A long time ago, when animals and people spoke the same language, in a village just outside the forest lived two friends, the tortoise and the dog. At that time, there had been no rain for many months. Without the rain, the farmers couldn’t grow food and everyone started to go hungry. To find food, the two friends, Ijapa, the tortoise, and Aja, the dog, searched the forest together every day.

One day, as the two friends returned from the forest, they saw an old woman carrying a heavy load of firewood. Aja said to his friend, “Ijapa, let’s help that old woman, she is struggling to carry all that firewood”. Ijapa, being lazy, refused to help. “I have things to do at home” he replied, “I don’t have the time or energy to help strangers”. With that, Aja said goodbye to his friend and went to help the old woman carry the firewood to her house.

When they arrived, the old woman thanked Aja, “thank you, my child. Wait here, I want to give you something for your kindness”. “You don’t need to give me anything“, Aja protested, but the old woman insisted. She went into her hut and came back with a small Bata drum. “This is a magic drum,” she said. “Whenever you’re hungry, beat the drum three times like this, ‘bu-boom, bim-bim, bu-boom’, and all kinds of food will appear for you to eat.” Aja, grateful for the gift, thanked the old woman and went home. As he left, she told him, “you must keep this a secret. If you use the drum too much or tell anyone about it, the magic will go away forever”.

The next day, Ijapa arrived at Aja’s house to go for their daily walk in the forest. But, Aja, who had used the drum the night before, was not hungry. He said to his friend, “please go without me today. I am very tired from helping the old woman yesterday.” So Ijapa left his friend to rest. Over the next few days, Aja gave Ijapa a different reason why he couldn’t go with him to the forest to search for food. After a week of Aja’s excuses, Ijapa was suspicious, and he decided, “Aja is keeping a secret from me and I am going to find out what it is”. So he went to Aja’s house, and looking through a gap in the door, he saw Aja beating the magic drum three times ‘bu-boom, bim-bim, bu-boom’. To his surprise, all kinds of tasty food appeared and Aja ate it all by himself. Angry that his friend would keep such a secret from him, Ijapa cried out, “so this is what you’ve been hiding. How could you not tell me?” Having no choice, Aja told Ijapa everything about the old woman, the drum and her warning.

Ever the jealous animal, Ijapa decided he wanted his own magic drum. The next day he went to the old woman’s house with a small bundle of firewood. “I will give this to her, and she will have to give me a drum too”, he thought. When he arrived, he gave the old woman the bundle he brought but she didn’t want it. “Thank you, Ijapa, but I have enough firewood,” she explained. Ijapa was upset by this and he insisted that she take the firewood he had brought for her. Eventually, the old woman accepted his gift, and then Ijapa asked for his magic drum reward. The old woman smiled and took him inside the hut. “Pick one of these three drums as your reward” she instructed. The greedy tortoise chose the biggest drum. “If Aja’s tiny drum could make that much food, a bigger drum must make a lot more,” he thought. The old lady gave Ijapa the same instruction she gave Aja. “Beat the drum three times when you’re hungry ‘bu-boom, bim-bim, bu-boom’, and do not tell anyone about the drum or the magic will go away forever”.

That night, Ijapa invited his neighbours to his house and promised them a feast. When they arrived, Ijapa beat the drum loudly, ‘bu-boom, bim-bim, bu-boom’, but instead of a feast, a masquerade appeared with a long cane. The masquerade severely flogged Ijapa. Terrified, Ijapa’s neighbours ran away leaving him crying and begging the masquerade to stop. Ijapa was beaten for one whole hour. When the monster finally stopped Ijapa took the drum back to the old woman and apologised for being greedy and for not doing as he was told.

The End.

The Morale of the Story:

This story teaches us that it is good to be kind to others. It also teaches us not to be greedy and disobedient.