THE PYTHON AND HIS BROKEN BACK

Long time ago, in the land of animals, everything belonged to everyone. They did all things together and shared a playground, which was big enough to cater for their needs. Children addressed the elder ones as aunt, uncle and brother even if they were not of the same kind. They however slept at their respective homes at night.

One day, the animals decided that one of them should be left behind to take care of the young ones and cook for the rest who were going to the farm to cultivate as usual. They had planted lots of food plants. Maize, beans, millet, sorghum and even carrots constituted some of the plants. They chose Mr. python because he was an expert in cooking and always cooked enough food for the big family.

Mrs. Squirrel, Elephant, Rhino and Mrs. DikDik had left their babies behind because the animals had set out rules that whoever was breastfeeding should do so after the day’s work to avoid disturbance from crying babies while working. However, these mothers were supposed to leave work, one hour before the rest.

Back at home, Mr. Python was struggling to make sure food was ready and the young ones were safe. At around eleven in the morning, he had finished cooking. He washed utensils and sat under a shade to watch the children play. Mr. Python thought for a moment, “how can I do so much work without pay. I have to find means of paying myself.” Mr. python thought hard.” he finally had an idea. ‘These children are just enough for a payment’. Elephant’s baby is so big for me to swallow and squirrel’s is too small, I won’t feel I have eaten anything. I will definitely eat Dick Dick’s son. He is just fine and too fat.’’

The children were playing hide and seek when Mr. Python saw Dick dick’s son appear from behind the kitchen. This was the long- awaited opportunity! He made the longest leap, and, ‘there’ he caught the son by the mouth, suffocated him, and with one gulp, swallowed him before the other children could notice! The children tried to look for their friend but soon got tired and went back to play.

Mrs. Elephant got home first, followed closely by the other mothers. Mr. Python had a habit of calling all mother, ‘madam’. ‘Madam DikDik, please, come and help me set the table before the others arrive for lunch.’ Mr. python wanted to keep her busy such that she won’t bother calling the children.

All the animals were home at exactly one o’clock. Mr. Python and Mrs. DikDik had already set food on the table for everybody to eat. The food was so sweet that Mr. Lion the king suggested that Mr. Python be made the chief chef, which made everyone at table roar with laughter. All of a sudden, Mr. Rhino stood up. ‘Where are the children?’ He asked and called out at them before anybody answered. The children came running. Everybody noticed at once that baby DikDik was not with his friends! ‘Where is your friend?’ they all asked in unison. ‘We were playing hide and seek when he disappeared’, the children answered. Everyone was shocked. Mr. Python was asked about the baby’s disappearance but said the only thing he knew was that the children were playing behind the kitchen when he disappeared.

The now exhausted and shocked animals didn’t notice that Mr. Python had not eaten his food. Hare had noticed something unfamiliar in Mr. Python. His stomach was bulging out so badly that his breathing was hard. ‘Your highness, I suspect that Mr. Python knows the whereabouts of the lost child. Look at his stomach. It’s so full!’ Hare whispered to king lion. This made the king turn quickly towards Mr. Python. On being asked by the king, Mr. Python denied knowledge of where the baby was. King Lion called all the animals to order and announced that the search for baby dickdick should start immediately.

The search continued until dark fell but it was fruitless. It had to be called off until the following day because of the darkness. This was like music to Mr. Python’s ears. This was the right time to disappear without trace. He remembered at once that Wasp’s uncle the Ant and his family had gone on a safari and were coming that night. He took advantage of the fact that they did not know what had happened during the day.

“Peace be with you” he greeted on reaching Ant’s house. They had hardly finished narrating to him how their journey was, when Mr. Python cut in, “ I have been very sick ever since you went away. My stomach has swollen so badly such that walking is a problem. Mrs. Ant opened her mouth to say she felt for him but the words failed her, for, in a flash, python had fainted!

“Mummy, Daddy, let us do something. Let us cover him with mud as if building our house on him. I think the cold mud will revive him,” one of Mr. Ant’s children suggested. They did this immediately to safe Mr. Python’s life. At the dead of night, Mr. Python crawled out of the mud and went to sleep in his house. Mr. Ant and his family did not realize Mr. Python had tricked them.

When Mr. Python did not turn up the following day for the search as arranged, all the animals were suspicious and decided to go to his house to pick him. The found him sprawled on his bed. He tried to defend himself by saying he had forgotten but king lion would not hear of that. He ordered that Mr. Python be pulled out of the house and given a severe punishment as this confirmed that he knew where the lost baby was.

The animals turned on Mr. Python beating him with anything they could lay their hands on. They beat him until he broke his back and was left almost dead, alone in the house. They were sure he would not survive with the broken back and legs.

Mr. Python did not die, but lay in bed for along time. When he fully recovered, he sent mails to all animals threatening that he will deal with them for the rest of his life. This is why the python eats the other animals up to today.