Tortoise and His In-law
Once upon a time, there lived a Tortoise in a village who was lazy, cunning and greedy. While others including his friends woke up early in the morning going to their farms to work, Tortoise would be sleeping.
When it was time for the harvest, Tortoise would be playing different tricks on the people to rip them off their farm produce. He was also engaged in stealing from their farms without being caught.
Tortoise has different tricks in his arsenal when it comes to stealing, especially from his friends. He would go to their houses, discuss with them to make sure that they were at home. He would then head for their farms to steal.
Tortoise’s wife’s name was Yannibo, whose father had a large expanse of land that he used for farming. His produce that year was unprecedented. The villagers and the neighboring villagers were talking about the farm.
Tortoise, who was engrossed in stealing, was attracted to his father-in-law’s farm. He perfected how he would steal from the farm in his game plan as he normally did and was successful.
Tortoise visited his father-in-law early in the morning that day which surprised the man because he had not visited in months. He told his in-law that he was going somewhere but just said hello to him before the in-law went to the farm.
Tortoise said that he came just to say hello. But he came to confirm if his in-law would be going to the farm that morning. The in-law told in their discourse that he was not going to the farm because he was tired from the previous day’s work.
“Oh, my great in-law, let me leave you to rest very well, I will come back in the evening.”
That’s Tortoise’s response to his in-law after confirming that the man was not going to the farm. He then left and headed for his in-law’s farm.
Tortoise ran down to the farm and harvested as much farm produce as possible. He packed them together in a big sack and put it on his head.
Unknown to Tortoise that his in-law had earlier engaged the services of watchmen as advised by some villagers. The watchmen were on top of trees on the farm looking at Tortoise jumping from one place to another stealing the farm produce.
When Tortoise was about to leave the farm, the four hefty men jumped down from the tree. He was grabbed and taken to his in-law’s house.
His in-law was surprised when he saw Tortoise being rough handled. He was further amazed when the watchmen told him what happened.
The man then told them that Tortoise had just left his house. The in-law had been looking for means of dealing with Tortoise, due to his irresponsibility and arrogance. He then ordered that he be tied to a tree in front of his house for the people to see.
The house was built on a major path to the village’s popular market. All the market men and women passing by saw Tortoise where he was tied on with the inscription that he stole from his in-law’s farm.
The passers-by were saying all sorts of things raining abuses on Tortoise while going to the market. Some said he was shameless for stealing on his in-law’s farm.
“You are shameless, if you want to steal you should have gone to another person’s farm to steal.”
Another person said, “While others were working on their farms, you would be sleeping in your house. God don catch you.”
Someone said, “Tortoise is too lazy, tricky and controversial. Every discourse is on him, let him die there.”
The father-in-law was then commended for catching him. They all knew that Tortoise was lazy and irresponsible while his wife Yannibo was very nice and responsible.
But the villagers were greatly shocked while coming back from the market that Tortoise was still tied to the tree.
This gives birth to a popular Yoruba saying that, “Eebu alo ni ti ahun, ti abo ni ti ana re.” This means that Tortoise received blames on while going to the market while it’s the turn of his in-law on their return.
The man was blamed for overreacting to Tortoise’s misdemeanor. It was then the villagers saw the ugly parts of Yannibo’s father. They also dug into his inglorious past.
“Haha, Baba Yannibo, is it all because of stealing from your farm? This is too much now.’ Somebody reacted.
Another person said, “Do you want to kill your in-law because he stole from your farm? Your in-law for that matter, if it is another person, what would you do?”
“So you are wicked like this, why treat a case of stealing like an armed robber’s case. You can be the judge in your own case? You should have taken him to the palace for justice.” A woman reacted.
Another woman rushed to the scene and started pointing out all the ugly parts of Yannibo’s father including the bared head. He also reminded the man of his dirty dealings in the past. He was reminded how he came to the village nobody.
Tortoise’s in-law was enveloped in shame as a result of over reacting to Tortoise that he couldn’t utter a word to resist the attacks on him.
Lessons Taught
Hardworking: This story teaches us to be hardworking. Tortoise was not hardworking and that’s wife he was stealing from other people’s farm including his in-laws.
Condemnation of Stealing: This story condemns stealing. We see how Tortoise was caught while stealing on his in-law’s farm. We also see what he passes through in the hands of his in-law.
Responsibility: It teaches us to be responsible. Tortoise was not responsible and arrogant, that is the more reason his In-law tortured him. He was already looking for the means of dealing with him before.
Overreaction: Whatever the case, this story teaches us not to overreact. Tortoise in-law was in the good book of the villagers while going to the market to punish Tortoise.
But he overreacted and received their blame while coming back. He was expected to have released Tortoise before coming back from the market.