The Tortoise visits the City in the Sky by Imonikhe Ahimie (best books to read fiction TXT) 📕

This book was first published as part of a Kindle eBook in 2013. That eBook is no longer available.

The story here has been edited, expanded and reformatted for reading on multiple eBook formats and is issued as a free eBook in 2015

Text copyright © 2013 Imonikhe Ahimie

Text copyright © 2015 Imonikhe Ahimie

All rights reserved.

The Tortoise is the most popular character of all the varied characters that abound in the folklore of the Nigerian peoples. The exploits of the Tortoise, whether in all-animal stories or in stories that have an animal-human mix, are without compare in all of the folklore that originates from The Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Indeed, in all of Nigerian folklore, there may be as many Tortoise stories as there are all other stories combined. In different circumstances, the Tortoise is associated with wisdom, selfishness, just low cunning or even, at times, kindness.

In this adventure, our hero visits a fabulous city in the Sky in company of the avian folk but things don't work out quite in the way that he might have expected.

one

Once upon a very long time ago, the animal kingdom was faced with a very severe famine. So grievous were the effects of this dearth of food that the inhabitants of that kingdom had been forced to embark upon the most drastic measures in order to ensure even a bare survival. But, as is so often the case in many of the things that impact upon the life of individuals and groups, the effects of the famine were not the same on everyone; some folk had weathered the dearth much more successfully than others.

Taking the birds as a group, for instance, it was visibly clear that they had been less affected by the famine than any other group of animals. In a situation where most of the other survivors of this great famine had become no more than pale shadows of their former selves, the vast majority of the avian folk had clearly fared much better.

It was quite true that a large number of birds had gone on to the great beyond as a direct result of the famine, but in proportion to the overall casualty figures for all of animal-kind, the casualty figures for the avian folk paled in comparison; indeed it is not too much to declare that the figures were comparatively insignificant. For those birds who had managed to survive the first and unexpected impact of the famine, they were a whole lot better looking than all of the other folk in the entire realm.

As the famine grew increasingly prolonged, this state of affairs caused considerable disaffection amongst the other inhabitants of the land. The Tortoise, in particular, was particularly irked by the state of affairs; he was most unhappy that, whilst he was dying a slow death due to the famine, the birds were weathering the effects of the famine just fine. He therefore determined to discover the secret of the birds and to benefit from it if it was at all possible.

After a long and painstaking investigation, the Tortoise discovered that there was a certain city, situated far above the clouds, which the birds visited on a more or less regular basis. Further, his investigations revealed that this city was given to holding a feast at certain regular times and that the birds had a standing invitation to attend these feasts and it was as a result of their regular attendance at these feasts that they had weathered the effects of the famine so much better than the other inhabitants of the animal kingdom had been able to weather its effects.

Given the dire effects that the dearth of food had had upon the Tortoise, just as on most other folk, the fact that there was a place where sustenance could be found at practically no cost worked powerfully on the Tortoise’s mind. He was not, in principle, adverse to the fact that the birds had kept this knowledge to themselves; if the knowledge had been his, he would have done just the same. All that mattered to him was to get some of the benefit from his new found knowledge. The Tortoise therefore determined that he would be a member of the delegation of birds when the time came round that would see the birds go partying once again in that sky bound city.

two

Having made this determination in his mind, the Tortoise set his mind to work as to how he would get the avian community to agree to have him as a member of the party-going group. The Tortoise knew quite well that this was not going to be an easy sell, but he was not in the least daunted by the enormity of the task that faced him; in fact, he was wholly confident in his mind that he would succeed in bringing the birds round to his point of view.

The first step that the Tortoise took in order to bring his hopes to fruition was to arrange a secret meeting with the leaders of the avian community, where he broached his ideas. Just as he had expected, it was an extremely hard sell for the instant reaction from the bird folk was almost wholly negative.

The Dove, amongst the mildest of all the folk of the avian fold, reminded the gathering that the Tortoise was the most dubious person in the whole wide world and in this view the Dove was vociferously upheld by the Vulture who related some of the many instances when certain members there present at the meeting had been harmed by the Tortoise’s low cunning and antisocial behaviour. Many of the other birds present spoke in the same vein; almost to a bird, the opinion was that the Tortoise would be most unwelcome.

But then, as ever, the Tortoise was a most persuasive speaker.

“I am a changed person, most excellent and worthy friends” he cried. “I am now fully convinced about the futile nature of my former lifestyle! A lifestyle that was of no benefit to anyone! No, not even to myself was there any beneficial aspect. Low cunning and greed, the hallmarks of my previous existence, harm the perpetrator even more markedly than it does those against whom such actions are directed! Your hostile reaction to my proposal clearly shows that I, and not those poor, innocent folk who were on the receiving end of my many shenanigans, am the greatest loser. Even before I discovered your secret about the city in the sky, I had already arrived at this conclusion and I had sworn by all the deities, yes! even those deities who are yet to come into being, as well as by the memory of every one of my revered ancestors that, if I were spared alive from this famine, I would henceforward lead a life that would stand as a model of all that constitutes neighbourliness!

“Worthy friends, I beg of you, believe me. I am now fully convinced, and I do not say this merely for the chance of meal, important though that is, that brotherly love, the offer of a helping hand to every and anyone in need, are the most desirable of traits that anyone can have, I assure you that these traits have become the guiding lights of my life.

“If, as you are fully entitled to do, you refuse to permit me to go with you, I assure you that I will not hold it against any single one of you although such a decision would almost certainly lead to my death in the shortest possible time.

“However, it would pain me greatly, yes, even in my grave, to think that anyone here, folk that I hold in the highest regard, would suffer from pangs of conscience in the future as a result of such a decision.”

Speaking in his most eloquent manner, the Tortoise was soon able to convince the majority of the assembled birds as to the validity of his views. Even as he spoke, huzzahs punctuated his speech and by the time he had finished with his exhortation, that whole assembly of birds rose as one and applauded the Tortoise. By acclamation it was decided that the Tortoise be permitted to accompany the birds to the next feast held by the folk who dwelt in the city above the clouds.

“But”, admonished the Sparrow who was on quite friendly terms with the Tortoise and whom had been the only bird to have spoken in the Tortoise’s behalf at the initial stage, “you must be on your very best behaviour”.

“Friends, you’ll never regret this kind-hearted gesture”, cried the Tortoise. “Not you, Sparrow! Not you, Vulture! Not you, Dove! Not any single one of you! Thank you all! Thank you so very much!”

But how was the Tortoise going to get up to the city above the clouds? Wings were an absolute requirement if one wanted to visit the city and the Tortoise was conspicuously lacking in wings. For a long moment after the Eagle raised this vital point, there was absolute silence but the Tortoise’s fertile brain was more than able to solve the problem.

“Now folks, I’ve got just the perfect solution”, he cried. “If each of you will make me a loan of just a single feather, just a single feather mind, then I’ll be able to build a pair of wings for myself. We’ll all just fly off to the great feast above the clouds!”

So, it was agreed that each bird would make a loan of a single feather to the Tortoise so that he could accompany them to the city above the clouds on the next feast day. The Tortoise was informed of the next date on which the feast in that city above the clouds would take place and a rendezvous was fixed and everyone went home in as good a frame of mind as might be expected of folk living in a famine-ravaged land.

three

Certainly it will not come as a surprise to the dear reader to learn that upon the appointed day the Tortoise was the very first person to arrive at the rendezvous where he waited impatiently until all the birds finally arrived. As had been previously agreed, each bird gave up a feather