One day, in the animal kingdom, the Adeji (Rabbit) felt he was the wisest of all the animals. He then decided to trap all the wisdoms in the world inside a gourd and take it up to the peak of the tallest Iroko tree. This, he believed, will deprive every other animal of having access to all these wisdom.
After he was satisfied with himself that he had trapped all the wisdom in the world in the gourd, he set to complete his mission of keeping it out of the reach of other animals. He intended to keep all these wisdom to himself and his generations yet unborn alone
On his way to accomplish his mission, he met the Agididoyin (shrewd Rodent), who greeted him, and asked him where he was going with his gourd. The Adeji (Rabbit) before responded to his greetings, trace and abusive word with him on why he smell so bad, he at the same time told him to always avoid him anytime he sees him. At last he responded to the greeting and told him he only wanted to use the gourd to get some water from the stream for his thirsty family. Suspecting nothing, Agididoyin bade him farewell and went his way. He met several other animals on his way. He exchanged greetings with them all and they all asked him what he was doing with the gourd and to all of them, he said that he wanted to use it to get water for his family back home.
Also Read: Uka & Onaivo (The Great Wrestler and His Witch Sister) – Ebira Folktale.
When he got to his destination, at the foot of the tallest Iroko tree, he thought of the best method to use in getting to the peak of the tree. Like a flash, the idea came to him! He decided to climb the tree with the gourd right in front of him so that if he kept it behind him, someone may not come to snatch it from him. However, he had a great difficulty climbing the tree this way. All his attempts to climb the tree were fruitless.
In the course of this too, several other animals saw him trying effortlessly to climb to the top of the Iroko tree, but they could all only wish him luck without being able to offer him any better idea. Then the Irepa (Snail), who had been in a corner observing the Adeji (Rabbit) in his fruitless effort, eventually walked up to the Adeji (Rabbit) and offered him an idea. The Irepa (Snail) suggested that he tied a rope to the gourd in front of him and see if it is easier to climb the tree that way. The advice proved to be a priceless one because the Adeji (Rabbit) found it very easy to climb the tree this way. When he got to the peak of the Iroko tree, he realized that he was actually not in possession of all the wisdom to climb the tree while ordinary Irepa (Snail), the slowest of all animals and probably the most negligible among the animals, was the one who gave him the wisdom with which he climbed the tree.
He then concluded that no one could actually take all wisdom to himself because each individual has varying degrees of wisdom.
Characters in this Folktale:
- Adeji (The English is Rabbit)
- Agididoyin (Shrewd Rodent in English)
- Irepa (Snail)
Note That Folktales are just moonlight stories for impacting knowledge in the young ones back in the days, when there were no Schools or Cartoons. Through folktales most elders were able to get knowledge of life….
