so. Please check back.
