Long ago there was a hunter named Odewole. Odewole loved hunting and he was very good at it. He had hunted almost every kind of animal that lived in the forest including monkeys, antelopes, leopards and elephants.
As Odewole grew older, he found it harder and harder to travel into the forest to hunt. Eventually, he got too old and had to stop. Nothing seemed to make Odewale happy – he just wanted to hunt.
One day, Odewole went to see a Babalawo (medicine man) to help him hunt again. “E kaaro o!” He greeted the Babalawo. “Baba, please help me. I want to be able to go hunting in the forest again” he said. The Babalawo agreed to help Odewole, and he prepared potions in two clay pots for him. “Drink the potion from this pot when you want to go hunting,” he instructed Odewole. “It will give you the strength you need to hunt. After that, drink from the other pot to become your normal self again”. Odewole thanked the Babalawo and went home.
That evening, Odewole did what the babalawo said and drank from the first pot. Immediately, he changed into a giant snake, a python! At first, Odewole panicked, but when he felt his new strength, he was happy and went straight into the forest to hunt.
Odewole kept his transformation a secret from his family, who got more and more worried about him. He would disappear all day and was always tired when he got back late at night. Early one morning Odewole’s son went to his father’s house to find out where he went to every day. When he arrived, he saw Odewole drinking the potion, and turning into a giant snake. This made Odewole’s son very angry. “Why would Baba choose to turn into a snake over spending time with his family?” In his anger, Odewole’s son smashed the clay pots containing the potions, thinking, “Without these, Odewole won’t be able to turn into a snake again“.
That night when Odewole returned to his house, he saw that the pots had been broken. He tried desperately to find a few drops of the potion to turn him back into a man, but sadly, it had all dried up, and he couldn’t turn back. Afraid that if someone found him in his snake form, he might be hunted, Odewole slithered back into the forest and was never seen again.
The End.
The Morale of the Story:
This story teaches why we must learn to be happy with who we are even as we grow older. Change is a part of life and we must accept it and not try to hold on to the past.
It also teaches that you should not keep secrets from the people you love.
Lastly, it teaches why we must not lash out when we’re angry. If we do, we might do something we regret.
