YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW
By Emmanuella Bedzra
The Klever ReGROW (Raising a Generation of Readers and Writers) series is on!
Have or know a child who can write? Well, let’s get them published to motivate them…
WhatsApp Eunice on +2330244084955.
Before Togbui Lorlon III was made king, the people of Nyuiewowo suffered deeply because of how the king before him treated them.
All the pregnant women were killed because he feared that the women would give birth to males who would grow and overthrow him.
The king also hated women because when he was a little boy he had a step-mother who was cruel to him, and so he thought all women were the same. All the difficult jobs were given to the women to do. The men would just sit at home waiting for the women to return from the farm and cook for them.
Most of the time, the women would even come home late. Schools, hospitals, and other social amenities were a problem for the people of Nyuiewowo.
Portable water was also a problem. The only source of drinking water was a stream across the mountain called “Agbe”. They sometimes had to go to the other villages for water because it dried up.
The people grew more and more tired of the king’s wicked actions so they went to a traditionalist and told him about their plight. He performed some rituals and two days later the king died.
For two years the people did not have a king.
During this period, the lawlessness in Nyuiewowo increased and the people lived without any sense of direction. In fact, their situation became worse than it was under the then King. They were often attacked and defeated by the neighbouring villages. Some of their able-bodied men and women were taken captive by their enemies due to their vulnerability.
Should they continue to live in the fear and insecurity that engulfed them? Different ideas were shared by various members of the community on how the situation could be arrested. Finally, they decided to consult the same spiritualist who killed the old king.
When they went to the fetish priest, he told them that they needed a leader. Some of the people suggested that the traditional priest could be made king but he declined their request.
After performing a few rituals, three candidates, Dodzi, Dela and Mawufemor were presented to the people but one had to be chosen. Lots were cast and Mawufemor who was not a royal became king. The other two were to assist him in the palace as high-ranking members of the council. His stool name was Torgbui Lorlor III.
The traditionalist told the people of Nyuiewowo that Torgbui Lorlor was indeed the choice of the gods. He encouraged the people to give him the needed respect and support to make him succeed. Most of the people in the village were very happy and hopeful except a few who had mixed feelings because they thought the new king could be like the previous one.
Another very bitter person was Dodzi. He thought he was the right person to be enthroned because he was a royal. He also thought there was a need to regain and preserve the stool for his lineage.
Torgbui Lorlor proved his doubters wrong. He turned out to be very different. He was kind, generous and most of all not a sexist. He respected women a lot.
As time passed, he began to build schools, hospitals and most importantly, he brought polytanks to every house in the village. The people really loved him except Dodzi.
Dodzi hated the king with passion. He made several attempts to kill him but failed. At one point, Dodzi bribed one of the kitchen attendants in the palace to poison the king. However, when the king heard Dodzi’s only son, Edem complaining that he was poorly served, he gave his food to the young man who gladly accepted it, expressed gratitude to the king and enjoyed every bit of it.
After a while, Edem started complaining of stomach ache but nobody took him seriously. He decided to have a little rest in his room. His condition worsened after a while. His father sent one of the attendants to call him. The attendant met Edem looking as white as a ghost. The attendant sounded the emergency alarm and with lightning speed, Dodzi and Torgbui Lorlor were in Edem’s room. Just when they were about to call the doctor, Edem gave up the ghost. The doctor only arrived to confirm him dead.
Dodzi’s hatred for the king increased. He blamed the king for the death of his son. He tried to create the impression that the king poisoned his son but no one would believe him. He cooked another plan.
He hired professional assassins from another village and paid them huge sums of money to kill Torgbiu Lorlor so that he would be crowned king. On his way to observe what was happening on the kingdom plantations, Torgbiu Lorlor was attacked by these unknown assailants. All his guards were killed and he was also stabbed several times. Thinking he was dead, they left him lying in a pool of his own blood.
A kind prince from Morkpokpo, a kingdom nearby, saw him half dead, took him to their kingdom and cared for him.
When Togbui Lorlor III got better, the prince asked Torgbui to introduce himself better to his parents and him. After that brief introduction, the king and his wife, as well as their son concluded that Torgbui would be a very useful resource to their kingdom. They pleaded with Torgbui to stay with them and made him the king’s personal advisor.
At Morkpokpo, he taught the people how to make more money from their natural resources. He also taught them to act as middlemen between those who lived beyond their kingdom and those on the coast. These and many other ideas he introduced made Morkpokpo rich, powerful and famous. The king liked him very much and hoped that he would never leave.
Back at Nyuiewowo, Dodzi had succeeded in bribing many of the elders of the land to make him king. His excitement was beyond measure. Sadly, the welfare of the people was not his priority. The kingdom began to deteriorate at an unacceptable rate. The people were no longer happy and they began to miss Torgbui Lorlor. He was the talk of the town every now and then. Dodzi became angry and ordered that whoever mentioned Torgbui Lorlor’s name be executed. Many people were killed as a result of this.
One day, an old woman went to Dodzi’s palace to advise him to amend his ways. He became angry and ordered that the old woman should be given fifty lashes on her back. He did not know that it was the mother god of Nyuiewowo whom he had ordered his guards to lash.
He was, however, surprised at the firmness and calmness with which the woman received the fifty lashes. The old woman was thrown out of the palace and asked never to return otherwise that would mark the end of her life.
Three days after this incident, Dodzi started coughing badly. Try as the doctors did, the cough would not stop.
A few weeks later, the cough was accompanied by blood. The once well-built Dodzi started losing weight until he became so weak and thin that he could not help himself to the washroom.
While a few of his subjects cared and prayed that he recovered from the unknown sickness, the majority of them celebrated his plight in secret. All the herbalists and traditional priests on the land were called but they could not help him. The weeks turned into months and the months to years, but the king’s condition only got worse.
Meanwhile, Torgbui Lorlor was also missing his people and the community very much. He pleaded with the king of Morkpokpo to permit him to visit his people and his request was granted. He was given a lot of gifts and money to take to the people of his land.
One sunny afternoon, Torgbui Lorlor appeared at Nyuiewowo. The scene was both sad and interesting to behold. Many of the villagers had to run for cover for allegedly seeing the ‘ghost’ of their dead king.
Others thought one of the gods of the land had appeared in Torgbui’s image to come and save them from their plight. It was difficult for him to get anyone to talk to.
A few courageous elders went closer and threw some dust at him. That was the traditional way to determine whether he was a spirit or not.
The confirmation that he was human sparked a very big celebration in the land. Everybody was glad to see him back and well. Many people demanded the instant removal of the sick man from the throne.
The elders asked the people to be patient and allow Torgbui Lorlor to be formally welcomed. As soon as Dodzi heard of Torgbui Lorlor’s arrival, he fainted. Luckily or unluckily for him, he was resuscitated by the many doctors and herbalists who had been hired to give him twenty-four-hour attention each day. He started crying as soon as he saw Torgbui Lorlor. He confessed all he had done to Torgbui and begged for his forgiveness. It was then that the people got to know that he was responsible for the death of his own son and yet attempted to blame it on Torgbui Lorlor. With his big heart, Torgbui Lorlor stood up from his seat and embraced Dodzi as a sign of his acceptance of the apology. Everybody around; young and old, men and woman, slaves and royals wondered the manner of man Torgbui Lorlor was.
Dodzi died a few minutes after his confession but that did not stop the celebration. The palm wine tappers had a lot to offer for free, the food sellers stopped selling their food and gave it all out for free, and there was a lot of music and merrymaking until it was very late in the night.
Dodzi was given an ordinary burial the following day. Nobody mourned him and not one of them wanted to remember him.
The elders met and planned the reinstatement of Torgbui Lorlor. He went back to Morkpokpo and told the prince and king about the new development in his life. Even though they had wished he stayed with them forever, they were very happy for him and gave him every support needed for his reinstatement. This was the beginning of a perpetual friendship between the two kingdoms.
Torgbui Lorlor was made king again on the third market day of the third month after his return to Nyuiewowo and the people became happy again.
The Klever ReGROW (Raising a Generation of Readers and Writers) series is on!
Have or know a child who can write? Well, let’s get them published to motivate them…
WhatsApp Eunice on +2330244084955.
