Hello everyone,
The story that I am going to tell you is about an old woman who escaped death by doing something very funny and smart.
This story was told to me by my Aunt Aisha. She was very good at telling funny stories.
Read on and find out how the old woman did it.
THE OLD WOMAN IN THE BARREL
Once upon a time, there was an old woman.
One day, she was invited by her son to attend the wedding ceremony of his
daughter. Her son lived in a far away village. As you know, in the olden days
there were no cars or buses. You either had to go on foot or use a horse cart
or an oxcart. Using carts was very expensive. This old woman was poor and could
not afford to go by cart. She told her younger son who was living with her that
she would go on foot.
“Mother, how are you going to reach there
on foot?” asked her son. “It’s very dangerous, as you will have to pass through
the jungle which is full of wild animals.”
“Don’t worry, I will handle the situation
when I come to it,” she replied, confidently.
The son advised his mother not to travel alone,
but she was adamant, she wanted to travel alone and the son had to give in to
her stubbornness and gave his permission.
The old woman got ready for her journey.
She tied some of her clothes in a big piece of cloth. She took some gifts for
her older son, her daughter-in-law and her grandchildren. For the bride, she
carried
a beautiful
piece of cloth. Then, she packed enough food for three days.
Early the next morning, she set out on her
journey, walking. At lunchtime, she sat down under a tree and ate her lunch and
drank some water from a nearby stream, rested for a while and then went on her
way. In the evening, she did the same. She ate her dinner and drank some water
from a stream nearby. After that, she took out a bed-sheet, spread it under a
tree and went to sleep there.
The following morning she continued with
her journey. She walked for a long time, and about midday, she entered the
jungle. She felt frightened but gathered courage and walked on. On her way,
some animals got her scent and came to her. There were a lion, a cheetah, a
hyena and a leopard. The woman was really frightened!
“We want to eat you, old woman,” they told
her, “so you’d better get ready.”
At first, the old woman did not know what
to do. Then, she had an idea!
“I don’t mind if you eat me,” she told
them, “but you won’t get much for sure. Look at me, I’m all skin and bones. I
am going to a
wedding. There
I will eat and drink and grow very fat. Then, if you eat me you will get much
more meat.”
The animals looked at each other. Then the
lion spoke, “If we let you go you won’t come back.”
“Why don’t you understand?” she said,
fighting for her life. “This is the only way to the village where I am going. I
will have pass to here on my journey back home.”
The animals thought for a while and then
they agreed with her suggestion. The old woman heaved a sigh of relief and went
on her way.
On the third day, she reached her son’s
village. Everybody was happy to see her. After cleaning herself, she told them
about her adventure in the jungle. They were horrified! They praised the old
woman for being so courageous.
The old woman took part in the wedding
wholeheartedly. Everybody was happy and soon the wedding ceremony was over. The
bride went away with her husband. The rest of the guests went away, too. Then,
the old woman called her son and told him, “It’s time for me to leave.”
“Mother, how
will you go, the animals will be waiting for you,” he said, frightfully. “As
soon as they see you, they will eat you. Stay here with me and I will send a
message home that from now onwards you will be staying with me.”
“No, my son,” she answered, “I will have to
go. Just make me a barrel and make sure to put holes in the lid so that I could see and get air to breathe. I will get inside it and roll myself away.”
Her son urged her not to go, but old woman
refused to give in. she was determined to go home.
Her son got a barrel made for her with holes
for air to pass through so that she would be able to breathe inside. Soon, she
bade goodbye to all her friends, relatives, her son and his family.
Then she got inside the barrel with her
luggage and food. Her son put the lid on and pushed the barrel.
She was on her way home now, rolling away.
She was singing:
I
am a monster nobody knows
I eat anybody who shows
The animals in the jungle were waiting for
her to return. Then, they saw something coming towards them, saying in a
horrible voice:
I
am a monster nobody knows
I eat anybody who shows
What happened was that, the old woman was
inside the barrel, and as she spoke, her voice created a loud echo, which
sounded loud and strange. It sounded like this, “boom boom boom boom.”When the
animals heard it, they thought a monster was coming to eat them. They ran away
as fast as they could not waiting to find out what it was!
The old woman reached home, safe and sound although she was tired after all that rolling and a bit dizzy too you can be sure of that!
Good keep it up mumy
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