A long time ago in the animal kingdom, there were two friends: Ijapa the tortoise and Elede the pig. Although Elede was rich and Ijapa was poor, they got along so well, it was like they were brothers. They loved to share stories of the adventures they’d had. Elede told stories of travelling the kingdom, buying and selling all kinds of things and Ijapa told stories of his farming adventures and using his wit.

One day a messenger arrived at Ijapa’s house and told him that his wife’s dad had died. This news made Ijapa and Yanribo, his wife, very very sad. Ijapa knew that they would have to pay for the funeral because Yanribo didn’t have any brothers or sisters. The only problem was that they didn’t have enough money and it would be very embarrassing for them, if there wasn’t enough food or drinks for the guests. So Ijapa decided to ask Elede to lend him some money to pay for the funeral.

Elede knew his friend was cunning so he was reluctant to loan him the money.  “Elede my friend, please i need your help, I promise to pay you back in three months after the funeral”. Ijapa pleaded. Feeling sorry for his friend, Elede decided, “because we are good friends, I will loan you the money but you must pay me back in three months as you promised.” Ijapa was so grateful, “thank you, thank you, thank you” and he gave his friend a big hug.

Three months later, Elede waited for his friend to come and pay back the money he borrowed, but Ijapa didn’t come. Thinking, maybe he needs some more time, Elede waited a few more weeks for Ijapa but still, he didn’t show up. Worried that Ijapa might be avoiding him, Elede decided to pay his friend a visit.

As he made his way down the path to see Ijapa, Ijapa spotted him from afar and ran back home to hide from his friend.

“Yanribo, Elede is on his way here and I don’t have enough money to repay him.” “Quick grab some peppers, I’ll hide inside my shell and you can pretend to use me as a grinding stone.” “When he gets here, just stay quiet, don’t say anything to him. Hopefully, he’ll get tired and leave”.

Elede arrived at Ijapa’s house and he saw Yanribo grinding peppers on a grinding stone. “Hello Yanribo, how are you? Is Ijapa home?” he asked her politely. Yanribo continued what she was doing pretending not to hear him. 

Baffled by her behaviour, he asked again, “Yanribo, I asked, is Ijapa home?” But Yanribo remained silent.

“I know you can hear me Yanribo. Where is your husband? It’s been more than three months and I want my money!” Elede shouted, irritated by Yanribo’s behaviour. But still, she refused to answer him.

Furious, Elede grabbed the grinding stone and threw it into the nearby bushes.

“Do I have your attention now? “Where is your husband? I want my money and I’m not leaving until I have it”.

“What have you done?” Yarinbo yelled. “Who do you think you are, coming to my house shouting at me and throwing my things away?” 

They both started arguing, raising their voices so much that other animals started to gather. Ijapa (who had crawled out from the bush that Elede threw him into) walked inside with tools under his arm, pretending he had just come back from the farm.

“What is going on here? What is all the noise about?” he called, as he pushed through the crowd. Yanrinbo explained how Elede had thrown her grinding stone away and was shouting at her because she wouldn’t talk to him.

“What?! The grinding stone your mum gave you?” he asked, acting surprised. “Yes oh! the very same” she cried. “Why would you do that?” Ijapa turned to his friend.

“Oh please stop.” “I’m not interested in your questions, I just want my money back and I want it now!” Elede snapped, his eyes burning with anger.

“Is that what the fuss is about?” “I have your money but you will not get a penny of it until you return my wife’s grinding stone” “It is a priceless family heirloom passed down from generation to generation and it is very special to us.”

“Fine” Elede sighed, satisfied that he was finally going to get his money. “The stone is just outside, I’ll go and get it.” He went outside to the bush where it landed but he could not find it anywhere! After looking for a while, he thought to himself, “it’s only a grinding stone. I’ll just buy them a new one.” So he went back inside and quietly called out “Ijapa my friend, “I’m sorry but I couldn’t find your grinding stone anywhere. I think someone else has taken it.” “But don’t worry, I will buy you a new stone as soon as you give me back my money.” 

“I don’t want a new stone. Didn’t you hear me say that it was a priceless family heirloom? if you want your money back, you need to find that stone!” Ijapa hissed at his friend and they started arguing again.

Ijapa’s neighbours who were tired of the noise took them to the village chief, to settle the matter. Chief Eerin, a wise old elephant, listened carefully as Ijapa and Elede argued before trumpeting, “enough!” once he had heard all he needed to. “Elede, I understand why you were angry. You lent Ijapa some money and instead of paying it back or asking for more time, he hid from you.” “But that is no excuse to behave like you did. You cannot go to someone’s house, shout at them and throw their things away.” “I may be just a grinding stone to you, but it is special to the tortoises, so you must find and return it to them. Then you will have your money back.” “However, If you fail to return the stone, I will throw you in prison.”

Disappointed, Elede went home and asked his family to help him look for the missing stone.

This is why, to this day, you will see the pig with his head down to the ground, turning over stones and digging in the dirt. He is still looking for Yanribo’s grinding stone.

 

The Moral of The Story:

The moral of the story is that we must choose our friends carefully and we must not react to things in anger or you might do something you’ll regret.