It’s Sunday, time for Sigana. Let me tell you a story…
A long time ago, when animals still spoke like us, before the roads came, there lived two very different animals: Apuoyo the Hare, and Ondiek the Hyena. Apuoyo was small but full of tricks. His brain worked faster than legs can run. But Ondiek— ah, he was big, smelly, and only thought with his stomach. That one, when he walks, even his shadow looks hungry.
One dry season, the two met near the bush where the wild bees store their honey. They found a pot — yes, a real pot — full of sweet, golden Mor Kich (honey). No one was around. They looked left, looked right. Apuoyo though first and said, “We can’t finish all this now. Let us hide it and eat it slowly — ka nyithindo maruoyo nyuka.” (Like children sipping porridge.)
Ondiek agreed, but half-heartedly. He longed to grab the pot and empty its sweet contents into his empty stomach in one gulp! The two animals, therefore, buried the pot near the old ng’ou tree and said, “We shall come every three days to eat a little Mor Kich from the pot. Each of us will get an equal share.”
That very night, Ondiek the hyena could not stop thinking about the honey. Greedy thoughts rang through his mind, and he turned in his bed sleeplessly. “You are strong. You found the honey. Why wait for that tiny fool?” His greed could not allow him to resist the temptation. He ended up sneaking through the grass, quiet like death, and uncovered the pot. He sunk his paw deep into the warm honey and drew a handful, which he immediately threw into his mouth. After a few mouthfuls, he wiped his paws and crept back to his den as if nothing had happened. The next night, he sneaked back to the Ng’ou tree and did the same.
When the three days passed and Apuoyo came, he looked inside and found only half of the honey. He was shocked. He went out to seek Ondiek and found him snoring loudly under a shade. “My friend,” he said. “What happened to our Mor Kich?”
“Akia – I do not know.” Ondiek responded, rubbing his paws against his bulging belly. “The bees must have come and carried some of it away!”
Apuoyo, being a smart animal, knew the hyena had tricked him. He therefore sat down and devised a plan to catch Ondiek in the act and teach him a lesson he would never forget. He went into the bush and collected some sticky sap from the Yago tree — the kind that even wind cannot shake off. He smeared it all around the pot, and then he hid behind a nearby bush, waiting.
That night, true to his bad manners, Ondiek the hyena came again. He did not even care to look around. He rushed carelessly the pot out like a starving beast and immediately plunged his paw into the honey.
But Alas! His paw stuck. He tried to pull it out, but his other paw got stuck too. He kicked in a desperate attempt to free himself but his legs also got glued to the walls of the pot. He panicked and tried to scream — his mouth touched the pot and it too got stuck.
Once the hyena’s body was firmly wrapped round the pot, out of the bushes came a voice.
“Aha! It was you all along, Ondiek. You are the one who ate half the honey while I was asleep!”
The hyena was unable to move, let alone respond. He just groaned. Apuoyo circled him and the pot, laughing softly, like a pot boiling over. “I told you — the one who lets his stomach lead will end in shame.”
Morning came. All the animals came to see Ondiek, stuck like a fool. Birds laughed. Even the tortoise chuckled. It took the sun and the shame to dry the sap before he could free himself. But from that day, he never lied or messed with Apuoyo again. He had learned his lesson the hard way!
Curious for the next sigana.