Hamzah's First Day |
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Contents |
Why the Fish
Lives in
the Water
 "Okay, kids; we're going
to start walking towards the river now,"
called Hamzah's mother. "It's very important that everyone stays
together. Let's go, Hamzah; that means you too!""Coming, Mom!" Hamzah caught up to his mother. "Hey, Mom, did you say we're going to the river?" "Yes." "Does that mean we're going to see...water?" Hamzah asked with some trepidation. "Very good, Hamzi, that's right. There is water in the river. Now, I know it can be a little scary to touch it for the first time, but don't be afraid. The water can't hurt you." "Don't worry, Mom, I'm not a scaredy cat. I'm gonna just jump right in!" Hamzah's mother just smiled at this. After a few more minutes of walking, the river appeared in the distance. "Here we are! Feel free to drink or play in the water - just no dunking!" Hamzah was so excited he ran towards the river at full speed. Once he reached the water front, however, he stopped in his tracks. "Whoa!" Hamzah thought to himself. "I don't know about this..." Hamzah closely studied the water's surface. "Why does it move like that? Why does light come from it? Oh my gosh! There's another lion cub in there!" Hamzah poked the other lion's face with his paw, and he immediately disappeared. "This is crazy! Where'd he go?" Hamzah thought. Just then, something else caught Hamzah's eye.  "Hello there!" something called from under the water's
surface."H-Hello?" Hamzah replied. "My name is Unathi. What's yours?" "My name is Hamzah." "It's nice to meet you, Hamzah. What brings you to the river today?" "My mom is showing my siblings and me around. It's our first time out of our cave." "Oh, that sounds like fun!" exclaimed the fish. "I'm sorry to ask, but what are you?" Hamzah asked. "Oh! Haha, I'm a fish!" "Yes!" "Do you want to come out of the water and play with me? We could race, I'm a very fast runner," Hamzah smiled. "Oh, I can't come out of the river! I live here underwater." "Wow! Really? You stay in there all the time? Why?" "A very long time ago all fish lived on land, just like you do, Hamzah. Once, there was one fish who was best friends with a leopard. The leopard and the fish had been friends all their life. The leopard had a beautiful wife, and the fish fell in love with her. One day, when the leopard was out hunting, the fish betrayed his friend's trust with his wife. A neighbor soon told the leopard what happened. Furious, the leopard wanted to kill the fish for his treachery. After some thought, however, the leopard decided that since he and the fish had been friends for so long, he could not deal with him himself. He took the matter to the king. The king decided that all fish would be sentenced to live in the water forever, and if a fish ever came onto land, he would die. The king also said that all animals should kill and eat any fish they could catch from the water, as a punishment for the fish's actions." "Oh, that was a terrible thing the fish did to his friend! It doesn't seem fair for the king to go and punish all fish for his mistake. You seem like a very nice fish!" "Well thank you! You better get a move on! It looks like your family is on their way down the river." Hamzah looked up and saw his mom's tail disappear under the horizon. "Oh Geesh! It was nice meeting you!" Hamzah yelled as he ran down river. |
Coverpage Introduction Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky Why the Worms Live Beneath the Ground Why the Fish Lives in the Water Why the Bat Flies at Night |
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| Top Image: Hamzah's mother Image Source: MalaMala Bottom Image: Hamzah and his siblings Image Source: MalaMala Video: Hamzah meets a fish Video Source: Sara Barber |
Author's Note: I really liked this
original story. It seemed like such a good opportunity to show what it
must be like for a cat to see water for the first time. Everyone knows
that cats have a natural instinct to hate water. It just fits with
Hamzah's enthusiastic personality that he would be excited to see
water. It also fits with his age for him to be scared of it once he was
face to face with it. Water is the only way for an animal that lives in
the wild to see a reflection. What would you think if you saw a
mysterious copy of yourself staring back at you? That has got to be
strange, especially for animals who identify other animals by smell.
Reflections don't have a smell! I could have made the fish have a
bitter personality because he was punished unfairly, but I decided
against this. I wanted him to be very friendly to Hamzah. The original
story was a bit different than my retelling in that it explained the
fish's betrayal in more detail. However, all of the basic plot points remain intact. The king in this story is named King Eyo, just like in the previous story. Bibliography: "Why the Fish Lives in the Water" by Elphinstone Dayrell, from Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria (1910). Web Source: Sacred Texts Archive |