An Igala Fable
Once upon a time, there were nine brothers. Their father bought each of them a horse to ride to the farm every day, except the littlest brother. He had to ride a billy-goat.
Each morning when the rooster crowed, the older brothers chanted mockingly, "Billy goat jockey, get up and go! You need a head-start of an hour or so!"
The littlest brother got on his billy-goat and beat its sides with his heels. The goat ran his very best, bleating all the way: "Clatter, clatter, baa! Clatter, clatter, baa!"
After they had been struggling along for a while, the older brothers finally got out of bed and mounted their horses. They quickly caught up with the littlest brother on his billy-goat and sped by in a flash.
When they arrived at the brook which lay between their home and their farm, they all filled their gourds with clean water to drink while they worked, and after their horses had trampled around and made the brook muddy, they galloped the rest of the way to the farm.
When the littlest brother arrived at the brook, the water was so muddy that he could not drink it, but the second youngest brother took pity on him and, unbeknownst to the others, left a gourd full of clean water there for him each day.
After work, the older brothers rode their horses fast all the way. It was always dark before the youngest got home because his billy goat was slow.
Deeply grieved, his mother went into the woods behind the house to weep. As she was wandering around weeping, she stumbled over an old lady who was sitting on the ground, covered in leaves and vines.
"Ho, ho!" laughed the old lady. "Can you get your son a horse by crying?!
"Please forgive me," exclaimed the frightened mother. "I didn't see you!"
"Here's what you must do," said the old lady. "Take a knife and wound your shins. Then sit outside and let flies gather on the wounds. Kill the flies and collect them in a dish. When you have quite a few, fry them nicely in palm oil and add salt. Then take this preparation down to the lake.
When the animals come down to drink, give each one a tiny taste. Tell them that you will give the bowlful to the winner of a contest - to any animal who can wet its tail in the water, run three times around the lake, and then soothe your shins with its wet tail."
The mother followed these instructions carefully. All the animals competed for the bowlful of tasty flies, but not one could run around the lake even once before its tail dried.
Then came the hartebeest. He dipped his tail in the water and ran around the lake nine times. Then he soothed the mother's wounded shins with his still-wet tail. The wounds closed up and healed immediately!
The mother gave the whole bowl of flies to the hartebeest to eat. While he was munching on them, she heated a knife in the fire and with it cut off the hartebeest's horns. Then she put a rope around his neck and led him home where he hitched him up among her sons' horses.
When her youngest son finally got home that evening, she told him, "No more billy goat riding for you! Here is your horse!"
The next morning, the rooster crowed before dawn as usual, and the older brothers chanted mockingly, "Billy-goat jockey, get up and go! You need a head start of an hour or so!"
This time the youngest brother responded, "The billy-goat jockey won't leave first today." And he stayed in bed.
As soon as the sun rose, all his brothers got up, mounted their horses, and sped off towards the farm.
When he figured they were halfway there, the littlest brother got on his hartebeest. The hartebeest started running. He whizzed past the older brothers and arrived at the brook in no time. The littlest brother filled his own gourd with water and hid another gourd for his brother who had done the same for him in the past.
The older brothers were astonished, but the eldest was jealous. Now they were the ones who had to start out early and return late. Weeks went by in the same way.
Then one day, the eldest brother untied the hartebeest and led him to a place where driver ants were swarming. He made the hartebeest stand among the driver ants, which quickly swarmed up his legs and began to bite. The hartebeest kicked and bucked until the ground suddenly broke open beneath him, and he fell into the Place of the Dead.
When the youngest brother realized his steed was missing and heard what his eldest brother had done, he wept for a long time. Then he said, "I'm going to throw myself down that same hole!"So he did, and he surfaced in the Place of the Dead.
The King of the Dead asked, "What do you want?"
"I want my horse," replied the youngster.
"All the horses are in the pastures," said the King of the Dead. "When they return, point out which one is yours, and you may take him home."
And that is exactly what happened. When the horses returned from pasture, the youngest brother recognized his steed and took him back to the Land of the Living.
The next morning, all the brothers got up to go to the farm as usual, but they found the oldest brother's horse dead. Without a horse, the oldest brother became a poor man, publicly shamed among his younger brothers.
This is why it is not good to be jealous or to have evil intentions toward your brother. God gives to each individual as He chooses. Whatever He gives you, that is yours.
You will find the same lesson in the Bible.
“You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or his maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17
“Be content with what you have.” Hebrews 13:5.
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