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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

This book was first published as part of a Kindle eBook in 2013. That eBook is no longer available.

The story here has been edited, expanded and reformatted for reading on multiple eBook formats and is issued as a free eBook in 2015

FOREWORD

The Tortoise is the most popular character of all the varied characters that abound in the folklore of the Nigerian peoples. The exploits of the Tortoise, whether in all-animal stories or in stories that have an animal-human mix, are without compare in all of the folklore that originates from The Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Indeed, in all of Nigerian folklore, there may be as many Tortoise stories as there are all other stories combined. In different circumstances, the Tortoise is associated with wisdom, selfishness, just low cunning or even, at times, kindness.

In this adventure, our hero visits a fabulous city in the Sky in company of the avian folk but things don't work out quite in the way that he might have expected.

THE TORTOISE IN THE CITY IN THE SKY

one

Once upon a very long time ago, the animal kingdom was faced with a very severe famine. So grievous were the effects of this dearth of food that the inhabitants of that kingdom had been forced to embark upon the most drastic measures in order to ensure even a bare survival. But, as is so often the case in many of the things that impact upon the life of individuals and groups, the effects of the famine were not the same on everyone; some folk had weathered the dearth much more successfully than others.

Taking the birds as a group, for instance, it was visibly clear that they had been less affected by the famine than any other group of animals. In a situation where most of the other survivors of this great famine had become no more than pale shadows of their former selves, the vast majority of the avian folk had clearly fared much better.

It was quite true that a large number of birds had gone on to the great beyond as a direct result of the famine, but in proportion to the overall casualty figures for all of animal-kind, the casualty figures for the avian folk paled in comparison; indeed it is not too much to declare that the figures were comparatively insignificant. For those birds who had managed to survive the first and unexpected impact of the famine, they were a whole lot better looking than all of the other folk in the entire realm.

As the famine grew increasingly prolonged, this state of affairs caused considerable disaffection amongst the other inhabitants of the land. The Tortoise, in particular, was particularly irked by the state of affairs; he was most unhappy that, whilst he was dying a slow death due to the famine, the birds were weathering the effects of the famine just fine. He therefore determined to discover the secret of the birds and to benefit from it if it was at all possible.

After a long and painstaking investigation, the Tortoise discovered that there was a certain city, situated far above the clouds, which the birds visited on a more or less regular basis. Further, his investigations revealed that this city was given to holding a feast at certain regular times and that the birds had a standing invitation to attend these feasts and it was as a result of their regular attendance at these feasts that they had weathered the effects of the famine so much better than the other inhabitants of the animal kingdom had been able to weather its effects.

Given the dire effects that the dearth of food had had upon the Tortoise, just as on most other folk, the fact that there was a place where sustenance could be found at practically no cost worked powerfully on the Tortoise’s mind. He was not, in principle, adverse to the fact that the birds had kept this knowledge to themselves; if the knowledge had been his, he would have done just the same. All that mattered to him was to get some of the benefit from his new found knowledge. The Tortoise therefore determined that he would be a member of the delegation of birds when the time came round that would see the birds go partying once again in that sky bound city.

two

Having made this determination in his mind, the Tortoise set his mind to work as to how he would get the avian community to agree to have him as a member of the party-going group. The Tortoise knew quite well that this was not going to be an easy sell, but he was not in the least daunted by the enormity of the task that faced him; in fact, he was wholly confident in his mind that he would succeed in bringing the birds round to his point of view.

The first step that the Tortoise took in order to bring his hopes to fruition was to arrange a secret meeting with the leaders of the avian community, where he broached his ideas. Just as he had expected, it was an extremely hard sell for the instant reaction from the bird folk was almost wholly negative.

The Dove, amongst the mildest of all the folk of the avian fold, reminded the gathering that the Tortoise was the most dubious person in the whole wide world and in this view the Dove was vociferously upheld by the Vulture who related some of the many instances when certain members there present at the meeting had been harmed by the Tortoise’s low cunning and antisocial behaviour. Many of the other birds present spoke in the same vein; almost to a bird, the opinion was that the Tortoise would be most unwelcome.

But then, as ever, the Tortoise was a most persuasive speaker.

“I am a changed person, most excellent and worthy friends” he cried. “I am now fully convinced about the futile nature of my former lifestyle! A lifestyle that was of no benefit to anyone! No, not even to myself was there any beneficial aspect. Low cunning and greed, the hallmarks of my previous existence, harm the perpetrator even more markedly than it does those against whom such actions are directed! Your hostile reaction to my proposal clearly shows that I, and not those poor, innocent folk who were on the receiving end of my many shenanigans, am the greatest loser. Even before I discovered your secret about the city in the sky, I had already arrived at this conclusion and I had sworn by all the deities, yes! even those deities who are yet to come into being, as well as by the memory of every one of my revered ancestors that, if I were spared alive from this famine, I would henceforward lead a life that would stand as a model of all that constitutes neighbourliness!

“Worthy friends, I beg of you, believe me. I am now fully convinced, and I do not say this merely for the chance of meal, important though that is, that brotherly love, the offer of a helping hand to every and anyone in need, are the most desirable of traits that anyone can have, I assure you that these traits have become the guiding lights of my life.

“If, as you are fully entitled to do, you refuse to permit me to go with you, I assure you that I will not hold it against any single one of you although such a decision would almost certainly lead to my death in the shortest possible time.

“However, it would pain me greatly, yes, even in my grave, to think that anyone here, folk that I hold in the highest regard, would suffer from pangs of conscience in the future as a result of such a decision.”

Speaking in his most eloquent manner, the Tortoise was soon able to convince the majority of the assembled birds as to the validity of his views. Even as he spoke, huzzahs punctuated his speech and by the time he had finished with his exhortation, that whole assembly of birds rose as one and applauded the Tortoise. By acclamation it was decided that the Tortoise be permitted to accompany the birds to the next feast held by the folk who dwelt in the city above the clouds.

“But”, admonished the Sparrow who was on quite friendly terms with the Tortoise and whom had been the only bird to have spoken in the Tortoise’s behalf at the initial stage, “you must be on your very best behaviour”.

“Friends, you’ll never regret this kind-hearted gesture”, cried the Tortoise. “Not you, Sparrow! Not you, Vulture! Not you, Dove! Not any single one of you! Thank you all! Thank you so very much!”

But how was the Tortoise going to get up to the city above the clouds? Wings were an absolute requirement if one wanted to visit the city and the Tortoise was conspicuously lacking in wings. For a long moment after the Eagle raised this vital point, there was absolute silence but the Tortoise’s fertile brain was more than able to solve the problem.

“Now folks, I’ve got just the perfect solution”, he cried. “If each of you will make me a loan of just a single feather, just a single feather mind, then I’ll be able to build a pair of wings for myself. We’ll all just fly off to the great feast above the clouds!”

So, it was agreed that each bird would make a loan of a single feather to the Tortoise so that he could accompany them to the city above the clouds on the next feast day. The Tortoise was informed of the next date on which the feast in that city above the clouds would take place and a rendezvous was fixed and everyone went home in as good a frame of mind as might be expected of folk living in a famine-ravaged land.

three

Certainly it will not come as a surprise to the dear reader to learn that upon the appointed day the Tortoise was the very first person to arrive at the rendezvous where he waited impatiently until all the birds finally arrived. As had been previously agreed, each bird gave up a feather towards the construction of the Tortoise’s wings and this was soon accomplished. Once the wings had been made up and placed upon the Tortoise, the Tortoise looked so resplendent and gorgeous that even the Peacock looked positively shabby in comparison. Every bird there present was completely put in the shadow by the Tortoise’s magnificence. There was a lot of muttering concerning the Tortoise’s glorious appearance but there was really nothing that could be done now. Once the wings had been properly fitted, the entire party took off and started to make their way to that city above the clouds.

The contingent arrived at their destination in due course and their hosts made them very welcome indeed. There were a lot of flattering comments made by the inhabitants of that city concerning the gorgeous appearance of the Tortoise whom, of course, they had not seen on the previous occasions when their guests had visited. He must be their king, the hosts whispered one to another, for so overwhelmingly gorgeous did the Tortoise appear.

Now, the hosts were happy that they had extended the best in hospitality to their guests on their previous visits; if, imagine, they had been less hospitable, then they might never have had the opportunity of seeing, talk less of sitting in the company of such a splendiferous being; so much did the Tortoise’s splendour overshadow that of all of the other birds.

Once the guests were seated, a spokesperson for the hosts gave a beautiful welcome speech and, once the welcome was complete, the Tortoise rose to respond on behalf of the guests. This action on the part of the Tortoise was not in any way presumptuous for, although we have not mentioned it earlier, this was one of the demands made of him by the birds and which he had agreed to so that he could come with them to the great feast.

One thing that the avian folk had noticed in the course of their previous visits was that the quality of the speech made by anyone chosen to speak on their behalf was always markedly inferior to the quality of the speeches made by their hosts. The Tortoise, widely travelled, a raconteur of no compare was, they had thought on that meeting day, the perfect person to redeem their image. And they were not mistaken in their assessment.

Always eloquent and witty and, dare we say, brilliant, the Tortoise’s performance that day superseded anything that even the most optimistic bird could have hoped for. Simply put, his performance was superlative.

As he spoke, even those few birds who still harboured misgivings as to the wisdom of bringing the Tortoise along with them were now completely won over, nodding one to the other as to the correctness of their decision.

As for the inhabitants of that city above the clouds, if they had been impressed by the Tortoise’s fantastic plumage, they were even more impressed by his wit and his breadth of knowledge. Their guests, the hosts whispered to themselves, were truly worthy of being hosted, for they had chosen for their leader not just the most physically attractive specimen amongst their kind but also the most intellectually attractive person that it had been their luck ever to come in contact with.

The applause which greeted the Tortoise’s response was, in a word, overwhelming. As for the birds, they were all really chuffed up by the Tortoise’s performance; they felt that the Tortoise’s tour-de-force had more than made up for the long list of sorry excuses that had been presented by their representatives and passed off as responsive addresses in the past and the enthusiastic response that the Tortoise’s performance elicited from their hosts confirmed them in their view.

four

Now, it was over with the speechifying and it was time to get down to the nitty-gritty, so to speak: the food and drink. The servers came out with platters of the most mouth- watering foods and jugs of the sweetest smelling palm wine that the Tortoise had seen or smelt in many a long month and, as those platters and jugs were placed before the guests, it is sad to say, but true nonetheless, that the Tortoise’s inherent bad character came into play. Not having had anything approximating a real meal in a long, long time, the Tortoise’s good sense abandoned him and he gave way to his greed.

Turning towards his companions, and calling them into a huddled impromptu powwow, the Tortoise explained to his avian friends that the food that their hosts had just brought in was designated for him as spokesperson. As they all could see, most of the food and drink had been placed right in front of him. This procedure, the Tortoise explained, was a long standing custom in the whole wide world; the other guests would be served their own portions in due course. It was his humble view that they adhere to this age old custom so as not to put themselves to shame before their distinguished hosts.

Knowing that the Tortoise was the most travelled creature in the entire world, the birds had no difficulty in accepting this statement as the truth. Indeed, some of them upbraided the Tortoise for not having acquainted them with this custom before they left home. They cringed with shame when they recalled how, not knowing of the existence of this custom, they had fallen to like cultureless folk and eaten as soon as their hosts had brought in the first round of the food and drink on the occasions of their previous visits. How barbarian-like they must have seemed to their hosts. Thanking the Tortoise profusely, they shifted all of that delicious looking food as well as all of the sweet-smelling palm wine that was not already placed in front of the Tortoise right before him and then they sat back to await the arrival of their own portions!

The Tortoise, for his own part, lost no time in doing justice to the meal that was set before him; devouring that excellent food and swilling down the sweet palm wine. So long had it been since the Tortoise had eaten and drunk so well that his concentration on the feast he was enjoying was quite monomaniacal; the Tortoise became wholly oblivious of the birds, by whose grace he had come to the feast, as well as of their hosts who had prepared this most excellent repast that he was devouring so gluttonously.

Oh yes, the hosts!

As for the hosts, they had never in their wildest imaginings thought of something akin as to what was happening before their very own eyes. That a single being could consume the quantities of food and wine that their guests’ king was putting away was a wonder in itself. But, they wondered, why didn’t the other guests join their master in the feast? Their conclusion was that it was the custom of their guests to defer to their king in matters of eating and drinking, and this view was reinforced by the simple fact that the Tortoise had not hitherto visited with the birds. So, exquisitely polite, the inhabitants of the city above the clouds said nothing and went on as if all was going just as they expected.

And as for the birds, it took a bit of time before some of the brighter of the avian folk began to suspect that a dirty and most despicable trick was being played on them, and by the time that this idea had started to take root in their minds, the Tortoise had consumed the best of the food and wine.

One can well imagine the feelings of the birds. To say that the birds were incensed would be putting it extremely mildly, but they did nothing untoward in the presence of their hosts. Some of the birds, pressed by hunger, picked at the remnants of the food but the majority of the birds preferred to return home hungry, the famine state of the homeland notwithstanding.

five

The birds were determined to pay the Tortoise back for his mean trick. At the same time, they were determined not to let on to their hosts that they had been taken for so great a ride so, putting on brave faces, they thanked their hosts for the hospitality that had been shown them and took their leave. Managing the Tortoise, who was still essentially out of it all, they repaired to the staging place from which they were wont to return to the world below. By the time that they reached their departure point, the Tortoise had started to recover from the effects of his gluttony and he realized that he was in potentially very dire straits. His assessment was by no means a wrong one.

One by one, the birds requested the return of the individual feathers that each of them had loaned to the Tortoise. As the Tortoise’s wings grew smaller with every passing second, the enormity of his predicament became ever clearer and now, how he regretted that irrational impulse that had impelled him to his despicable action. Having no other choice, the Tortoise started to plead but not even his much vaunted eloquence could avail him on this occasion. The whole avian community was determined to exact their own revenge and in short time the Tortoise was deprived of the wings that were a requirement for his return home. Now, the Tortoise pled that someone would deliver a message to his wife on his behalf, but this approach was also futile. One by one, the birds left and the Tortoise was left alone, stranded so far off in the sky.

As the Tortoise lay prone on the ground lamenting the greed that had brought him to this sad state, the Vulture, whom, as we may recall, had been one of those most vociferously opposed to allowing the Tortoise to accompany the birds to the feasts, and whose condemnation of the Tortoise’s shabby behaviour at the feast had been just as vehemently vociferous, returned and declared that he was now prepared to deliver a message on Tortoise’s behalf to Mrs Tortoise.

“I have seen the extent of your remorse” declared the Vulture, “and I am convinced that you have truly learnt your lesson. It is a pity that all the other birds are gone for, if they were still here, I would have tried to prevail upon them to return the feathers so that you could fly back home with us; and I’m sure that they would have listened to me. As it is, although I am quite prepared to return the feather that I retrieved from you in my blind anger, you will no doubt agree with me that a single feather is of absolutely no use to you.

“What is it you want told to your Lady Wife, dear Tortoise? Inform me, and I will see to it that your message is delivered most faithfully.”

Although the Tortoise was somewhat apprehensive as to the Vulture’s sudden change of heart, beggars have never been able to be choosers so, falling prostrate before the Vulture and with tears streaming down his face, the Tortoise pled that the Vulture ask his wife to bring out all of the soft furnishings that they had at home, every single bit of soft furnishing that they owned, and stack them up in the backyard of their home.

“Tell her, dear Sir, to stack all of my clothes as well as all of hers; all of the cotton, spun or un-spun, in the house; every single soft item in the house as well as all of the soft items that she can borrow off the neighbours.

“Please, good Sir Vulture, have pity on me. Forgive my greed; the Devil made me do it! It wasn’t my fault; I would never do a thing like that if I was in my correct senses and not thoroughly Devil possessed.”

The Vulture responded in the most reassuring of tones, and assured the Tortoise of his best wishes; for, as he declared, it had ever been his policy to forgive anyone who showed himself or herself penitent. The Tortoise therefore need have no fear; his message would be delivered safely to his lady wife. On this note, the Vulture took his leave and the Tortoise was left all alone.

After some considerable time had passed, the Tortoise pulled himself together and, considering that the Vulture ought to have delivered his message to Mrs Tortoise by now, he looked down from his perch in the sky. True enough, just as he had estimated, the Vulture must have delivered his message for he could discern movement in and around his backyard as items were brought out from inside his own house as well as from the houses of his neighbours and set up in a pile in his backyard. Although he could not make out any specific items, how he blessed the goodness of the Vulture in his heart.

After several hours, the toing and froing slowed down and soon came to a complete halt; it seemed to the Tortoise that everything was set. Taking a deep breath and sending a quick prayer to all deities, known and unknown, and to all of his illustrious ancestors, as well as to those who were somewhat less than illustrious, the Tortoise jumped and began his homeward journey.

The return journey from the clouds seemed much longer in the Tortoise’s mind than had been the trip to the clouds. He fell and fell, and then he fell and fell some more; it seemed that he would never come to the end of his great fall. But, as the saying goes, there is no journey, no matter how long, that does not have an ending. The Tortoise’s great drop from the clouds, like every other journey, came to an end and he landed just as he had hoped he would: right in the middle of the great pile that sat squarely in his backyard.

It was very many hours later that the Tortoise regained consciousness, and when he did he found himself in the care of the doctors; he also found himself in extremely excruciating pain, for every single bone in his body as well as his shell, which until this time was a beautifully smooth one piece shell that was the envy of all who beheld it, had been broken into pieces.

The Vulture had played a one-off on the Tortoise that was worthy of the Tortoise himself! Indeed, the Vulture had delivered a message to Mrs Tortoise, but not the message that the Tortoise had sent. Instead of telling Mrs Tortoise to bring out all of the soft furnishings that she had in her home, the Vulture had informed her that her husband required every piece of hard furnishing that they were possessed of, as well as those hard furnishings belonging to their neighbours! So, her mortars and pestles as well as her grinding stones; her farming implements as well as those of her husband; even her husband’s implements of war! In addition, of course, Mrs Tortoise had solicited for, and received, similar items from all of her neighbours. It was these items that had made up that great pile that the Tortoise, looking down into his compound, had seen from the clouds just before he made his fateful jump.

For very many months, the Tortoise was in the care of the doctors; indeed, many a time, it was thought that he would not survive this ordeal. But the expertise of the doctors coupled with the loving care provided by his long suffering wife ensured that he did survive. But as for that smooth shell which had once been his pride and joy, it was beyond the ability of the doctors to replicate. All that they could do, and did, was to stick and stitch the shell together; essentially a patchwork. And that is why the Tortoise has been going about ever since with a very rough shell indeed.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 13.09.2015

Widmung:
For my grandma Joanna Abunovbo Okiei, nee Obokhare (1910 - 1980) When the stories started, they never stopped!

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