Do not be Cheated by your Strength

Do not be Cheated by your Strength

Do not be Cheated by your Strength

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There was a big young man with a well-built body and big arms and huge in stature. He had a thick voice which shook whenever he spoke.

But he was a coward, and feared the barking of dogs; he would run to his house whenever he heard the bark of a dog.

This Thon Agok will not become brave unless we take him to the kujur

His family held many meetings because of this; because people were making fun of him, as an example of fright and cowardice. In these meetings, a lot of advisers talked and gave advice, but without any improvement. He remained a coward and continued to be frightened. He never learned how to wrestle or fight when his fellow mates learned. He also grew up without once going for hunting when all his age mates learned how to hunt. He never participated with the youth and men of the village in group work.

In one of these family meetings, one of the family’s elders said, “This Thon Agok will not become brave unless we take him to the kujur (witch doctor). Maybe he can find a solution to his cowardice.” The family agreed. Thon Agok was hesitant to go, but all the family pushed him until he reached the kujur. The kujur looked at Thon Agok then told his family to leave him.

You are the strongest man; from today fear will not find a way to your heart. Go, and don’t be afraid.

He spoke to Thon saying, “Hey Thon, come close, you are not a coward, but there are some small things which I am going to do to help you.” Thon became confident and the kujur started to do some rituals and murmuring and circled around Thon; he would return to his place and go again, many times.

In the end he sat and looked at Thon and smiled saying to him, “You are the strongest man; from today fear will not find a way to your heart. Go, and don’t be afraid.”

Thon came out hitting his chest saying, “I am the strongest man in this town, and whoever thinks otherwise, let him come in front of me. I challenge anyone in this town.” Thon kept saying this until everyone big or small gathered around him and started to chant his name.

Never let your strength cheat you, there is always someone stronger than you.

Thon and his crown didn’t last long. A very huge guy came from one of the narrow roads and stood in front of Thon. He grabbed Thon and lifted him off the ground. Thon tried to free himself but he couldn’t. Then very quickly, he thought of something and started to say, “Hey! When I was alone you were not able to stand in front of me; now that my friend is just coming round the corner and we are two, how can you face us?”

The big man laughed, put Thon down on the ground and said, “Never let your strength cheat you, there is always someone stronger than you.”

Reflections:

1.) What is the relationship between masculinity and strength in your community? Is it acceptable to for men to show fear?
2.) Are there times you have not conformed to community norms? How did you feel?

 

Buy the Wisdom with Money, and Buy the Kingdom with Wisdom

Buy the Wisdom with Money, and Buy the Kingdom with Wisdom

Buy the Wisdom with Money, and Buy the Kingdom with Wisdom

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There was a young man called Akuei. He was a good-hearted man and very helpful to the elderly and children. He lived with his father and grandmother. Their livelihood depended on what they produced from the farm which they owned.

After a time, the climate changed and the water source they used to irrigate the farm lessened and then completely dried up. The crop dried as a result and they couldn’t find anything to eat. Akuei suggested to his father that they should travel north to get a job. He traveled north and stayed for three months without getting any work.

When he came back, he found that his father had died. His grandmother told him that things were so difficult that they would have to sell the farm. Akuei agreed and they sold the farm for three cows. He left one cow to his grandmother and took the other two cows with him.

He traveled until he found a man sitting alone.

 

The old man said, “I sell wisdom!”

Akuei was surprised and asked the man, “What are you doing here in this distant place?”
The old man said, “I sell wisdom!”
Akuei asked, “Can I buy from you? And how much is one wisdom?”
The old man said, “Wisdom is expensive. The price for one wisdom is one cow.”
Akuei requested him to sell him one wisdom. The old man said “Leave what you left behind and don’t regret.”
Akuei listened and said, “This is a good wisdom.” Then he gave the old man the other cow and said, “Give me another wisdom.”
The old man said “If a needy person asks you for help, help him, no matter what your situation is.”
Akuei said, “This is what my father used to tell me and now you confirmed that for me.”

 

Akuei thought for a while and remembered the first wisdom of the old man,
‘Leave what you left behind and don’t regret.’

Akuei left the two cows for the old man and kept traveling and looking for work until he reached a big village. The people of the village received him well and took him to the king. The king welcomed him and asked him about his name. He said, “My name is Akuei and my village is far from your village. I left my village looking for work.”

The king said to him, “You found what you have been looking for. You only have to irrigate this farm early in the morning, before the cocks start crying.”  Akuei became so happy and early in the morning, before the cocks cried, he went and started to irrigate the farm. When he finished by mid-day, the land started shaking and a big Jinn came out and caught Akuei from his hand and took him to a nearby cave.

When they reached the cave, the Jinn asked Akuei, “What can you see?”
Akuei said, “I see skulls and bones of dead people.”
The Jinn said, “This is going to be your fate unless you pass the test.” He called, and two girls came. One was very beautiful and passed by him and stood far from him. The other one stood beside him, but she was so ugly.
The Jinn said to Akuei that he should choose one of the girls as a wife. Akuei thought for a while and remembered the first wisdom of the old man, ‘Leave what you left behind and don’t regret.’ Akuei told the Jinn that he wanted the one beside him. The Jinn asked, “Why are you leaving the beautiful one and choosing the ugly one?”
Akuei answered that the beautiful one never cared about him and didn’t have interest in him. That is why he chose the one who chose him and stood near him.
The Jinn laughed and said, “You passed the test! All the other dead men chose the one which seemed beautiful to them. The one which you chose is more beautiful.”
When Akuei looked at her, he found it was true; she looked so beautiful.

The Jinn blessed Akuei’s marriage and told him, “Keep working on the farm with the king without fear. Because the people of the village know that whoever comes to irrigate the farm  never goes back again because I will kill them. The marriage will be in a week’s time. Ask the king to come with you.” The Jinn went with his two daughters and Akuei went back to his house.

 

Akuei remembered the wisdom of the old man:
‘If a needy person asks you for help, help him, no matter what your situation is.’

The next day, when the sun came up and the village people saw Akuei and that nothing had happened to him, they were astonished and told the king. The king became so happy because at last he had found one who will irrigate the farm regularly. The farm started to produce a lot of fruits and vegetables. The king brought Akuei closer and went to his marriage and then all came back home together with the wife of Akuei, the daughter of the Jinn, who gave birth to many children. But the sons of the king became jealous of Akuei for fear that the king might favour Akuei and make him the heir to the kingdom. So they began to plot to get rid of Akuei.

One day the king became angry with one of his son-in-laws because he found out that he was a dishonest man. The king decided he wanted to kill him. But he was afraid that the people would say that the king had killed the husband of their daughters. When the king told his elder son, who happened to despise Akuei, his son told him, “This is so easy! You just write a letter to your neighbour king asking him to kill the carrier of this letter and then give the letter to your son-in-law to deliver.’ The king became so happy and wrote the letter immediately and gave it to his son-in-law to deliver. But the elder son told his brother-in-law what was in the letter and advised him
to leave the city. Then he took the letter and gave it to Akuei and told him that the king wanted him, and the guards, to deliver the letter to his friend the neighbouring king, in the shortest possible time.

Akuei took the letter and left the town with the guards. On their way they found a lot of men, women, and children running and asking to be rescued from a hungry lion. The guards refused to help them but Akuei remembered the wisdom of the old man: ‘If a needy person asks you for help, help him, no matter what your situation is.’ He said to the guards, “Go with the letter to the king and I will help these people and kill the lion.” So the guards took the letter and went to deliver it to the king’s friend. When the friend of the king read the letter, he immediately ordered the killing of the one who delivered the letter. When the other guards returned, they found that Akuei had killed the lion. When he asked them where the other guard was they told him what happened, so he realised the plot. Akuei returned to the city with the guards. The king knew what his elder son had done and that increased his sickness. He chose Akuei as the next king. The king died and Akuei became a king and ruled with justice and wisdom.

 

 

Reflections:

1)
2)

Folktales Collected in Renk

Folktales Collected in Pibor

Folktales Collected in Bentiu

Folktales Collected in UNMISS PoC site, Juba

The Pumpkin is for Me and You

The Pumpkin is for Me and You

The Pumpkin is for Me and You

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Jack’s wife is a woman who does not cooperate with others. She also has large number of children to take care of. Her husband, Jack, is a struggling man who works a lot and through his work, gains a lot.

Whenever Jack brings a lot of food when he comes home. His wife allocates some for food to be consumed by family members and keeps some in her stock.

The neighbouring women at the village know that Jack’s house has enough food. Whenever one of the women needs assistance, she picks her pumpkin container* (calabash) and goes to Jack’s house. But Jack’s wife drives them out without giving them anything, even if they ask explicitly, and she does not respect the tradition of holding the pumpkin container.

But variability is the nature of life and at some point Jack becomes ill; his illness intensified and eventually he died.

As Jack was good to them, many men and women attend his funeral and offer consolation. They return home immediately after the funeral.

Days pass and food in the stock of Jack’s home runs out. Jack’s wife does not know where to get food for her children and she does not like to cooperate with others.

She never assisted any person and so her children soon become vulnerable. Jack’s wife soon becomes unable to afford to feed her children. Their screaming for food was alarming because of hunger.

This pumpkin is for you, me, and for everyone. We need each other and therefore we should cooperate among ourselves.

Eventually, the community elders of her village gathered and discussed the screaming from Jack’s house, but they
could not find an answer. They decided to go to the house. When the elders reached, they found the children and the mother exhausted.

Everyone knew that this could be the harshest treatment of Jack’s wife by the needy who came to ask her for food, but whom she did not give to.

The wise man of the village asked Jack’s wife, “Did you carry your pumpkin container and go to the neighbours or relatives and no one gave to you?”

She replied that she had not.

The wise man responded to her, “This pumpkin is for you, me, and for everyone. We need each other and therefore we should cooperate among ourselves.”

Reflections:

1) Do you think that the truth will always come out/prevail? Does that give you hope or make you afraid?

2) What matters most in this story, truth or power? What should matter most in the world, truth or power?

3) Was murder a reasonable price to pay for a man who only told the truth?

 

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Na’eesh Mabadh Programme

The Story of the Young Man and the Skull

by Na'eesh Mabadh Team | Na'eesh Mabadh Radio Programme

The Murdered Pig

The Murdered Pig

There was a man called Konye who raised a complaint more than once in a village court. The case was pertaining to a fierce and wild pig, owned by his uncle, Lonja, which was destroying his farm and all that he cultivated.

The complainer advised Lonja to put an end to this violation. But Lonja was unable to stop his pig and his violations increased.

Konye was very angry and promised to kill the pig if it came again to destroy his farm. But Lonja did not restrain his pig from going to the farm of Konye and it went again to dig the potatoes and consume the tasty okra which were growing there.

One day, the man found the pig digging the okra and eating it and breaking the maize canes in his farm. He became very angry; he took his spear and stabbed the pig. And when the pig died, he carried it and threw it in front of the members of the court, saying to them, “Now I have solved the problem alone and killed the pig which caused huge damage to my plantation.”

Now I have solved the problem alone and killed the pig which caused huge damage to my plantation.

 

Lonja demanded compensation for his stabbed pig. Lonja’s nephew responded, “I do not reject it; but you must compensate for the plentiful loss caused by your pig to my crops.” The negotiation between the two in the court went on for a long time and the dead pig remained in the centre of court.

The dead pig began to rot and to smell very bad. Members of the court agreed that he was to be cooked and offered to those in court attendance. The court halted the case in session to eat. After they had eaten the delicious pork, they returned to the case deliberation.

The chief of the court opened the case after he had eaten and was satisfied with pork, saying, “Killing of a pig is not a matter that people should remain quiet about in any case and for any reason. Because a farmer farms so that he may buy pigs, and he suffers in with farming to produce a lot so that he may buy a large number of pigs that he can marry with. We have never heard that one day one of us has married with sorghum or potatoes.”

 

We have never heard that… one of us has married with sorghum or potatoes.

 

The members of the court agreed with their chief. One of the members said, “Konye should pay back the pig to Lonja.” All agreed on the verdict.

The president said, “You, Konye, must pay the fine. Do you have any objection?”

Konye said, “Yes, I agree to pay Lonja the price of the pig. But who is going to pay? It is you the court members who ate the pork, so you are the ones to pay. But Lonja must also pay me for the damage caused by his pig to my farm.”

Everyone laughed for his eloquence, sense, and wisdom and agreed with his mind.

Reflections:

1) Was this a just resolution?
2) What does your community value as highly as this community values pigs?

Folktales Collected in Renk

Folktales Collected in Pibor

Folktales Collected in Bentiu

Folktales Collected in UNMISS PoC site, Juba

The Reckless Monkey and the Cautious Fox

The Reckless Monkey and the Cautious Fox

The Reckless Monkey and the Cautious Fox

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Once upon a time, a fox and a monkey were living together; they were very close friends.

As we know, the monkey has a curious nature and wants to know and explore everything.

Sometimes the recklessness of the monkey’s nature put him in danger; especially when he tries to play, and build a friendship with the dangerous animals, despite the warning of the fox. The monkey always laughed at the fox’s caution and the way he kept his distance from dangerous places. But the fox kept warning the monkey about his friendships with dangerous animals who do not know loyalty to a friend. The fox especially warned the monkey about his friendship with the lion.

One day, the lion got hungry and couldn’t find anything to eat. So the lion decided to eat the monkey.

In the morning, when the monkey came to greet the lion, the lion didn’t answer the monkey. The monkey blamed the lion for not returning his greeting. The lion got angry and told the monkey that he was misbehaving, “How can you greet me, the King of the jungle, with that impolite language? You must be punished!”

“How can you greet me, the King of the jungle, with that impolite language? You must be punished!”

The monkey got scared and tried to apologise, but the lion didn’t accept his apology and told him that he had made a major mistake, for which the only punishment was to be killed and eaten. Shaken, the monkey ran away and the lion started chasing him. They ran and ran until the fox appeared and stopped them, and asked them, “What’s the problem? You are friends. Tell me what happened?”

When they told the fox the story, the fox understood that the lion had fabricated the problem because he wanted to eat the monkey. The fox told the monkey that he was wrong and asked him, “Why didn’t you greet the king from a distance?”

To which the monkey replied, “I did greet him from a distance.”

The fox asked the lion to stand still, and asked the monkey to go with him to measure the distance that he had greeted the lion from.

When they got far from the lion, the fox ran into his hole and said to the monkey, “This is how my grandfathers escaped from the danger. What did your grandfathers do?”

Then the monkey finally understood the fox’s point and jumped up to the nearest tree and left the lion standing there astonished.

  Reflections:
  1) Why does the lion start being aggressive to the monkey? Do you think he is looking for an excuse to justify his urge to eat him?
  2) When people treat us well one day and badly the next, how does it make us feel?
 

Folktales Collected in Renk

Folktales Collected in Pibor

Folktales Collected in Bentiu

Folktales Collected in UNMISS PoC site, Juba

The Reckless Monkey and the Cautious Fox

by Na'eesh Mabadh Team | Na'eesh Mabadh Radio Programme

Enjoyed The Reckless Monkey and the Cautious Fox? Listen to the Na’eesh Mabadh adaptation of this folktale for radio.

Na’eesh Mabadh is a peacebuilding project inspired by South Sudanese folktales.
Learn more about this project on the Na’eesh Mabadh page.