JALARURU THE STUBBORN CHICKEN
AND OTHER
SHORT STORIES FOR CHILDREN
By
Wole Adedoyin
JALARURU THE STUBBORN CHICKEN
Jalaruru was a fine little chicken who lived in a village of Borisope with her mother and her two brothers. There were other chickens too, some black, some with fine color and some brown over like Jalaruru. Jalaruru’s mother was kind and gentle and loved her children.
One day Jalaruru decided to go round the field on her own. She had walked a little way with her mother several times, but not very far. So, when her mother was busy eating corns, she slipped away.
She was only one week old and her legs were short but slim, but she walked off feeling very strong and very brave. Jalaruru made her way along one of the village forest as quickly as she could so that her Sister Rondo would not see and follow her. Through a hole in the hedge she could see for herself into the next village where some animals, much larger than herself, were busy feeding and drinking. Jalaruru didn’t know what they were, but she stayed on her side of the hedge to be safe.
She had only just started off again when something sprung in front of her out of a hole in the wood. Jalaruru jumped in the air with fright, landing and standing on her two little legs in time to hear a silent voice say, ‘Ho!’ said Jalaruru, I’m going round the village all by myself. I’m no more a child, you know.
‘Aren’t you?’ said the Squirrel. ‘Well, take care, that’s all I’ll say, for some wicked creatures come this way sometimes! Then the Squirrel ran away like the wind. ‘I wonder who that was?’ thought Jalaruru.
Jalaruru went on a little more slowly and gently until she came to a gate. She tried to put her head into the bars but they were covered with dry leaves. Suddenly she heard whispering noise and then some strong and big creatures ran fast past her, nearly touching her nose. Jalaruru ran away from the gate in fear. She was beginning to think it would be better to go back to her mother, but the arrested her, made her feel happy again.
Several hens were running over the field and forming into a line. ‘Are you going to have a race?’ she called. ‘Can I join in? They looked round at her,’ Hurry up!’ they answered. ‘Were off!’ Jalaruru had just time to join the hens when off they went, jumping and racing over the grass. Up a hillock and down the other side and started back again. Jalaruru was soon left behind for her little legs were tired. All the hens ran back to their tracks. But where was Jalaruru’s mother?’ What are you doing by yourself?’ asked a little chicken.’ You are too young to be a way from your mother.’ ‘Oh, I’m not so very young really’, said Jalaruru. ‘Well, be careful,’ said the black chicken.
Jalaruru suddenly felt very much alone. The sun had gone in and the rain began to fell heavily. The other chickens sheltered by their mothers, but when Jalaruru ran up to a mother sheep, she was dribbled and pushed away. ‘Koo, koo’, said Jalaruru in a sad little voice, and then she said koo, koo again, this time a little louder, but there was no answer. Where could mother be?
‘I wish I had stayed at home’ said Jalaruru. The wind blew harder so that she could hardly stand up. She ran about trying to find somewhere to shelter but the barn was empty and dangerous because the inside was inhabited by termites and grasshoppers. Then suddenly, she had a soft, far away ‘koo, koo ru koo’. It was her mother’s voice ‘ku ku ru ku ku’ she cried as loudly as she could with gladness.
THE GOAT WHO WANTED TO BE A BIRD
Once upon a time in a village called Ejidare. There was once a little black goat who wanted to fly like a bird. He wished and wanted it so hard and always thought about it so much, that finally he called himself a bird.
Surfing through the forest of Igbo Elerin one day. He dramatically saw and witnessed some birds high up in a baobab tree.
‘How far’, he said, ‘I am a bird, too?
It was a funny talk for a goat to become a bird. The birds laughed at him. ‘You are not a bird’. They said. ‘Birds have beaks’.
The little goat browsed through the forest until he met elephant, the blacksmith who made him a beak. He tied it to his mouth and hurried back to the tree where the bird gathered.
‘Hey see’, he cried, looking up. ‘I have a beak!’.
‘Same thing’, they said. ‘But you’re not still a bird. Birds have feathers’. So the little goat ran as fast as he could out of the forest and found Mr. Cock, the feather maker. He made him feather round his body. Then he went to where the birds sat and cried happily’. I have feathers too. See, I’m now a bird, I can fly’.
But the birds only laughed and made jest of him ‘you are not a bird’ they said. Don’t you know that birds sing’ the little black goat felt unhappy and said, but not too long. He remembered that deep in the forest was a house where Squirrel, a music scholar lived. He visited him and knocked on the door. ‘Please teach me to sing like bird’, he begged. ‘I must learn to sing’. ‘Its most unusual, said the music teacher’. ‘But I will try’. This is a tedious task. I have a wonderful system. Come in open your mouth. Now follow me re, mi, re, do, do, re, mi, re, do.
The little black goat practiced and practiced and practiced for almost a month, then knowing that he was very good indeed, he hurried back to the tree where the birds were. ‘Listen’, he cried, ‘I can sing, too! And he opened his mouth very wide and in deep voice sang do re mi, do re mi re do. The birds laughed harder than before. An uncontrollable laughter, ‘You’re not a bird, they told him. ‘Birds fly’.
The little goat said, I can fly too! He lifted first one foot, all covered with feathers, and then the other and jumped up and down, lifting both together, but he did not fly.
‘’I must get higher off the ground, he said, ‘watch me’. So he went to a big rock near by and climbed up on it, and looked over the hedge. The ground seemed very far away. ‘But’ he though, may be if I take a running start and don’t look down, it will be alright. So he backed off, closed his eyes, ran as fast as he could to the hedge of the rock, lifted his feet and fell, with a loud crack on his little side on the ground.
‘I must get higher off the ground’; he said watch me! So he went to a big rock nearby and climbed up on it and looked over the edge. The ground seemed very far away. ‘But’ he though, ‘may be if I take a running start, and don’t look down it will be alright. So he backed off, closed his eyes ran as fast as he could to the edge of the rock, lifted his feet and fell, with a loud crack on his little side on the ground. The little goat opened his eyes, and felt the river of tears coming. It hurt where he had fallen. His beak had slipped off; feathers were lying all over the ground. The little birds laughed and laughed, high up in the tree, and then they all flew and ran away together.
‘You’re not a bird’, they mentioned and it floated back to him in the wind. You are not a bird, you’re a goat’. He packed himself up and walked slowly through the forest. He felt very sad and unhappy.
SMART TORTOISE AND THE FOOLISH LION
There was once a tortoise who lived alone by herself in a beautiful village of Jekamo. She was very hardworking and prayerful. She wept and dusted and polished until everything shone and at night she sat in her resting chair and stitched and mended. She was as happy as the day was long. Nearby in a dark and ugly house lived lion. Lion had tried many times to catch the Tortoise but she was always too clever for him.
One day, lion said to his wife, ‘put a big pot on fire and have the water boiling and I will bring you a fine dinner! He took a sack and set out for Tortoise house and there he hid in the tick and barren bushes. By and by came the tortoise, leaving the door. The moment the back was turned, the wicked lion slipped in at the open door and hid behind the chair. Then in came the Tortoise and out jumped Lion from his hiding location.
Lion ran as fast as he could to catch Tortoise. Faster and faster he twirled until Tortoise was so dizzy that she fell off unarmed on the floor. When Tortoise fell down she couldn’t move any longer. She startled and uncontrolled she was. The bad lion moved toward her and dumped her into his sack and started off for home.
It was a very hot day and the Lion was very tired too, so he stopped to rest under a rootless tree. Soon he was snoring. As soon as she heard him snore, Tortoise used her nails to cut a hole in the sack, big enough for her to crawl out.
Then that clever tortoise fetched a large stone and pushed it into the hole in the sack. Then she used her tiny tooth to sew up the hole neatly and gently. Away ran Tortoise to her beautiful house. There she kept herself.
At last Lion woke up, put his sack over his shoulder and went home. The sack was very heavy compared to when he first captured Tortoise. ‘How fat and big this Tortoise must be!’ he thought. ‘She will make a fine dinner’. When Lion reached home he called his wife. “I have caught the stubborn Tortoise at last. Is the water hot? Open the lid of that pot and drop this inside. Giving the sack to his wife to empty. Mrs. Lion opened the lid of the pot and Lion opened the sack and to his utmost surprised he saw stone instead of Tortoise.
The stone with a mighty force fell into the hot boiling water, which resulted into hot boiling water splashing over lion and his wife. This splashing disfigured the handsome shape of lion and the beautiful shape of his life. And that was the end of them. But the smart Tortoise lived joyfully and happily till the rest of her life.
KEKERE EKUN AND HIS GBERI ODE
Once upon a time. In a village of Tomoloju, there once lived an old man and a little black dog, the dog was so small that she was called Kekere Ekun.
Kekere Ekun loved to go hunting with his master. His master was a great hunter in the little and prestigious village of Tomoloju. Kekere Ekun trotted through the weeds in the forest of Tomoloju on her small little feet, flinging her tail like a feather behind her, seeking to find a small rabbit to eat for her dinner.
Her short nose went sniffing and snuffing under the bushed into the forest, through the jungle, round the wilderness and along by the hedge. Kekere Ekun had never caught a rabbit before, but everyday he hurried and searched through the forest looking for Iho Okete.
One merry day, Kekere Ekun, trotted along the road, sniffing and snuffing, when all at once she smelt the lovely smell of rabbit. She was so exited and joyous that she jubilated, squealed and squealed with happiness and ran faster and faster, under the bushes, through the weeds, round the wilderness, long by the edge, and there, right in front of her, was a tiny hole – Iho Okete, a hole inhabited by rabbits.
The hole was not too big for Kekere Ekun to climb down, because Kekere Ekun went through a long hole, and then with a loud bark, Kekere Ekun stopped. In front of Kekere Ekun was a great, huge black rabbit. Kekere Ekun barked at him, but the black rabbit in the Forest of Tomoloju did not run away! He swindled his short ears. Kekere Ekun barked as loudly as she could, but the rabbit just sat and made jest of her.
‘Why don’t you run away? Asked Kekere Ekun, ‘I cant catch you if you don’t run away’. Whydo you want to catch me? Asked Rabbit. ‘I don’t exactly know’ said Kekere Ekun. ‘But Rabbit always run away from dogs and dogs always chase them. Aren’t you frightened?’
Well, no I’m not frightened, replied Rabbit. You see, you are such a very little Dog! But hear the sound of my barking, said Kekere Ekun and she barked and barked and barked.
’Whatever is that noise?’ said a voice’. Be quiet, or you will wake my babies! Stop that noise and come and see my babies’. Rabbit led Kekere Ekun along another tunnel, and there, all in a row were five baby rabbits, as smug as could be and all fast asleep.
‘Well, now you know the way, you must come and play with us again’ she said. ‘Good bye’.
The next day, when Kekere Ekun went out with his master, he found that the forest was cold, for rain had fallen in the night. ‘I must buy you a Gberi Ode’, said the Hunter. ‘A hunter’s cloth to keep you secure and warm in this dark and evil forest’. So the hunter bought a nice warm Gberi Ode for his little fine Dog. The Gberi Ode was brown in color. The hunter also fastened round her neck an Aroko symbolizing him as the owner of the dog in case the dog gets lost. The Aroko was fastened round her neck with a little strap. Kekere Ekun barked and growled. The coat tickled the neck and tickled the tummy. It rubbed against her little legs, and she didn’t like it at all.
Kekere Ekun wriggled and barked trying to get out of it. The hunter sat down by the fireside and went to sleep. It was a sleep of enjoyment. Kekere Ekun crept out of the door uninformed and down the path to the forest, her small feet making tiny footprints in the muddy floor, her tail waving like a feather behind her.
She dribbled and roamed under the trees, through the weeds and along the wilderness, until she came to the rabbit hole. Kekere Ekun gave one little bark, just for politeness and journeyed down the tunnel.
It was unnoticed and uninformed when Kekere Ekun appeared to Rabbit. ‘Who is this?’ Asked Rabbit. Rabbit moved closer to Kekere Ekun ‘why, its Kekere Ekun! I didn’t know you in your hunting coat’. ‘Its isn’t hunting coat’, said Kekere Ekun and I don’t like it at all. It makes me ugly. It tickles me and it is too tight. I can hardly breath, and there is no way to get it off. Wouldn’t you like? Rabbit? It would make a bed sheet for your babies.
‘So it would’, said Rabbit. ‘Help me out of it, Rabbit’. Rabbit first removed the straps with his sharp teeth, in a gently manner he untied the Aroko. Off came the Gberi Ode. Rabbit laid the Gberi Ode very smartly over her sleeping babies.
‘Don’t they look comfortably? She said. ‘And wont it keep them warm? I’ve always has a fancy for brown’.
Very joyfully Kekere Ekun said ‘goodbye’ and very joygully bounced back home. When Kekere Ekun got home. The hunter gazed at her. ‘Where is your Gberi Ode? He gently asked.
Kekere Ekun could not say anything. She remained silent. Kekere Ekun and his master went down through the rainy forest, while Kekere Ekun barking and snuffing. And they searched and explored, but the gentle hunter never saw the brown Gberi Ode with the small Aroko Attached to it but Kekere Ekun knew the fact.
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