Tales from Beneath the Baobab
Features of Fables and Parables
.
The Hyena and the Monkeys
The Hyena Gbongo screamed with hunger, her stomach
growling with pain. Desperate for food, she decided at
last to meet with Hyena Mygale (a wise, trusted Oracle)
and learn from his wisdom.
‘Take a drum, a pot and some fire, and go to find the
monkeys’, the Oracle advised. The Hyena Gbongo
thought for a moment, then, with a sly grin, took a drum
and a pot and went out into the woods. Carefully, she
filled her big, black boiling pot full of water, lit a small fire
and began to beat her drum. It did not take long before
the monkeys heard the enchanting rhythm and started to
arrive.
‘Approach, friends, approach’, the Hyena Gbongo chanted
persuasively. ‘Come, cook in my big, black boiling pot and
you shall resist both disease and the deadly arrows of
man’.
View features
.
Captivated,
no-one thought to question the word of the
Hyena, and one-by-one the monkeys came closer. All
except one, Kpa, leader of the pack. He hung back from the
group, a knowing smile spreading across his face. He had
heard of the Hyena’s tricks before.
‘Come my friends, and enter here’ Hyena Gbongo called,
unable to believe her luck. She held the lid to the big, black,
boiling pot high above her head and danced with joy.
The monkeys rushed towards the pot and, as quick as a
flash, the Hyena Gbongo slammed down the lid and stirred
the fire. The monkeys were trapped, and had no way to
escape. All that is, except Kpa, who had already fled
towards his home.
View features
Learn, dear friends, that the bush is a vast area without law.
Think carefully, be wary of predators and alert to danger.
With intelligence you shall survive.