During the dry season, when there was no rain to stop the rivers from drying out, most animals left the savannah in search of food and water and only came back in the rainy season, when the rivers were full again, and there was plenty of food to eat. In those days, two friends, Asa, the hawk, and Adiye, the hen, were one of the few animals that stayed. Each year, they worked together to find all the food and water they needed.
One unusually dry season, the friends decided to wait for the season to change as usual. Except, this year they both had chicks, which meant they had to find a lot more food. At first, everything was fine. The birds took turns finding food for everyone. But as the savannah got dryer, it became harder and harder to find enough food for everyone. Soon, Adiye was hiding food for her chicks to eat while Asa and her chicks slept.
Desperate, Asa decided one day, to travel in search of food. She said to Adiye, ” I’m going to fly to the human village to look for food. I hope to be back in two days with enough food for all of us. Please take care of my chicks while I’m away.” “Of course. I’ll treat them like they are my children” Adiye promised.
On the first day, Adiye played games with the chicks all day so that they wouldn’t think about food. On the second day, they played some more games, but the chicks started to cry because they were hungry. Adiye comforted them, “Asa will be back soon with plenty of food for everyone!”. But as the sun set on the second day with no sign of Asa, Adiye started to worry.
On the third day, the hen’s chicks were so hungry that they cried non-stop. As the sun went down and there was still no sign of the hawk, Adiye thought, “It’s been three days. Asa has probably been killed by the humans.” Looking at her screaming chicks, she decided, “I can’t let my chicks starve to death“, so she killed and cooked Asa’s chicks and fed them to her chicks.
On the fourth day, Asa arrived with enough food to last until the rainy season. “Kaaro, Adiye”, she greeted her friend. “I’m sorry I’m late. It was very hard to fly with so much food.”
Noticing how quiet it was, she asked Adiye, “Where are my children?“. Adiye, afraid of the hawk, lied, “I’m sorry, Asa, but your chicks got too weak from their hunger and died“. Asa was heartbroken and flew away to mourn her children.
Just then, Ijapa, the tortoise who lived nearby and saw what really happened to Asa’s chicks, told her the truth. “Your children did not die of hunger, Asa. Adiye killed them and fed them to her children.” Asa was furious and flew back to the house in anger to attack Adiye and her chicks but they were nowhere to be found. Adiye had run away with her chicks.
The hawk made a promise that day, “I will hunt the hen and all her chicks wherever I find them”. To this day, the hawk has not forgotten how her best friend betrayed her, and whenever she sees the hen or her chicks, she attacks them.
The End.
The Moral of the Story:
Be patient. Don’t be greedy and always keep your promises.
Adiye did not keep her promise and that made Asa decide to hunt young chickens.
