Note: The following is a mythical story; none of
the described events are true.
Long ago in the African country of
Libya, there lived a king named Bomani.
Bomani had two sons, the eldest was named Abiodun and the younger was
Babafemi. During this time, Egypt was at
war with Tunisia, one of the neighboring countries over land expansion. The war had been continuing for several years
now. The Libyans were winning but the
war was still not over yet. Then one
day, a Tunisian pretended to be on the Libyan side and from behind he shot
Bomani with his bow and arrow. One of
the warriors had seen the man shoot his king and he in turn shot and killed the
man. But the damage was already
done. The king was dead. His last words were, “Make Babafemi king
after me.” Babafemi, although the
youngest son, he was also the king’s favorite.
Adiodun was well aware of his father’s favoritism for his younger
brother. Bomani would enjoy talking to
Babafemi and always showed him kindness.
Adiodun, on the other hand, was talked to sternly, unappreciatively, and
he never felt welcome in the company of his father. All things considered, Adiodun always thought
his father would never deny him his birth right as the first born and heir to
the throne. The years of mistreatment
and prejudice had been silently concealed inside Adiodun’s heart, but this was
the stroke that caused the outpour. For
the first couple of days, Adiodun was devastated. Soon the war would be won and he would be
credited with the victory and presented with priceless jewels and other
precious resources from the land…if he were the king. After thinking over what had happened for a
few days, Adiodun decided what he must do…he must kill his brother and claim
the throne and riches for himself.
Several
days later, Adiodun pretended that he had been sent from the commander to report
the full and unconditional surrender of the Tunisian people. Babafemi trusted his brother, for he was
always kind and honest to him when growing up.
Adiodun asked the king if he would like a drink in celebration of the
news. Babafemi agreed. Adiodun then went to the serving room and
poured a drink for his brother the king, mixing in portions of arsenic until it
could not be detected. When he returned
and gave the king his cup, as well as one for himself, they toasted to the
future of the country and its prosperities.
Within twenty-four hours Babafemi was dead from “natural causes”. After his brother’s death, Adiodun was next
in line for the throne. He put the war
in full gear and within a couple of months the Libyans had won. The king was pleased to be regarded so highly
by his people and even more pleased by the land and goods that had been
conquered. Everything was going just the
way he had hoped. No one knew about his
dirty scheme, at least so he thought.
The Almighty had seen what Adiodun did and knew what was in his
heart. He said, “With poison you killed
your brother for power, greed, and goods, but now this poison shall be used
against you. For those who live by the
sword must surely die by the sword.”
Years passed until Adiodun was outside walking one day when he came upon
a rather large snake. Up until this
time, snakes were not poisonous and nearly harmless to humans. But God had caused the snake to have fangs
which contained deadly poison, the arsenic to any victim. Adiodun stood for a moment staring at the
beautiful snake and he considered reaching down and feeling it. Then,
all of a sudden, the snake leaped forth and bit through Adiodun’s heel,
releasing its poison. Adiodun was
dead. The snake, an animal characterized
as being deceptive, is an irony of Adiodun who deceived his brother into
believing him and drinking the poison which lead to his death. The moral of this story is to not be greedy
for what you do not have but rather be grateful for what you do and to not kill
an innocent person.
No comments:
Post a Comment