A STORY HANDED DOWN BY ONE OF THE AFRICAN ANCIENT HUNTERS.
It was a very happy day for the Butterfly as his twenty six years old marriage was blessed with a set of twins.
His joy knew no bound.
He went to the home of the traditional birth attendant where the twins were born to see them.
After seen that they were all hale and hearty, he was infested with the euphoria of God's blessings on him.
On his way home, he went into a bar and took some kegs of palm wine. The palm wine was so juicy that he took about five kegs.
He became stuporous. He then staggered out of the bar fully drunk. He could hardly navigate his way down home.
But he mustered his strength and went down on his way staggering. Whether drunk or not, that posed nothing to him as far his name has been cleared from being a sterile man!
His wife too would no longer be regarded as a barren woman!
This enough was worth celebrating with anything to any length. Unfortunately for him, as he staggered backward and forward and sideways, his wings got stuck to a spider's web! Fortunately again, the spider wasn't in the web and so after a fierce struggled, he was able to free himself from the web by cutting off his wings.
For him, wings or no wings, that was not his major concern provided he was able to escape death.
For him, his newly born babies could have shortly become orphans! By now, the palmwine had cleared from his eyes.
He can now see things clearly. He decided to go home very quickly. But since his wings had been cut off, he could neither fly nor walked fast.
He began to jump!
Suddenly, before him was a big Toad.
The Toad looked at him and smiled mockingly.
"Hello dear, you are looking so happy; what's up!" He asked with a menacingly glow.
The Butterfly was scared and heavily frightened at the size of the Toad. To further increased his fears, the Toad behaved in a suspicious manner.
"Em, em, my wife just gave birth to a set of twins after about twenty six years of childless marriage.
I am just from the birth attendant's inn.
That is why l am happy, sir," he said with a trembling voice.
"Is that so?" The Toad asked wickedly.
"Yes Sir," he answered still looking visibly shaking.
"Well, l pity for those two little bastard twins of yours and their unfortunate mother. It is a pity that their joy will soon turn into mourning", he said mockingly.
TO BE CONTINUED.
The Butterfly became obviously afraid. His body trembes as his heart's beat increases.
"My Lord, please don't kill me! I don't want to die and leave behind my twins", he pleaded.
"Who is your Lord? I laugh. You don't know what is ahead of you. The truth is that, it is God that brought you here to save me the stress of going to look for food. You see, l have been on fasting for the past one month.
Today is the end of the fasting. I am just going out now to search for something to eat. I am so hungry as l am speaking with you.
Infact, your presence further ignites the hunger in me.
All what l am seeing now is this your oily body in my stomach. But not to worry. If you can provide another oily Butterfly for me; then you can go back to your twins but anything short of this is a story for the birds", he said mockingly.
By now, the Butterfly was exceedingly afraid. He realized that he was directly inside a lion's den.
What would he do? He reasoned that even if he should run away, in no time, the Toad would definitely catch up with him. And he knelt down and begged him, " Pleade, how can l get you another Butterfly when l am not very strong? It seems you just want to kill me leave my wife and my children to suffer". But like an adage says that, "It is better to try than not to". And so he took to his heels shouting for help as he ran.
"Look at this fool. Who are you calling and where do you think you are running to with your short legs? Common come back here so that l can eat and enjoy you.
Whether your bastard wife and babies like it or not; they are already widow and orphans.
And who are you fool calling for help?
Look, nobody is here to help you. It is only you and l.
I am your God today. No other God who will save you.
You are just delaying my meal. The worms in my stomach are waiting anxiously for your arrival so that they can enjoy this your oily body", he said wickedly.
And he gave him a chase. The Butterfly could neither fly nor run fast. And so he began to jump for him to be a bit faster. But time was not on his side as the Toad was fast closing on him with each passing second!
TO BE CONTINUED.
He reasoned that if he should run straight to the village, would be the best belt for the Toad to catch him and so he ran into a nearby dark tunnel, thinking that it has an exit at the other end. When the Toad saw him running into the dark tunnel, he smiles and said within himself. "Good! That is exactly where l need him to be. I will go in there to end his life and enjoy him straight away".
Now, the Butterfly can't see in the dark tunnel because he doesn't move in the night, but the Toad can see very clearly because he moves both day and night.
The Butterfly found it very difficult to move in the dark tunnel. He just kept on jumping till he got to the extreme of the tunnel where he could no longer moved forward.
He just stood waiting for the death blow because he knew that the Toad can see him clearly no matter where he hides.
Just as he had expected; closer to him, he hears the Toad's voice saying, "I thought you are a fast runner, then what are you still doing here? Can't you escape? Idiot!
Common, come here and let me enjoy you".
The Toad then held him and pulled him roughly to himself.
He gave a shout and begged the Toad to think about his newly born twins and his wife. But the Toad was in no position to listen to his pleadings.
Just as he opens his mouth wide to swallow the Butterfly, he feels a cold and a clumsy tap on his shoulders.
He turns, behold, it was the mighty and ferocious Cobra!
TO BE CONTINUED
COBRA: Hi my dear Toad. What brought you to my humble abode this afternoon?
TOAD: Em, Em, sir. Sir, l, l am sorry. I don't mean to come into your house. Please, please, for....forgive me. Let me go sir.
COBRA: Not that easy man! You see, l was about going out to look for food; but you see, the sun was a bit too harsh hence l decided to have a little rest for the sun to go down a bit, before you came in.
So you can see that it was God that even brought you here to save me the stresss of walking the long distance.
TOAD: Sir, sir, l don't understand you.
COBRA: Are you blind, deaf and dumbed? Can't you see the clear bold handwriting on your face? Is these your eyes too big to see?
I say make yourself comfortable for me to enjoy you.
The worms in my stomach are already waiting to receive you.
TOAD: Please! Please! Don't kill me. I beg you. Forgive me if l have offended you.
COBRA: Look, you this Toad. Why don't you want me to enjoy myself? Are you an enemy of enjoyment?
Can't you see that these your fat oily laps will be very enjoyable? Please, allow me to enjoy myself.
Meanwhile, the Butterfly had escaped out of the tunnel to a safe position where he could see both the Cobra and the Toad clearly.
As the Toad was begging the Cobra, he shouted to him.
BUTTERFLY: Common, shutup your smelling mouth and allow the hungry Cobra enjoy himself. Power has exchanged hands!
TO BE CONTINUED.
Were you not the one whom l begged and begged to have mercy on me; especially for my newly born twins and my wife? All my pleadings fell on your deaf ears. Now, you know the important of begging, isn't it? But l believed it is too late because to the best of my knowledge, in the history of creation, a hungry Cobra had never spared a fat and an oily Toad like you. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! Ho!
TOAD: Please sir, look my knees on the ground. Please be merciful.
COBRA: I don't understand you. Forgive you for what?
Won't l eat? You can hear the Butterfly saying that he begged you employing all styles of pleading but you refused. If you refused to have mercy on the Butterfly, then how do you expect me to have mercy on you? My friend, say your last prayer now or else............
And he pressed his sharp poisonous canine teeth on one of the laps of the Toad. He felt the excruciating pains and he cried out loudly.
I will say my last prayerl l will say my last prayer!
BUTTERFLY: That is a nice one for a start!
Common shut up your mouth and allow him to enjoy himself. Do you know what it means to beg?
And he rolled his big eyeballs round in their sockets.
TO BE CONTINUED
COBRA: Do you know that you are a bastard?
TOAD: Infact, l am worse than that. I don't even have a mother self.
COBRA : Do you know that your eyes look like a pot which is used for the cooking of cocoyams?
TOAD: Infact, they look like football sir.
COBRA: Do you know that you are an idiot?
TOAD: l am a double idiot O, sir.
COBRA: Do you know that you are already in the grave?
TOAD: I am already inside your stomach sir.
COBRA: Do you know that you are useless?
TOAD: More than useless. No wife, no children and no house sir.
COBRA: Do you know that today is a bad day for you?
TOAD: Yes sir, for me, my father and my mother.
COBRA: Do you know that these your fat and oily laps will be very delicious to eat?
TOAD: More delicious than honey meal, sir.
TO BE CONTINUED
BUTTERFLY: Oh! This stubborn Toad, why are you an enemy of enjoyment? Why are you a joy killer?
I beg, Mr Cobra; don't waste more time on him. A saviour could come by and save him if you are not fast. He deserves to be history by now.
By now the Toad no longer see properly because the poisonous venom from the Cobra was already working on him.
TOAD: Please sir, l can't see well again O! Yee! Yee! Is my eyes still on my body? Are my hands and legs still on my body? I am dead! Everything is rotating around me. I have become blind, deaf and dumbed! Everything is in a goodbye state.
Just then, Mr Lion came to the scene and he halted Mr Cobra.
BUTTERFLY: OH! What is this? I said this not too long that you should finish him fast because l feared that a help may come to him and that has come. He will no longer face his crime. But l believed it will take a long time before the venom will cleared from his useless system. The tissues that have been destroyed can no longer be restored. I am happy for that. At least, he will be crippled for life.
TO BE CONTINUED
He asked Mr Cobra why did he still want to eat the Toad after all the pleadings from him. Before, he could answer, Mr Butterfly appeared and he narrated his bitter ordeal on the hands of Mr Toad. Very soon, other animals came to the scene. To a question from Mr Wolf that it was originally established by nature for them to feed on the smaller animals.
Mr Lion agreed that, yes it was established so but in a situation whereby the predator preys suddenly on the prey, he could eat but if nature make the prey to be aware and it begs the predator for pardon, it should then be pardoned.
Now, Mr Toad was rushed to the same hospital where the Butterfly's wife delivered. Now, the next day, the Butterfly joyfully went to the hospital to see his wife and his twins.
He was very surprised to see the Toad on drips on a bed next to that of his wife and twins. He looked at him and smiled wickedly.
"Yes, this opportunity will not passed me by. He must die either by food poisoning or by an overdose injection. The bottom line is, he must die", he concluded.
TO BE CONTINUED
Now the hospital management were worried when the Butterfly didn't come back to check on his wife and the babies and also to give them food. The management of the hospital became compassionate for the plight of the babies and their mother as they became hungry. They provided them with food.
They vow to query the Butterfly and sanction him whenever he comes. When he finally came he narrated his bitter ordeal on the hands of the Toad. The hospital management became extremely angry with the Toad. The Butterfly conspired with them to poison the Toad to death.
They injected him with a deadly poison.
TO BE CONTINUED
But surprisedly, the next morning the nurses who went to his bed with the mind of seeing his corpse were surprised to see him hale and hearty. They were bamboozled!
They asked him how he felt. He said that the injection which they gave him the previous evening seemed to have done the magic. They greeted him and left.
They went to the doctor's office for a meeting. The Butterfly was also in attendance. They had never seen any living thing which has been able to survived this injection if not Mr Toad! They became afraid of natural Justice. They believed that nature must have saved the Toad. They were ashamed to go closer to his bed..
TO BE CONTINUED
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