Once upon a time, two boys left their home village to go to a faraway country. One of them believed in travelling light. The other one was always curious about things.
As they walked along a footpath through the bush, they saw the quill of a porcupine lying on the ground. The first boy ignored it. He passed it by. The other boy picked it up. He put it in his bag. “What are you picking it up for? One would think this is the first time you have ever seen the quill of a porcupine!” the first boy said, sarcastically.
“One never knows what will come in handy,” the other boy replied. As they walked on, they saw a small tortoise crawling by the footpath. The first boy ignored it. He passed it by. The other boy picked it up. He put it in his bag. “This is really crazy! What do you want to do with a silly, small tortoise like that on a long journey?” the first boy asked, sarcastically.
“One never knows what will come in handy,” the other boy replied. As they walked on, they found an abandoned, rusty, old gun lying by the footpath. The first boy ignored it as useless. He passed it by. The other boy picked it up. When he checked it, he noted that although it was old and rusty, it was loaded with a bullet. He slung it over his shoulder.
“You really are a crazy person to have as a companion on a journey. Why are you weighing yourself down with useless things on a long journey like this?” the first boy asked, with ill-disguised contempt. “One never knows what will come in handy,” undeterred, the other boy replied.
As they went on their journey, the weather changed unexpectedly. Dark clouds gathered in the clear sky. A thunderous rainstorm was about to break over their heads. They did not want to get drenched in the rain.
They looked around them. They saw a cave under a rock on the hillside. They ran for shelter into that cave. It started to rain cats and dogs as soon as they had entered the cave. They were about to congratulate themselves when they were disturbed.
A frightening, loud roar sent a chill down their spines. The owner of the cave was a huge lion. He had smelled their presence in his cave. He was already at the entrance of the cave and was not too pleased.
He roared again. He demanded an explanation from the boys instantly. The first boy was quaking with fear. He knew that they were about to be killed by that angry lion. They were about to be eaten up as well.
“We are done for!” he whispered fearfully. “Leave this to me!” the other boy whispered back. “Who are you in my cave?” the lion roared angrily again. “Someone bigger and more powerful than you are, lion!” the other boy replied, almost nonchalantly.
“What! Is there anyone bigger and more powerful than me, around here?” the lion scoffed, almost breaking into laughter. “Yes, there is, lion! I am bigger and more powerful than you are,” the other boy replied, with all the calmness in the world.
“All right, I demand proof! Show me a hair from your mane. Here is a hair from my mane,” the lion roared as he tossed into the cave a long, thick hair he plucked from his mane. “This is nothing! It is so flimsy! Have a look at mine!” the other boy replied as he tossed out the porcupine quill to the entrance of the cave, for the lion to see.
The lion saw the porcupine quill and staggered a bit. He was suitably impressed. He could not imagine a huge animal with such thick hairs for a mane. “All right! A hair from the mane does not mean everything. Show me a tick from your body. I want to see how big your ticks are. Here is my tick,” the lion roared as he tossed a large tick he pulled off from his own body, into the cave.
“This is nothing! It is so small! Just have a look at my tick,” the other boy replied, contemptuously, as he tossed out the small tortoise to the entrance of the cave, for the lion to see. The lion saw the tortoise and staggered a bit.
He was suitably impressed, especially when he saw the tortoise crawling. He could not imagine a huge animal with such a huge tick. “Do you have such huge ticks and yet you squeezed yourself into my cave?” the astonished lion asked. “All right, a tick does not mean everything. Let me hear how terrifying your roar is, if you are really so huge and are bigger than I am,” the lion demanded. “No! You roar, first!” the other boy also demanded.
The lion obliged gladly. He roared and roared and roared. The whole jungle echoed his roars. Many animals in the jungle were terrified. So were the two boys in the cave. “Now that you have heard my roar, I want to hear yours. Then I will know if you are really bigger and stronger than I am,” the lion demanded.
“Put your ear to the entrance of the cave. Then you will hear how loud and more terrifying my roar is,” the other boy replied. The lion did as he was told. Instead of looking into the cave, he looked aside in order to put his ear to the entrance of the cave. He was anxious to get the full blast of the promised roar which was supposed to be more terrifying than his own.
The other boy cocked the rusty, old gun. He crawled as quietly as possible to the entrance of the cave. When he was very close to the lion he pointed the barrel of the gun into the ear of the lion. Then he pulled the trigger.
“Booooooo!” the gun went off. The lion did not hear the promised, more terrifying roar. He slumped to the ground, dead. “You never know what will come in handy,” the other boy said again, in complete satisfaction. The rainstorm had stopped. The two boys walked out of the cave and over the dead lion. They felt relieved, safe, secure and happy. They continued their journey. (Folktale from Malawi)
