Hamzah's First Day |
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Contents |
Why the Bat Flies at Night
Hamzah was quite out of breath by the time he caught up with his
family. "Where....are....we going....now?" Hamzah managed to get out. "Oh, now I am going to show you a herd of gazelles. Gazelles are our main source of food, you know." One of Hamzah's sisters interrupted, "Oh no! Are we going to hurt them? I don't want us to hurt them, Momma!" "Yeah," another sister chimed in, "Why can't we just be friends with them instead?" "It's alright, children, calm down. Today we are just going to look at them. I want you to recognize the gazelles and become familiar with their smell. I see I still have a lot to teach you about the circle of life; but for now, we are just going watch." "Okay," the sisters said together. "Gazelles usually graze in the field just beyond this hill," Hamzah's mother said, motioning with her head toward a large hill in the distance. "We are going to climb this hill and watch them from the top. If you want to see them, though, you need to stay as quiet as possible. Do you understand?" "Yes, uh-huh, I do!" the cubs all replied at once. "Okay then, let's go. Make sure to keep yourself hidden in the grass," Hamzah's mother said as she lead her cubs towards the hill. "If the gazelles see you, they will run away." The family reached the top of the hill and they all crouched down in the grass to stay out of sight. "Oh my gosh! We are very lucky," whispered Hamzah's mother. "There are actually three different herds down there. The herd closest to us are gazelles, the herd behind them are zebras, and the herd in the distance are wildebeest. We hunt all three of these animals for our food," Hamzah's mother explained.  "Wow," Hamzah thought to himself. "They are so beautiful!" The family sat in silence and watched the herds graze for over an hour. The cubs were mesmerized by the sheer number of animals. They watched some of the baby zebras play. It looked like fun! The gazelles seemed to almost glide instead of walk. They were so graceful! The wildebeest's size intimidated some of the cubs. They could eat a lot of grass, that's for sure! "Okay, kids, it's time to head home. The sun is going down," Hamzah's mom whispered.  Hamzah looked to the West and
saw the sun about to touch
the ground. "Maybe he finally built a big enough house..." Hamzah
reasoned to himself. The cubs followed their mother down the hill in a single-file line. It was getting a bit chilly out now and the sky was getting darker. After a few minutes of walking Hamzah decided he had to speak up. "Momma?" he said. "Yes, Hamzi, what is it?" she replied. "I have to go to the bathroom." he announced. "Oooh, Ooh, me too!" cried one of Hamzah's sisters. "Okay, let's find you a bush..." Hamzah's mother walked around a bit and then motioned for her cubs to follow her. "Here you go; make it quick. We've got to get home before it gets too dark." Hamzah walked towards a nearby bush and began to take care of business. Out of nowhere, something huge and black flew past him, knocking him over! "AAAH!" Hamzah exclaimed. "What was that?!" he yelled. "It was a bat." "AAAH, who is THAT?!" Hamzah demanded, looking around him to find the source of the voice. "Down here," said the tiny voice.
 Hamzah continued to search the floor beneath the bush until he spotted it. It looked like one of those fur balls he saw his mom cough up after cleaning his dad's mane, except this one had a tail. "What are you?" Hamzah asked the fur ball. "My name is Tabari, and I'm a bush rat," he replied. "I'm sorry if I startled you." "Oh, it's okay. So, you said that was a bat?" "Yes." "He seems very scary. Why does he act that way?" "He is a very mean animal. He flew away like that because he probably thought you were trying to catch him." "Why would he think that?" "Not so long ago, he did something very bad and the king punished him and all of his kind. The king said that he was to be imprisoned. All animals were ordered to catch him if they saw him. The bat didn't want to get caught so he hid himself in a bush like this one. He only flies at night now so it will be harder for people to catch him." "Wow, what did he do to deserve such a punishment?" "The bat used to be best friends with my cousin, Waziri. Over time, he became very jealous of Waziri. The bat knew that Waziri loved the taste of the soups that he knew how to make. The bat decided to show Waziri how to make his delicious soup. He heated a pot of water until it was luke-warm and told Waziri it was boiling. Then the bat jumped into it the pot. He told Waziri that his skin was so sweet that it made the soup broth taste good. Later that week, Waziri went home and told his wife to boil some water. He wanted to make soup for his family. A few minutes after he jumped into the boiling water, Waziri was found dead by his wife." "Oh my goodness! That is the most horrible thing I have ever heard. I hope I never see that bat again! He deserves his punishment for sure!" Hamzah and his family made their way back towards the cave. Within minutes all of the cubs were sound asleep, exhausted from the days adventures. |
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:
Prey Image Source: GoAfrica Middle Image: Sunset Image Source: AnimalPlanet Bottom Image: Bush Rat Image Source: MuseumVictoria |
Author's Note: The actual retelling
of this story is quite short. I wanted to write a lot for the frametale
before starting the actual story. I chose to write the first part of
this retelling because I thought it would be very interesting to
explore what it must feel like for a cub to see his prey for the first
time. These cubs don't really understand that they have to kill these
animals to survive so, for now, they feel sorry for them. They are
still on a milk-only diet so these animals are not food to them. They
are exotic creatures that are endlessly fascinating to watch. This part
of the frametale served the purpose of taking up time during the day so
that by the time I told the story of the bat it was almost dark
outside. Most of the characters that Hamzah has come into contact with
during this storybook have been very kind and admirable. The sun and
the moon were so accommodating that they decided to live in the sky.
The worm and the fish were very friendly and open with Hamzah. The bat
is different. He represents the danger and evil that exist in the
world. He is Hamzah's introduction to this part of life. Bibliography: "Why the Bat Flies by Night" by Elphinstone Dayrell, from Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria (1910). Web Source: Sacred Texts Archive |