There was silence inside the room. The brother and sister looked at each other as if they had never met before. None of them knew what next to say. The princess had however already decided on what to do. She loved her brother more than she had been able to express.
As she had already said, she could not afford to lose him or her fiancé. So she must stop them from continuing with that plan. To stop them, however, she must do something she would never have liked to do. Scarcely did her brother leave her room than she found herself in her father's bedroom.
'You look terribly flushed, Mara,' her father said, 'what is the matter?’
'Nothing,' she said, smiling. 'I've only come to make a request.’
'Oh, go on my daughter. But don't ask for what you don't deserve.’
'Is there anything I won't get from you just for the asking?’
'Well, well, well. Of
THE HANGING SENTENCEAt the end of the third year after these happenings, an alarming thing happened. Knowing how important her gold ring was, princess Mara kept it with every care. It was during the time of the Virgins' Festival also called The Festival of Pure Lily. On that day, all the virgins of Mayomi went to the various rivers of the land to swim as a part of the festival of the season. They were usually accompanied by some of their brothers to protect them from assaults if there happened to be any such thing. It was however the princess' habit to remove her ring and put it into a little box before going out to swim. But on that day, she was rather so excited about the event of the day that she forgot to remove it. And unfortunately, neither her brother nor any of her maids bosom friends noticed she had brought the ring to the river. If any of them had seen the ring on her finger, there would never have been the need for a
Meanwhile, however, the river having now settled considerably, the young men had already slipped into the water, quietly swimming about in search of the ring. The prince was in fact also with them. But for the next forty-five minutes, they moved about inside the river, going down, deep and almost across to the other bank in the serious search. But there was nothing like the ring to be found. So, at the end, they came out of the water completely exhausted. It was the saddest day in the prince's live. For since he grew up, that was the first time he saw his sister weeping so bitterly. It was with the greatest art of persuasion that the princess was made to accept leaving the river bank. She said it would be better to die in the river than go home without the ring. She could not help imagining what was really going to happen to the people of Mayomi now the ring was lost. As for her own fate, she knew she was simp
The news was immediately sent to the king. And without waiting for the slightest moment, he had personally left the palace with some guards, all on horses' back. That was exactly how they came to be there. And when the king saw his son staggering away without even recognizing his presence, he almost did not know how he alighted from his horse as he rushed to his aid. When he picked him up and saw his body full of blood, he raised his voice and cried bitterly. The prince would have liked to tell him not to worry since he felt he was alright, but he could scarcely open his mouth to speak. So, waving his hands for the guards to clear, he pointed at the dead snakes some yards away and said:'The serpent is dead. I killed it. Seven snakes, one serpent,' - and collapsed into his father's arms.King Adino almost could not believe it. How he held and embraced his beloved son, how he wept with joy! For at
Another day was born, born with the rising of the same sun that sank beneath the horizon of a sad yesterday. Nelly opened her eyes and stared at the blank ceiling wondering where she might be at the moment, wondering if this was not a continuation of what she had come to know as the last agonizing moments of her recent experiences. 'How long had she been asleep?' She thought to herself. 'Was it really true that Dom was gone? Gone forever, bringing her a sad disappointment that now engulfed her whole being and lingered on and on; while unknown to him she was now in a terrible state of health in such pains he may never care to know anything about? Or was it all a dream?' she thought as her mind went through so many things. Then, she struggled to keep her eyes open and her day consciousness, alive and active. She was really feeling dizzy and helpless.On moving her head, however, her eyes rested on a staff nurse sitting by, app
As a matter of fact, for not having sufficient credit, Nelly had gone to the public pay phone in the company of her elder brother, Chuka, to make the call. So, when he saw Nelly's behaviour as the call progressed, he became alarmed at her sudden reactions, wondering if Dom was alright. When she suddenly dropped off the line with the clouds that descended over her eyes, shaking her head and looking so tired as if she was about to collapse, Chuka rushed towards her and held her by the hand, leading her to a nearby seat.'What's the matter?' he asked, still wondering what must have happened.'Let's get out of here first,' Nelly replied, trying to get up from the seat.'But you are trembling, Nelly. What's all this? You have to sit down for a while. Pull yourself together and control yourself from within. What is the matter? I hope Dom is alright.'Nelly remained silent, staring into nothing and looking so pale and flus
Chief Mrs. Lucas looked at her husband with so many uncertainties swimming around her mind. She snapped her eyes at him and looked elsewhere. Chief Lucas wondered what all that meant as both of them sat at dinner in a most elegantly furnished dinning room attached to a most modern state of the art living room. Awash with a most beautiful and most sophisticated chandeliers, adorned with the best settees and the most magnificent rugs amid the most brilliant and most eloquent decorations, the whole environment betrayed in all certainty the home of a super billionaire such as one could find in an oil rich nation like Nigeria.The long drawn curtains, made out of the most beautiful materials, like royal cycloramas of the fairy lands swept the rich, red rugs. The living room, grand as the royal interior of life's best resting place, was made up of some of the best and most luxurious couches and settees, glass side tables and such artistic renditions of p
Bringing Mr. and Mrs. Aku to accept any monetary reward concerning the adoption of their grand child was more difficult to handle than making them accept its adoption. All the subtle arguments Dr. Zaki used during the discussion that followed whipped up the elements of suspicion rather than the required results. Twice, the doctor subtly threatened to wash his hands off all the help he was trying to render to save the Aku family from some looming social problems concerning Nelly's future. He reminded them again and again, the great trust and confidence they have had on him for more than the past thirteen years he had been their family doctor, even when he was yet working at the UNTH. He said it was not fair if they would now begin to look at him with such uncertainty in their eyes, just because he was trying to make them understand the need for them to accept some money over the adoption.'The fact is that the couple we are dealing with have been my clien
For the past five days, Chief Mrs. Lucas was looking quite ill, pale, cold and weak. She had refused all to eat, especially in the morning. For she said she was afraid of heightening the early morning vomiting that kept her husband wondering what was happening to her. Unlike her usual self, she would have gone to see the doctor without waiting to be reminded. But this time around, she was reluctant to see her doctor, even after being reminded by her husband to do so. And so, this particular morning in question, Chief Lucas decided to send for the doctor himself, after trying in vain to make her go for a check-up.'I have called Dr. Zaki,' he said to her as she lay in bed, 'you are looking very pale.' He said he will be here before ten. I will have to wait until he comes before I leave the house.''Why?' she asked. 'You can go to your office if you have any serious engagement. I will be alright.''You will be
The news was immediately sent to the king. And without waiting for the slightest moment, he had personally left the palace with some guards, all on horses' back. That was exactly how they came to be there. And when the king saw his son staggering away without even recognizing his presence, he almost did not know how he alighted from his horse as he rushed to his aid. When he picked him up and saw his body full of blood, he raised his voice and cried bitterly. The prince would have liked to tell him not to worry since he felt he was alright, but he could scarcely open his mouth to speak. So, waving his hands for the guards to clear, he pointed at the dead snakes some yards away and said:'The serpent is dead. I killed it. Seven snakes, one serpent,' - and collapsed into his father's arms.King Adino almost could not believe it. How he held and embraced his beloved son, how he wept with joy! For at
Meanwhile, however, the river having now settled considerably, the young men had already slipped into the water, quietly swimming about in search of the ring. The prince was in fact also with them. But for the next forty-five minutes, they moved about inside the river, going down, deep and almost across to the other bank in the serious search. But there was nothing like the ring to be found. So, at the end, they came out of the water completely exhausted. It was the saddest day in the prince's live. For since he grew up, that was the first time he saw his sister weeping so bitterly. It was with the greatest art of persuasion that the princess was made to accept leaving the river bank. She said it would be better to die in the river than go home without the ring. She could not help imagining what was really going to happen to the people of Mayomi now the ring was lost. As for her own fate, she knew she was simp
THE HANGING SENTENCEAt the end of the third year after these happenings, an alarming thing happened. Knowing how important her gold ring was, princess Mara kept it with every care. It was during the time of the Virgins' Festival also called The Festival of Pure Lily. On that day, all the virgins of Mayomi went to the various rivers of the land to swim as a part of the festival of the season. They were usually accompanied by some of their brothers to protect them from assaults if there happened to be any such thing. It was however the princess' habit to remove her ring and put it into a little box before going out to swim. But on that day, she was rather so excited about the event of the day that she forgot to remove it. And unfortunately, neither her brother nor any of her maids bosom friends noticed she had brought the ring to the river. If any of them had seen the ring on her finger, there would never have been the need for a
There was silence inside the room. The brother and sister looked at each other as if they had never met before. None of them knew what next to say. The princess had however already decided on what to do. She loved her brother more than she had been able to express.As she had already said, she could not afford to lose him or her fiancé. So she must stop them from continuing with that plan. To stop them, however, she must do something she would never have liked to do. Scarcely did her brother leave her room than she found herself in her father's bedroom.'You look terribly flushed, Mara,' her father said, 'what is the matter?’'Nothing,' she said, smiling. 'I've only come to make a request.’'Oh, go on my daughter. But don't ask for what you don't deserve.’'Is there anything I won't get from you just for the asking?’'Well, well, well. Of
With the ring almost always in her finger, princess Mara became rather too quiet and pensive. She suddenly boycotted all social gatherings and no longer went out to swim with the virgins of Mayomi. Her mother called her to herself a number of times to tell her there was no need to live a solitary life because of the gold ring. But all she said were to no avail. When the princess started living so much on her own, her brother as well became worried. One evening, however, six weeks after she was given the ring, the princess was sitting in her room hearing her maid read her a story.'All these hours you have been reading me stories.' She said to her. 'Now keep the book aside. I will tell you a story.'The maid closed the book and placed it on a nearby table.'Have you ever heard any story about the terrible serpent?'There was a knock on the door before the maid could answer her question. So she i
THE PRINCESS AND THE GOLD RINGThe king's two children continued to grow. At the age of sixteen, princess Mara had already developed into such a beautiful maiden that the news of her beauty spread far and wide. And being the first child, the king loved her so much that almost every time, he was thinking about what to do to protect her from all harm. For she was so beautiful that she looked rather too delicate and fragile for the earth. 'What happened if by chance the serpent regained the power to hurt people?' the king thought like a child. 'Being so wicked, would the beast not go straight after his beloved daughter?'Although the king knew too well the fact that as long as the gold ring was there the serpent would not hurt anybody in Mayomi, he allowed this thought to gradually become a part of him. But he never told his wife about it. Instead, he decided on something he felt must be done to make sure his beautiful daughter wa
THE PRINCESS AND THE PRINCEAs the queen had predicted, it was not possible to keep the dream a secret in the land of Mayomi. After all, everybody had a best friend. So, it had first started passing in whispers. Then, after some time, some people began to talk about it as if they knew everything about the dream. People even started interpreting it in their own ways. But the king was the only person who did not hear a gossip about his own dream. So, the question never really arose about who actually let the magic cat out of the magic bag.Some months after the dream, however, the queen stopped appearing in public. She did not allow people to see her except her very good friends. These were people very close to the royal family. And before they left, she always reminded them not to tell anybody what they saw. She had almost forgotten that 'After all, everybody had a best friend'. Since this truth cou
THE KING'S SECOND PROBLEMThe second problem that often robbed king Adino of his sleep was the fact that he and his wife had no child. They had been married for fourteen years. There was scarcely anything worth doing they had not done in order to get at least a single child. But it appeared as if fate was against their desire. Even the efforts of the people of Mayomi to help them failed. For there was a time when the chief priest of the land declared a period of fasting and prayer all over the land for this purpose. Individually too, most people had prayed in their closets for the king and his wife to be blessed with children. They were indeed loved by every one in the land. For the king was regarded by many people as a man sent by Heaven to save them from the hands of their enemies while the queen was believed to be the kindest woman in all the earth. But it appeared as if the people's love for the couple could not
THE WISE MAN AND THE RINGOsdara was really touched by the way the king felt concerning the problem of his people. But what he was going to do to help him, he did not know. When it appeared as if there was no hope and no solution to be found, he left king Adino and his wise men. Some of them thought it was all over. But soon after, he returned with a little ornamental box. The body of the box was decorated with lines of silver and gold. Taking his seat, Osdara opened the little box in the presence of the king and poured its contents on the floor. There was scarcely any type of treasure one could not fine there, all beautiful ornaments.'But why on the floor?' one of the king's wise men asked. 'You would have used a table to save yourself the trouble of bending down.''Oh, you're right,' he said smiling and leaning down over the treasures, apparently looking for something. 'Treasures like these ornaments