In this round of my entry for the Igbo tales contest, I have a story to tell. Do enjoy.
Back when I was a child, I used to wonder who was the person I always saw in my eye. I would spend hours looking at my pupil. I even tried talking to the image at one time but he or she did not respond. This bothered me so much that I went to my grandad for answers. He agreed to tell me who the person I saw in my pupils was but before then, I was to sit for a story. Now, though I loved stories, all I wanted was to my satisfy my curiosity. But as he was insistent on the story, I obliged and sat at his feet whilst he narrated the following story.
As is the custom in Igbo land, a story is not just narrated. Before the storyteller begins his story, he gives an introduction which (as is the case in my home) goes thus:
Grandpa: Hi!
Me: Ya!
Grandpa: Hi!
Me: Ya!
Grandpa: I have a story to tell you
Me: About what?
Grandpa: About those days gone by when men and spirits lived so near each other they shared the same farmland. Yet men could only see a spirit if the spirit wished it so.
Me: I approve. Begin wherever you wish.
Once upon a time a certain man married a wife and they settled down together in the village of their ancestors. After some years the wife gave birth to a baby boy and as the child grew it became necessary to employ someone to look after him in their absence.
One night the husband and his wife heard a voice outside asking if anyone was looking for a boy to work as a house servant. They were both very interested and the husband went out at once to see who was there. To his surprise, he found a little boy about four years old. The man had some doubts as to whether so young a child would be of much service to them, but he and his wife decided to give him a trial.
The boy was a great success. He looked after the baby and did all that the man and his wife asked him to do, so that he had soon won the admiration of the whole village.
Then came the morning when the busy couple decided to go to their farm. They asked their servant to cook the breakfast and look after their son. Since there was neither meat nor fish in the house, the strange boy killed the baby and used his flesh to make a delicious soup. When the parents returned, he served them this meal.
After eating, they asked their servant to bring them their son. He replied that the child was sleeping. After some time, the wife felt curious and asked for her son once more. The servant then asked her if she had left any meat at home for use in preparing the soup she had enjoyed.
"No," she replied.
"Well," said the servant calmly, "you have eaten your son".
The husband and wife were horrified and they chased the boy, intent on killing him. As he ran from them, the boy saw a woman who was going to fetch water from a stream. In desperation, he jumped into her pot, but when the angry parents caught up with her, they ordered her to break it.
As she did so, the boy jumped out and the chase continued. Soon the whole village had heard of what had happened and they all ran out to aid the unhappy pair.
At last the boy, wearied by so much running, met a man coming back from his farm. As this man tried to seize him, he hopped into the man's eyes and hid there. All the villagers looked into the man's eyes to see if they could find the culprit. They did indeed see him, and as they pointed a finger at him, he pointed back at them.
Today, little children believe that this boy is the image seen in the pupil of anybody's eye. They call him " Awankilika" or "Akodi", the son of the goddess of sight, and as soon as he leaves the eye, they believe it goes blind.
So, with the above story, I was made to know that not only is the image in a pupil a little boy, he must not leave the eye else, it goes blind... Lol
Igbo kwezuo nu ooo 😂
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