Many at times we may feel like the world has turned its back on us, that others eat all the meat and throw us just the bones, that we have experienced the worst possible scenarios life could throw at us, that our lives are only a misery when others are enjoying their comforts and trouble free lifestyles, but when you listen to other people’s tales and stories, you get shocked beyond belief, that’s when you realize that other people’s experiences may have been so terrible so shocking, that your own life turns out to be no horror movie after all, when your experiences are compared to theirs they appear to be absolutely nothing. Life is hard on everyone you know. take a look at this folk tale from the land of the bountiful yarns… The tale may look a bit childish but it has themes fit for all ages, please be patient a little and go through it to the end…
THREE WITNESSES
One day two animals argued about a topic so much that they nearly engaged one another in a fierce fight to the death. These were the Antelope and the leopard. They became so loud that they woke up a vulture that was resting on a tree under which they were talking. As he tried to help them, he also ended up joining the argument. When they could not find a solution, the vulture suggested they should see a judge. ”No way, we are not going to the lion,” said the antelope,” you know he will not be fair in his judgment,” she added. “Of course not, we will not take our case to lion, I know that he is not fair sometimes. He is not around anyway; I hear that he has gone on a safari with his family.” So don’t worry about that, we will find someone else. They set out to find a judge that would be able to tell them who was right. Sometime later as they were looking for someone to help them, they saw an old abandoned hat in the middle of the forest. A squirrel passed by them and said that a bat that was known to be intelligent was inside. They found him having some rest. There was another, bat who looked very tired sleeping beside him. leopard and antelope introduced themselves and started explaining their case. The antelope began… “You see Mr. bat, I tried to explain myself to these two animals and they don’t understand me, they seem not to have any idea of what I am telling them. “What is it that they don’t understand?” The bat asked, “Come on, tell me, I think I will understand much better than they do,” he added. The antelope then continued… “This is what I said to them,” he went on, “my food is so weak, it dries too quickly, even from the little heat of the sun. When no rain falls we starve or wait for months with empty stomachs until the next rainy season comes .Am the one who suffers most when it comes to food shortages. And also, I have been a victim of these forest monsters (especially the big cats) for so many years, a few minutes ago I almost got caught by a fierce lioness. Yesterday my sister gave birth to a newborn calf some cheetahs appeared from the bush and tore him up into pieces. And also, this afternoon when we had gone to drink water at the river bank, my younger brother was captured by giant crocodiles. We had no choice but to run as fast as our thin legs could save us. Why does it always have to be us killed all the time? My life is always in danger!’’ remarked the antelope. The leopard interrupted, he turned to the antelope and said, “you should consider yourself lucky, because unlike me, your food is everywhere, in the plains, in the woods, near the river banks, I mean everywhere. Look at me, I am a carnivore, get that right. If I don’t slaughter you for my dinner, what do I eat? Grass! Huh? Answer me antelope. Do you want me to starve to death? This is how I was created.” He turned to the bat and added, ”…and also your honor, my food has legs. You see, every time before I get some lunch or supper, I have to go a hundred to two hundred meters dash or marathon sometimes. My food is also very fast. Even the smallest of these animals are hard to catch nowadays. You know I have to train my little cubs quiet often. Day after day I teach them some new tactics of how to hunt. If they grow up without knowing these things, they can never find food and will end up starving to death. To add on, your honor, some of my food is also very dangerous. Two weeks ago we were at the swamp; we saw dozens of buffaloes approaching so we quickly ran into hiding. Unfortunately some of my little cubs did not hide properly. Two of them were trampled on by the buffaloes. We had to hide in the reeds until they left because when I tried to help them out they almost killed me too. And you see this wound here (showing a small scar under his armpit) I was stabbed by an Impala. At that moment I was really hungry then I spotted a very thin and dying one in the middle of the heard, I slowly followed it secretly while hiding in the long grass. Before long a dominant male appeared from nowhere and gave me a powerful jab. One of his long sharp horns stabbed me on the chest and he dragged me on the ground for several meters before letting go, he left me there on the ground only after I pretended to be dead. I was then helpless; I slowly dragged myself on the ground and went back to my den. There my cousins took care of me for months; they made sure I ate well so that I can recover quickly. My left side had skinned off, therefore took a long time to heal. Food is plenty sometimes but catching it can be the hardest thing in the whole world. Your honor my situation is the worst right?’’ The leopard asked the judge who did not answer. The bat stayed still for a while then asked the vulture; ‘’are you here for the same reason?’’ the vulture did not answer immediately. He stammered as he said. ”Y..e..s but not exactly, my case is a little bit more important than any of those animals that have spoken before me.” The vulture went on to speak. He looked at the Leopard and said, “You members of the cat family should be grateful for what you get not to mention your mean and greedy characters. You, the lions, cheetahs and hyenas are so selfish. Every time you make a kill, you don’t want us to get a share, when you see us around; you furiously attack and send us away. After you have eaten to your full, you leave us the carcass, do you hear that, CARCASS! Sorry for shouting your honor. Carcass is nothing but bones and tough skin. My brothers and I are left to fight over the dry bones.” The vulture went ahead and asked the Leopard, “how do you expect us to kill a buffalo or an impala? Huh? Answer me leopard. Can you eat carrion? That decaying matter from rotten bodies, with the worms and horrible smell? Yuck! You can even vomit by just looking at it. I eat things that no other creature in the animal kingdom can dare touch. Try to eat it once and you will never forget, if you survive the experience. And also Mr. Bat, what the antelope is saying that he is the only one who suffers from food shortage is not true. It is nothing compared to mine. You know, it takes a long time, I mean a really long time before something dies especially during the dry season, we hover around high up in the sky to watch out for any small gathering,’’ “If you were to judge us honestly then I am the one who is telling the truth,” The vulture said pleadingly. He paused and waited for the bat to answer After they were done with their complaints the bat did not know what to say, he remained silent for a while. He thought to himself for so long; as if was about to give them a good answer. He leaned backwards then paused for a while. He said to himself. ”these animals are indeed not aware of the adventures of the wild. They don’t understand the meaning of interdependence and food chains”. He leaned forward again and asked them. “Do you know the rules of nature?” “What rules again,” the vulture asked. “That one animal depends on another for food. I mean one animal feeds on another who is fed on by another and the chain goes on and on like that?” added the bat. “So that means I am the one who is in greatest danger, therefore the one to win the case?” asked the antelope. “not exactly!” replied the bat. “Stop talking about these crazy chain stories of yours and tell us which one of us wins the case?” said the leopard angrily. These words seemed to annoy the bat, he stood up from where he was resting, and woke up the other bat that was sleeping besides him. They talked in a language none of the three animals understood. He talked in such a low tone that he made it appear as if he was whispering in his ears. None of the three heard what they said. After that, he turned to the three animals and said as he was leaving” proceedings next time. From this minute onwards, my partner will continue with your case.” From there he flew out through the window. But some shouted, at him As he left, ”now what! You are running away from us because you have failed to identify the right one” but the judge did no look behind. Now they were left alone with the other bat that had just woken from sleep… Click to Continue Reading… [expand title=”Click to Continue Reading…“] This bat was a little bit afraid of the three animals. He scratched his head and said in a soft tone, “I am not as smart as the judge who has just left, but he asked me to tell you one thing. He said that he knows the solution to your problem, but he cannot say it to you when you are only three. According to the cultures and practices of bat society; when two or more animals disagree on something each one of them claiming to be right. They must consult a judge, after the judge has ruled a winner to the case; they will then go to a sorcerer who will then reward the winner by saying a wish which is then granted to them. This is called the Tuba ceremony.” Once again that can only be done in public. I mean in front of many other animals. A lot of animals have to witness this so that those who loose do not go back to disturb the others again with the same old story. So the judge told me that I should ask you three, Leopard, Vulture and the antelope, go and tell others that there is a case that is to be solved right here, collect as many animals as you can including those that are close to man. The judge will be back with an answer this afternoon. You can now leave to save yourselves much time.” The judge’s partner finished talking to them and the three left the hat. During that afternoon, word had moved like forest fire. Animals in the nearby area had heard there was a tough case which was to be decided by bat, they were very curious to find out what it was all about. Since bat the Wizard was the most feared among all the other birds and animals in the forest, some feared going to where the animals were to meet because they believed that some of Bat’s magic might jump onto them and bring some bad luck to their families. Surely none of them wanted that misfortune to fall onto their young ones. That afternoon, the hut was filled with so many animals; they were few enough to fit in all of them. The three rivals were also present. The bat that was left in charge by the judge stayed at a place near the doorway where light was coming into the hut. He welcomed the other animals in. As they gathered in the hut, there was a lot of murmuring. You could hear whispers of several animals, “Hey, you see that, it’s bat the wizard. ”No I don’t think that’s him, disagreed the pig. It is said that he has the power to do anything. He had once shrunk an elephant into a frog because of calling him names. He can do anything he pleases; he is also very wise I hear, my advice to you is; joke or play around with any animal in the jungle including the king, but not the Wizard.” Some other animal lowered his eyes and said to the crane, ‘I hear that bats never go to sleep, when night falls, they get out of their nests and roam all over the jungle…. “Wait a minute”, replied the crane; “bats don’t sleep in nests only birds do, where then? Asked the fox. “No one really knows where he comes from, not even his family or friends; he just appears at night when it is dark. I mean really dark. “do you know his home, interrupted the guinea” I think he lives somewhere in the caves” yes, something of that sort,” agreed the fox. “And what does he do outside at night?” asked by a voice from behind. ”I think he comes out to practice witchcraft. Actually I don’t really know, I am not sure, but I think he does something really scary. He watches every animal’s move they make and every step they take” “We tortoises also respect the bat because many animals praise him for his wisdom more than they do to us” said the tortoise.” Even in my experience after having seen many things and living for 324 years, I still cannot beat him in that. He still remains wiser than all of us here. Maybe it’s because he thinks like a human being. So let’s wait and see how he is going to do this thing,” There was so much noise and murmuring in the hut that the steward bat flew high above and echoed out loud which sent a pale silence across the room. He cleared his throat and began. “My dear beloved animals of the “green forest’’ under the leadership of our beloved ruler the lion king; I welcome you to this meeting to discuss a very important issue that has been brought forward by these three animals you see in front here, the antelope, the vulture and the Leopard. They have had a disagreement among themselves. I have been listening to their case since morning and was about to solve it. But since their case affects all of us quiet often I decided that it was better to call all of you here so that you can witness passing on of a great judgment. You shall bear witness of what you have seen to all the other animals in the kingdom who did not come.” he continued.” now I am going to introduce the topic of their….” “what is this all about?” a rat interrupted, “just be patient a little Mr. rat. I will get there very soon” replied the bat. “So as I was saying..” he continued, “before I decide that, please I would like these three to repeat their part of their story just the way they had told me earlier, beginning with you antelope.” The Three animals narrated their story very clearly in a similar way they had told the judge in the morning. After finishing their part of the story most animals who were listening were really moved. They felt so much pity on the three. Others like the Owl sympathized with the antelope so much that she shed buckets of tears. No animal became so much talkative by then. There was a moment of silence. “Now how are we going to present this case to the real judge when he comes back? ”Asked the bat. ”so who is the most endangered animal or fair judgment, or should I say who is right?” He asked. ”these three creatures right in front of me have given me a tough question, but am going to answer that anyway,” he went on. “Nothing is hard for bats, you all know that’’ they claim they have witnessed the hardest life compared to any other animal on earth. The antelope says she is endangered, leopard says the same thing and so do the vulture. To everyone who is seated right here. Does anyone of you have anything to say before I pass on my verdict? A little squirrel sitting close to him raised his hands and said, ”I think we should call them the ”three witnesses” because they have seen and gone through the hardest part of the animal life in the forest .”Yes, it is the best word to call them,” said another animal, few other animals agreed with this so it was accepted. A duck seemed to be very restless behind as if it had the intention to speak but all of a sudden, crouches down then remains silent. The bat noticed this and asked; “what is it duck? Is there a problem at the back there?” the duck was then asked to get in front, “sorry for disturbing you again”, said the duck, “but please allow me to mention something small before you pass on your ruling. My point is directed to the vulture.” The duck began to speak, “So that is all you complain about?’’ the duck proceeded. ”What are you going to say to me and my sister pig here? You say that your food is bad for your health because it is decaying matter, do you know the meaning of the word filth? Can you sieve the human garbage, drainage waters and sewers in search for that little piece of meal? Do you know the thousands of communicable diseases you can find in that? For sure my sister pig and I risk countless numbers of infections everyday as we try to find something to feed our little ducklings and piglets. Just come around the human territory here and have a taste of what we eat for just one day, I am very sure you will not sleep here even for a single night. You’ll run back into the wild the first day of your stay here and advice your fellow scavengers out there that decaying matter is much better than what the pig and duck eat” on hearing this, the vulture was shocked and annoyed at the same time, he wanted to answer that but the bat did not allow him. The pigeon who was one of the listeners spoke up, she said to the bat, ”I don’t know which of these complaining animals has a more serious issue than the others, it is up to you to decide anyway.” The pigeon went on, “I also fear the human territory sometimes. You know Mr. Bat, we pigeons are grain eaters, and we do find full nutrients in cereals such as wheat, maize and other grains. Man is a good farmer; he digs plenty of these crops. During the summer he has plenty of harvest which he spreads on the sun to dry. At that time Mr. bat, there is always very little food to eat in the forest because of seasonal change, so we hang around man’s compound so that when evening comes we can pick the few grains that scattered away. Most of the time, they don’t allow us to have this little which they actually don’t need. Once they see us they start throwing stones at us. Four or five pigeons cannot destroy a whole plantation of 100 hectares, can they? Of course not, we all know that. Sometimes when their children see us perching on a tree branch as we relax, they pick up stones to throw at us, even when we are not after their grains. They do that for no apparent reason, some do it for fun, not knowing that they can seriously injure us. Sometimes their children set up traps in areas we commonly search for food and this always gets us caught when we scratch the ground. These kids also make special tools called sling shots to be used to throw stones at us. I don’t know what they do to some of us who get caught and taken away. After witnessing all these, we have come to learn that whenever a human being stops by near us, we fly away as soon as we can because we assume that they are picking up a stones to throw at us.” The pigeon turned his attention to the leopard and concluded, ”finding food can cause unwarned attacks, you will be more helpless especially if you are simple birds like us, with no powerful paws, sharp claws or canines to defend yourself like leopard.” “Yes, me too!” shouted the chicken from the far end at the back. I only disagree with the antelope, she thinks that she should win the case, just ask the goat and you will see everything in plain truth. The goat was the last to speak, “you and I are both grazers and browsers, you see what antelope, you are better off because you live in the wild, where you have all the freedom to go wherever you like and do whatever you like, anytime you like. There is nobody always following you behind with a cane; unlike us who are born and raised in captivity. My brother ram, sister cow, the chicken and I are a favorite delicacy to man. We are well fed to fatten enough so that when the right time comes we get slaughtered for a ceremony. No party is complete without any of us eaten. Just as you said antelope that all predators in the wild are always after you and your little calves, at least you have a chance to escape. Now it depends how well you use your athletic skills, if you outrun the fastest and defeat them they give up chasing you, but if not fast enough you get caught, so it’s kind of “YOU WIN OR YOU DIE” athletics.” To us here, we don’t have that. If your master decides to take you to the slaughter house tomorrow for the New Year’s feast, where will you run? Even if you run, where will you go to or live with? I tell you, if I was the one living in the forest I could run away from danger, very fast, I mean faster than wind. Even the fastest of the cheetahs will not catch me” said the goat as she finished speaking. “Bravo! Bravo!” the bat flapped his wings happily, “now you have heard from this group from the other side of the animal kingdom,” The bat called them forward; those are the duck, the pigeon and the chicken. He let them stand beside the other three. He then said to the other animals, “please look here all of you” there are six animals in front of you here, these three birds, the pigeon, the duck and the chicken have told us their story about their life with human beings, they are the “three witnesses to man,” and they are against what these first three have just spoken, (the ones we are trying to solve their case). But my focus is on the antelope, leopard and vulture.” “So who among these should be given the opportunity to see the sorcerer?”, the bat asked the animals in the hut, I believe the leopard is right, said the hyena, “we folks go through a lot more than these grazers as they think we are the bad guys, they don’t know how hard we struggle”. The vulture is right, said an eagle, (a bird of prey). “Although we may not be having a similar diet with the scavenger, spotting food from high above the sky is not an easy thing, especially something that is not moving”. “No way, antelope is the winner of this case, she is very innocent, remember,” said a dear. In no time the entire room was plunged into chaos, everyone was talking loudly, shouting, wailing and others were quarreling one another. There was total disorder. It was hard to control the noise in the little hut. As that was happening a group of bats started flying into the house through the hollow part on the roof. Two entered in and started circling the area close to the hut’s center. The animals stopped what they were doing and looked up. They all became silent again, a few seconds later two more joined them. Five more came and did the same thing. None of them landed on the floor, they kept moving in circles. All the animals had now their eyes gazing up. More and more bats flew in through the same opening. They were now dozens, their number had grown from 10 to 20 to 40…70, and in a short while, there were hundreds of them flying around inside the little hut. This scared some animals even more because, most of them have never heard a bat’s real sound, their echoes especially from such a large number. “It is the wizard,” said a still voice, this was the tortoise speaking, “he has finally arrived,” he added. “But why with so many other bats?” he wondered. The tortoise was saying this to a group of reptiles who were close. ”so which one is the Wizard? Asked another reptile, “just wait and see,” replied the tortoise. As that group went on with its routine of going in circles in the hut, the bat that was having a meeting with the animals stopped what it was doing and joined them. Another from the group seemingly bigger and more hairy left the others flying and replaced the one who was attending to the animals. He went to the door place and spoke out in a loud voice, “I am Thanda the wizard you have been waiting for.” All the animals remained quiet and listened carefully. Some were murmuring to one another as they said, “who was that, speaking to us in from the beginning? Yes, I thought that was Wizard we were talking to,” said the chicken, “and where is the judge whom we had spoken to when we first entered this hut?” asked the vulture. They softly muttered these to themselves; no one heard them, leave alone answering their questions. The big hairy bat made himself known to the animals as Thanda the wizard. He explained to them that it is he whom they had been expecting. Each of the other bats had found itself a place on the roof and was now hanging upside down. Thanda called out for the three witnesses to get close to him so that he can finish up the work of solving their case. Leopard, vulture and antelope were reluctant at first, but certainly gained courage to go where he was. Then began; “I have heard in details of your disagreement very far from here. I was having a sleep in my hung-bag, when this bat, the one you called judge who had been here in the morning told me about your case. Day time is not my working hours, but since the judge said there were so many of you here waiting for an answer, I decided to come and help you. So the three witnesses, antelope, leopard and vulture,” Thanda called them by names and explained to them, ”don’t try to tell me what your situation is or who has won the debate because I already understand it and figured out an answer. But just before I perform the Tuba ceremony and grant the winner his/her wish, I would like each one of you to give me the reasons why you deserve it” said Thanda the magician. He leaned forward and then asked them, “if you were the one to have the reward, what could have been your wish?” he asked the antelope, who replied. “You know Mr. Bat; the only way you can help me out is to use your magical powers to make me big and strong indeed. I mean something big like an elephant or buffalo. That is going to free me from all danger, no more fear, no more running or hiding from these predators, and when that happens my only dream will finally come true, which is my little calves and I will always be safe, they will play happily in the grassy plains without fear of any danger, because they know their mother is nearby to protect them. My joy will never end. As you know none of these cats even the biggest dare touches the calves of an elephant, in case they make that mistake, they will receive a deathly blow from big papa Leopard joined in and gave his plea saying, ”listen to me Thanda,” he began, “my only request is to help me get a mixed diet, I want to be made an omn… something, I don’t know how it is said but… ” the leopard tried to say the same word again but failed. He went on anyway, ”I think you will understand what I am trying to say, Mr. bat. I want to have the ability to feed like a monkey; you know very well that they can eat anything, even leaves of all trees. That is why they never die even after a severe drought has stricken the forest. I am tired of running after food all the time, give me that ability to eat anything, but still remain the old leopard with sharp claws powerful jaws and sharp teeth. If you do me that favor, I will never bother these little creatures too much anymore” After listening to leopard’s request, Thanda the magician turned to vulture and asked, “Do you want to ask the same thing?” “No…yes…err… of course,” answered the vulture, “but not exactly what they have just said. Don’t listen to their lame excuses because they have no meaning,” remarked the vulture. ‘’they are nothing compared to what I am about to say,’’ he went on. “My request is of a great importance to the entire animal kingdom, here is it. “If I am made King, I will restore order. I will make sure that bigger animals don’t bully small ones just like the way these big cats bully us vultures and other smaller animals after making a kill. Food will be shared equally among carnivores and scavengers. Unlike lion king I will rule much better, he only knows what happens in the woods and grasslands, but I can fly up in the air and watch the happenings down below on earth, my cousins and I will monitor the skies, and some of us remain below. We will determine who uses the air at what time and by how much. No beast or bird of prey shall be allowed to attack these little ones without our permission. They will have to pass through us before they can do anything. And also we do work as a team in anything we do. We can solve any issue because we have a jury that is a team of experts that deal with disputes, solving cases is not a one animal’s work just the way lion tries to make judgments by himself, it needs a team. That could be why he is unfair sometimes. Do you hear that, Thanda? I will bring back peace, order, and security which is safety for all animals in the Kingdom, I can be the best King ever.” Bat interrupted Vulture’s speech; he made them know that he had clearly understood what they were saying. After listening to their requests, Thanda the Wizard asked them to step back, because he was about to perform the Tuba ritual whereby the winner’s request will be granted the same moment. Thanda asked the animals to close their eyes for he was about to talk to the spirits. They did as instructed. Once all animals had shut their eyes, he spread out his long wings, and began speaking in a language none of the other animals understood for minutes. He then removed a small piece of wrapping made of skin from a pouch, opened it and poured out the contents which was basically white powder. He poured some of this onto his left hand and hurled some of it onto the ground. There was a pop sound heard, white fumes of smoke spread out to all parts of the room. It flew right up and set itself a place in the middle of the other bats that were hanging from the roof, and then ordered the other animals to now open their eyes. While they did that, the entire hut was filled with white smoke; they could barely see the one next to them when they opened their eyes again. Few minutes later, the smoke cleared. Vulture, leopard and antelope still remained the same. Nothing had changed. The antelope looked at herself to see if she had grown big, leopard touched its belly to check if his diet had changed, and vulture hovered his wings over his head to see whether he had the King’s crown. The three looked at bat with rage and wanted to ask, Thanda the Wizard bat knew what they wanted to say and replied quickly. “Don’t worry, one of you will have his/her wish granted today before evening, be patient a little bit,” the bat then said to the other animals inside the hut. ”please, relax here for a little longer, we are going to have more conversation with the spirits” Immediately after saying that, he flew right up and joined his fellow bats who were hanging upside down from the roof. From there he remained silent. Earlier on during the morning, these three witnesses found two bats inside the hut and were having rest. When one of them whom they called judge failed to solve their case, he left the other in charge and flew back to his home, in caves a few kilometers away from the hut so that he can share it to many others whom he thought were wiser than him. He knew in mind that it could be easier to solve the case. The judge had presented this case to many other bats in the caves, and for a long time, they discussed about what to tell the animals inside the hut. In that meeting each one of them tried to give the right judgment. Here, the problem was not who has won the disagreement between the three animals but how to make them believe that their case had been solved without necessarily doing anything to them. Bats know themselves very well that they don’t have the ability to do that kind of magic, which the three witnesses were demanding. Only Thanda the Wizard could do a few tricks for the purpose of entertaining the others. He cannot go beyond the extreme and alter the rules of nature, which even any animal with common sense knows. But since these animals had so much trust in the bats, they had to find the best solution in the shortest time possible. Minutes turned into hours. One, two, and three hours passed yet an agreement had not been reached. A youngster asked the elders why waste time worrying over a case that will bear no fruits when there was some animal somewhere that could solve it with much ease. They asked what he was talking about, “there is a monitor lizard that stays in the far north, roughly behind the mountains. I hear that he had solved another case of this kind,” replied the youngster. “Yes, and he is called Komodo,” added another. The youngster went on, “he lives in the cracks of the rocks, and comes out in the afternoons. He is the one who solved that famous case of the two snake brothers, each one of them thought the other’s skin was more beautiful than their own so they wanted to exchange, do you remember?” “Yes, of course,” replied the others. “then we should send one of us to go and fetch him before evening,” said another, “no,” replied their leader, “we bats don’t fly long distances especially during the day, remember,” he added, “let us send swallow and the falcon because they are the fastest birds. I am sure he will be back before evening,” suggested another. One swallow that was nearby the cave was then sent with these instructions, ”fly along the mountain ranges towards the north, go further to the fairly dry parts, there you will see a small stream flowing from the footsteps, near the bottom of the escarpment you will see large rocks with cracks, that is where he lives, he normally comes out to busk in the sun in the afternoons, so am sure you will find him there. Tell him that Thanda the Wizard needs him here immediately, so find Komodo the lizard and bring him to me.” These were words of the judge to the swallow who did as was told and set out immediately. Meanwhile, the bats divided themselves into two groups, the judge had to remain behind at the caves and wait for swallow. He also reminded Thanda the magician that he should be leaving by now because he feared the animals could already have gathered in the hut and might have stayed there for too long. Thanda was then accompanied by most of the bats. They went there many of them so they can make the animals wait as they pretended to be doing some magic tricks. That is how they flew into the hut in large numbers. Some animals were getting tired in the hut. “What is happening up there?” asked the leopard, “are you sleeping? I want to go and feed my cubs. Give us an answer now,” but there was no reply. The hut remained as silent as grave. In the meantime, swallow had been flying for hours watching out for cracks in the rocks where Lizard could be living, he flew low nearer to the surface in order to get a better look. As he was doing that, a colony of birds, about four thousand swallows flew past right above him. He wondered where they came from and where they were heading to, so he decided to find out by following them behind. He quickly flew through their path and asked what was happening. ”don’t’ you know that this is the migrating season?” replied one of them from the group. “We are heading south. Summer is getting over and soon winter will come. We have to move faster enough before the cold season catches up with us here. We also move as a group in order to increase our chances of survival,” the little swallow did not know what to say, he was really surprised. He didn’t believe it either, therefore flew ahead to confirm from the team leader if what he has heard is true. “The rainy seasons have just begun and we must move fast,” replied the team leader. The little swallow explained the situation in which he was sent to get a reptile from the rocks and must get the message back before evening because they were waiting for him. “Okay then, said the team leader, if you really want to go back, I will not stop you. I just want you to hear this; many of us have already made their way across the sea. We are the last group, and you cannot make this long journey on your own,” the young swallow was more confused. He also found some of his relatives in the group.at this point he had no other choice. He made up his mind and joined the group. Back at the meeting place where the other animals were, evening was crouching in. most animals were enraged and demanded the bats to finish up things quick enough so he can let them go home. There was a lot of noise from inside. The three witnesses especially the leopard was furious, he began growling. The snake was about to spit venom. Others like the baboon were throwing pieces of objects they found in the house at the bats. Dark Clouds were gathering over the sky outside, this made the hut appear dimmer, and within a short time, heavy raindrops began to fall. Strong winds began to blow across, which made some rain fall into the hut through the window. The rabbit and mole ran outside to hide in their holes, they ran back later into the hut to find shelter when their holes got filled with too much water. These strange happenings were later followed by hailstorms. The environment inside the hut became noisier than ever. No one could hear what the other was saying. Despite the bat saying nothing, staying inside the hut became a little bit unsafe for some animals, but none got out because it was raining heavily outside. When the wizard failed to respond, the animals decided to solve the case on their own by choosing their own judge to do the job. The leopard asked the fox to make the ruling; this led to dispute from the other animals who did not agree. The vulture wanted the eagle whereas antelope chose the tortoise. Soon they were divided into three groups again, each one of them demanding some attention from the other. The grazers and primates supported the tortoise, the wild cats wanted fox to be in charge whereas most birds demanded vulture’s approval to be put into place. This almost led to a fight between the three teams. As that was happening, heavy rains continued to pour. Sparks of light filled the sky. A brilliant flash of lightning sparked from the sky strike the hut at the roof top, which was followed by thunder that gave each animal a powerful blow. Each one of them had been thrown to different sides inside the hut. They could hardly move from there. In the following morning, they woke up one after another, with the ones who stood up at first getting surprised to see others lying awkwardly on the ground. They asked one another what had happened, why were they feeling dizzy and especially lying down. Each had received a shock of very high intensity from the lightning strike, strong enough to make a rat go crazy. Luckily to most of them, almost all their memory was deleted. None could remember a thing about that day’s incident. Others like the bats could not see very clearly. The land animals slowly walked away one after another. When they reached their homes none told their story to their families who kept asking, “Why is it that you are not talking, or say that you don’t remember anything at all? It looks like the bat cast his magic spells on you’’ neither could reply to any of those questions. From what happened to the few animals that had visited the hut, the rest who remained behind thought Thanda the wizard bat had bewitched them. They believed a magic spell had been cast upon them. News of this incident had spread through the animal kingdom like bushfire, and those who heard it feared the bat even more including lion king himself. When he came back from his safari walk, he warned his little cubs never to play near the caves where the bats lived. As It came to past, it was known all over the animal kingdom that a mysterious event took place inside a small hut, but none knew exactly what it was being talked about. A name emerged from the middle of nowhere. It later came to be known as the great case of the “three witnesses.” Many attempts were made to try to find out the reasons and happenings behind that day’s scenario, but all failed. Years later, no animal from that meeting talked about it anymore and the topic was soon forgotten.
Some More Stories:
