Heartbroken Man
There once was a man named Jason that lived in a small
village. He was a very wise and powerful man that gave the people of his
village powerful blessings. Eventually the people of the village grew jealous
of his wondrous gift that he had and came to imprison him so they could get
blessings whenever they wanted. The man heard of this and decided to leave the
village and take his son through the forest in search of a better village, one
that would appreciate what he did for them. While the man was out on a walk
through the forest when he came across his son, a lion, a goose, and an ox that
were in a net hanging from the tree.
Jason thought to himself, “I need to rescue my son the
others I will leave in the tree, they are of no use to me.”
When he told his son that he would be up to get him the
other animals pleaded to him asking him to please save them and that he would
be richly rewarded. The lion said that he would be his protector and would make
sure no harm ever befell him. The goose promised him golden eggs and the ox
promised him to work for him in his field for as long as he needed. Jason
agreed and went up the tree and cut everyone down and they all made their way
to the next village. When Jason made himself at home in the new village he
started blessing the people of this village. He too was blessed by the deeds
which the animals did for him. They all kept their promise and he was made
quite wealthy. One day the king saw him as a threat and wanted him gone but couldn’t
figure out a way to capture the man. Jason’s son decided that he too wanted to
be wealthy and told the king he would let him in the house to capture his
father. When the King heard this he was quite pleased.
So, in the dead of night the king came for him and was let
in by Jason’s son. As the guards that were with the king piled into the house
they were met with a most ferocious foe. The lion jumped upon them and in a few
short moments had killed all but the king. Jason woke up and jumped out of bed
to see what the matter was. He saw the king lying on the floor with the lion on
top growling.
Jason asked the king, “What are you doing in my house? Who
let you in here?”
Sputtering the man said, “It was your son he let us all in
to take you. We promised him many riches for doing so.”
Jason looked at the man, then at his son and said, “Leave
while I allow it, both of you.”
Though Jason had all the blessings and wealth he was never
to be happy again. He had lost everything that truly mattered to him, his son.
Author’s Note: I decided to combine two stories. I combined a
story about Anansi in which he gives out wisdom to the people only for them to
begrudge him. He decides to take all the wisdom back and hide it from them. In the
process of hiding it his son tells him a better way to climb the tree so that
he might hide it. He decides he doesn’t have all the wisdom and decides to get
rid of his plan. I incorporated the son but changed him from being good to
being evil. I also made it to where it was blessings instead of wisdom. The
other story I mixed in was the story called the Ungrateful Man which is about a
hunter who finds several different things in a whole. He saves them and all of
them bestow him with a gift for his deed. All except the man who ends up lying
to the king telling him that it was hunter who stole from him. After being imprisoned
he cures the king’s son using one of the gifts he received. In my story I
decided to incorporate him saving a few animals that would bless him, but made
his son the ungrateful man in my story.
Bibliography: West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair
