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Imorokimo,
The Mighty Dog
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Charles and Oliver Mbamara
The daughter of the king of Udumba was ripe for marriage, but as tradition required, the King would only give her daughter in marriage to the bravest man in town. Tradition required the king to state his request as to the test that would determine the bravest man in the village. Therefore, the king instructed his town-crier to go out and announce to the people that his daughter, the princess, was ripe for marriage and that only the first man to capture a lion and bring to the king will be worthy of asking for the hand of the princess in marriage.
Dinta, the great hunter had always liked the princess. As fearless and courageous as he was, Dinta was certain that he could easily capture a lion and bring to the king for the hand of the princess in marriage. Believing that capturing a lion was going to be an easy task, Dinta left for the jungle without his hunting-dog. Besides, he wanted to impress everyone that he could single handedly capture a lion without any help. All day, he sought for a lion to capture but they all evaded him. When it was dusk, Dinta was yet to capture a lion. He was determined and continued to scout the jungle, looking for a lion to capture. Having gone too far into the jungle, he walked into unfamiliar territory and found himself surrounded by numerous fierce looking lions. He had hoped to find one but there were many of the lions that he could handle. Seeing that he was outnumbered, Dinta decided to climb upon a tree and wait until the lions retired. However, the lions were very patient and waited for him to get tired and come down or fall from the tree.
For three days, Dinta was on top of the tree and he refused to consider any thought of calling for help since that was not expected of a brave man. He only hoped and waited for the lions to go away, but instead, they took turns and waited for him to give up instead. Knowing that the situation was getting out of hand especially as he was getting more exhausted from not having eaten or slept for three days, Dinta decided to put his ego aside and seek for help. The only capable help that he could think of was his mighty dog – ‘Imorokimo.’ However, the first unfortunate thing was that Imorokimo was tied to a leash and locked up in a cage in the far away village of Udumba, and could only respond to the call of Dinta’s flutes and nothing else. Secondly, Dinta did not bring along his flutes with which he would call Imorokimo for assistance. Normally, whenever, Imorokimo heard the call of the flute of his master, Dinta, regardless of the distance, he could tell what kind of assistance his master needed by simply listening to the tune of the flute.
Somehow Dinta had to get his flutes and call for Imorokimo’s assistance but he was not sure how he could get hold of his flutes. Just then, he saw an Eagle that flew close to the tree, and Dinta called on the Eagle. “Hey, Eagle please go to my house in the village of Udumba and bring my flutes with which I can call for my dog, Imorokimo,” begged Dinta. The Eagle looked at Dinta and replied. “Mister, it was you humans who chased me from the ground and up to the sky. How do you expect me to go back to the same ground again to look for your house and your flutes? Besides, your Imorokimo could eat me alive. I am sorry, but I cannot help you.” With that, the Eagle flew off. After a while, the Vulture came hovering around, and Dinta quickly made the same appeal to the Vulture as he had made to the Eagle, but the Vulture laughed scornfully at Dinta. “What makes you think I would like to help you?” The Vulture asked Dinta. “It is in my interest that you should starve to death. Actually, I was checking to see if you are dead already, so I and my family could get to your corpse before anyone else.” With that, the Vulture flew off laughing derisively. Time passed, and then Dinta saw the Sparrow. Desperate, Dinta made the same appeal to the Sparrow as he had made to the Eagle, but the Sparrow was not willing to oblige Dinta. “Your children always threw stones at me, and would likely lock me up in a cage or kill me if I get close to your family,” the Sparrow submitted. However, with promises and enticement, Dinta was able to convince the Sparrow to go to the village and bring his flutes to him. “And, please bring all three of the flutes,” Dinta added as the Sparrow flew off to Udumba village.
A while later, the Sparrow returned with Dinta’s three flutes, but then it occurred to him that he could not trust Dinta because he remembered that Dinta has been without food for three days and therefore very hungry. “You might use me for food, if I come closer. So, I will throw them from this distance,” Said the Sparrow. “I will not be that silly to repay your kindness with such a mean act,” Dinta replied. “That was the kind of promise you humans made to my mother on the day she was trapped by you humans,” Argued the Sparrow. “What are you talking about,” asked Dinta, hoping that the Sparrow would not change his mind from having agreed to help him. “One day,” The Sparrow started sadly. “My mother had gone to get food for us when we were very young. She followed the path of some seed you men have laid on the ground until she walked into your trap. She thought you humans were being kind and generous in offering her your food for free, but she did not know that it was a bait, and we never saw her again,” The Sparrow was almost weeping as she told the story of her mother’s demise in the hands of humans. Dinta was afraid that the Sparrow’s sad memories of his mother’s demise might lead the Sparrow to suddenly become vengeful, and therefore refuse to give him the flutes. “I am sorry about your mother, but if you don’t trust me, you could throw the flutes to me from there,” Dinta replied.
The Sparrow wiped his tears, and then perched on a nearby branch of the tree, but at a safe distance from which he threw the first flute to Dinta. The flute landed on a branch, a little off the outstretched hands of Dinta and fell to the ground where the waiting lions picked up the flute and broke it. The Sparrow then threw the second flute. Dinta caught it but in his bid to stop himself from falling off the tree, he grabbed an available tree limb and lost hold of the flute, which also fell down to the lions below. The lions picked up the second flute and broke it also. Then, there was only one flute left, and Dinta was beginning to realize that the Sparrow may have indeed become vengeful and therefore intentionally making it difficult for Dinta to catch any of the flutes, but Dinta had no choice at the moment than to trust the Sparrow. The Sparrow hopped around to find a different branch where he positioned himself, and then threw the last flute. Dinta reached out and caught the flute safely. Gladly, he thanked the Sparrow for his assistance and repeated his promise to repay him.
Dinta then put the flute to his lips, and blew the flute-call tune to summon his dog, Imorokimo.
“Imorokimo! Imorokimo!
The mighty dog that catches lions alive!
Come to my rescue,
For the lion wants to take me alive!”
True to nature, Imorokimo heard the flute-call, but he was not sure of the message since it did not come from three flutes as usual, but he continued to listen. Again, Dinta repeated the flute-call.
“Imorokimo! Imorokimo!
The mighty dog that catches lions alive!
Come to my rescue,
For the lion wants to take me alive!”
The message was clear to Imorokimo, upon the second time. Possessed by the power of the flute, and spurred by the fact that his master was in danger, Imorokimo broke from the leash, and vigorously tore through the cage. Pumped, Imorokimo jumped into the jungle and headed straight towards the location of his master, Dinta.
Tirelessly and without stopping, Imorokimo ran until he got to his master, Dinta. The lions saw him coming and launched an attack on him, but Imorokimo was a mighty dog indeed, and lived up to expectation. He killed all the lions except one, which Dinta captured alive, and took to the king, who then gave his daughter to Dinta in marriage.
Dinta then declared Imorokimo to be a free member of his family, no longer caged to be used only for hunting. He also built a free opening cage for the Sparrow and brought the Sparrow home to join his family. Since that day, the dog became man’s best friend, while the Sparrow was no longer offered food as baits. Instead, the Sparrow was given the choice to live in man’s cage only when the Sparrow wanted.
©
2003 Charles Mbamara, CPA & Oliver Mbamara, Esq.
Republished
May 2005
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December
2004
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Charles Mbamara is a CPA (Certified Public Accountant)
based in New York while Oliver
Mbamara is a Lawyer and presently an Administrative Law Judge with the
State of New York. He is our Editor and Publisher.
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