THE WAY WE WERE

Once upon a time in the land of the hunters, hunting for animals became a difficult task because of the increased hunting activities throughout the land. The animals were intelligent, tricky and hard to find. To see a beast a hunter would have to trek for two to three days in the forest or jungle before sighting even where the animals feed. By the time a hunter reaches this location he is already exhausted, hungry and lonesome. Because of the dangerous nature of this part of the forest or jungle, no single hunter would hunt at night nor spend a night there. Based on these facts, Ogba oso [the runner] and Otaru [the biter] teamed up. They became partners in hunting. They were both qualified, experienced hunters and each had a distinct hunting technique and also a good acquaintance with the forest and jungle.

           

Ogba oso and Otaru left their village for a hunting expedition. They spent days trekking in the forest before reaching the area where animals feed, on the third night of their journey. They ate the food which they had brought with them, and decided to rest. They slept through the night taking turns, one would sleep for few hours while the other stood guard. They woke up in the morning and scouted the areas, focusing on the rubs and rub lines. They traveled further into the remote areas of the forest and came to a brushy edge of a creek, where they found several hallows, drainage and other ridges coverage. Across the creek on the opposite side was a strip of bush, evergreens linking large acres of patched savanna land with second growth saplings. This large area extended on both ends into the forest but looked like a huge triple-size football field from either angle. As they moved into the strip of bush they saw a large fresh cluster of several rubs, rubbed saplings and blazes, on scraps [sloop] that lead to the feeding and bedding areas. Both Ogba oso and Otaru were excited for they knew that they were very close to where does and bucks browse. Otaru noticed a large area that resembled a community scrapes, where both bucks and does urinated, there were damp, churned-up pieces of turf all over and large blazes of several inches in diameter on the trees. They decided to lay and wait until the deer came out to feed. During the noon hours, the does and other smaller bucks came out to feed in the field, but Ogba oso and Otaru decided to wait till dusk, when mature bucks come to feed.

           

Suddenly a big 500-pound buck raced into the feeding field, scattering the herds and setting off a commotion with other smaller bucks. The two hunters raced across the field from their hiding place in hot pursuit to kill the large buck. The deer scattered across the area in all directions. The hunters’ strategy was to chase, isolate and kill the biggest buck. The buck, who is also a good runner, had no problem breaking off from the rest of the herds, but Ogba oso was right behind, while Otaru was many hundred yards behind. Ogba oso intercepted and cornered the deer. As the confused deer was slowed down, Otaru caught up with his partner.

 

He grabbed the deer by its neck with his powerful jaws and as the deer struggled, he beat the neck so hard and deep that he severed the veins, causing the deer to fall, topple over and die. They dragged the deer by its antlers which was a 10-point, to the shade of  a  tree. 

           

Ogba oso divided the deer meat into two equal portions: one half to Otaru and the other half for himself. Otaru examined the shares and expressed discontent with his own one half share. He told Ogba oso that the shares should not be equal, because “without me there wouldn’t be any meat to share.” Ogba oso was  angered by the statement and replied, “without me you wouldn’t have had anything to bite.” An argument ensued which quickly escalated into a shouting match that ended in a physical fight. The commotion awoke a sleeping king of the jungle [lion] who was napping. The lion came and asked them what was wrong. Each took turns to explain, presenting their case, to this huge lion who stood five feet high, with tufts of black mane on its chest and its golden mane flashing like fire in the sunlight. The lion smiled and said to them, “I am the king of the forest…and everybody knows my ability and my fairness. I will help mediate this case for you and I believe that each of you deserve an equal share.”

           

He then demanded each hunter to place his share in his hand. Ogba oso picked up his own share and placed it in the lion’s right hand while Otaru placed his own share on the lion’s left hand. The lion then moved, first his right hand slightly up and down as if to weigh the objects. He then repeated the same motion with his left hand and said to them, “the share in my right hand is greater than the one in my left hand.” At the completion of this statement, he bit off a chunk of meat from the share and ate it. He repeated his comparison, moving his hands up and down, weighing each share. Each time after comparing the weight he would bite off a large chunk of meat until each share was reduced to a small piece. He held the last two pieces of meat in each hand and declared “he who refused his share shall receive none.” He then threw the last two small pieces in his mouth and ate them. As the lion started to walk away, Otaru shouted, “Eh…you are a thief; you deceived us.” But the lion turned to them and said, “both of you are greedy and stupid, because you failed to realize that each of you deserved an equal share of the kill. Without the combined techniques of both of you, none of you on his own is capable of killing a buck.” He warned them, “I am the king of the forest and all the jungle, no man disrespects me!” He added “I am still hungry and I urge you to leave immediately.” He chased both hunters out of the forest and they went home empty-handed.