On that day, an elephant, a mouse, a woman, and a thief appeared before Kalaga, who was seated in court to hear the grievances of his subjects.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The elephant spoke: \u201cI am big and powerful, thanks to you, Kalaga. But there is one thing I don\u2019t understand: why can I have only one child every two years, when I can hold so many in my belly? Instead, that microscopic little mouse there always has ten to fifteen children at a time. Is that right?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kalaga replied: \u201cSee that banana grove over there? Further on, there is also a beautiful cassava field. Don\u2019t move from there for a few days. I will have your case investigated and then give you the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then came the little mouse: \u201cWhy does everyone persecute me and chase me away? What harm do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kalaga asked him: \u201cWhere do you live?\u201d The little mouse replied: \u201cWhen the man gathers peanuts or rice, I slip into the piles and live there with my wife and children.\u201d Kalaga said: \u201cGo ahead. I will enquire and then answer you.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The woman came and complained: \u201cWhy does my husband always have to sleep on the bed in the best place towards the door, and I at the bottom in the most uncomfortable place? Are we not all equal before you, and do we not have the same rights?\u201d Kalaga gave the usual answer: \u201cGo ahead. I will enquire and then answer you.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Finally, a thief showed up with the friend who had helped him steal. He said: \u201cListen to that pretence! We went to steal together, but he stayed near the hut under a plant to see if anyone was coming. He did nothing else. And now he claims the biggest share of the loot, forgetting that the greatest effort and the greatest risk were mine, for I entered the hut with so much effort, breaking a window.\u201d Kalaga replied: \u201cI will make an investigation, then we will see.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When the court was closed towards evening, Kalaga called the leopard and instructed him to make enquiries about the day\u2019s cases and provide him with the necessary information for a just judgement. The leopard set off and went first to the elephant. The banana grove and cassava field where the elephant had been sent were reduced to a desert.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Everything had been devoured and trampled underfoot as if a violent hurricane had passed. \u201cHow did you do this?\u201d asked the leopard. \u201cAnd how could I do otherwise?\u201d replied the elephant. \u201cI am big and have a huge belly; I need a lot of fodder every day.\u201d \u201cAll right,\u201d replied the leopard. \u201cCome to the Kalaga court tomorrow and you will get your sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He took some notes in his notebook and set off. The leopard approached the mouse and found him basking in the sun with his thirteen cubs near a hut. \u201cWhere do you live?\u201d the leopard asked. The mouse gestured towards a pile of peanuts inside the hut and explained that he had his nest there. He, his wife, and their children ate a couple of peanuts each week and were content. The leopard noted this and concluded: \u201cBe on time for the Kalaga court in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He then went in search of the woman. By now it was night. Eventually, he found the hut. The husband, since his wife had accused him before Kalaga of bullying, had relinquished his place to her. The leopard knocked at the door. The woman got up reluctantly, opened the door slightly, and asked: \u201cWho is it?\u201d \u201cIt is I, the leopard.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The woman let out a startled scream, jumped backwards, stepped over her husband, and fell awkwardly, injuring her arm. The man grabbed his spear to confront the leopard. However, the leopard explained good-naturedly: \u201cDo not be frightened. I am sent by Kalaga for the investigation. Report to his court tomorrow around noon.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He finally went to see the thief and his friend. They recounted the events to him precisely. The friend glanced around, pricked up his ears restlessly, and attentively scanned the darkness. The other had quietly pushed open the window, gone in, and come out again. The leopard took note of everything, and as he departed, he advised them to be punctual the following day at the Kalaga court.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kalaga, after carefully examining the reports of his envoy, summoned the complainants and provided each with the response they deserved. He said to the elephant: \u201cDid you see? You required hardly more than a banana grove and a cassava field to sustain yourself for two days. How would you have managed to support five or ten children of your sort?\u201d The elephant understood and departed without a word.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To the mouse, Kalaga remarked: \u201cYou are a very peaceful and temperate creature. You consume so little that even with fifteen children, you can get by without causing harm to anyone. Go in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then the woman arrived. \u201cAnd what of you? Did you see? When there is danger, only a man can protect you. Therefore, it is right that he should be in the position most conducive to his task.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Finally, Kalaga explained to the disgruntled thief: \u201cIf your friend had not been there to keep watch, or if he had seen the master of the hut approaching, would you have stolen? Thus, the primary credit is his, and consequently the larger share of the loot must also belong to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kalaga\u2019s judgements are always wise.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(Folktale from the Lega people \u2013 DR Congo)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On that day, an elephant, a mouse, a woman, and a thief appeared before Kalaga, who was seated in court to hear the grievances of his subjects. The elephant spoke: \u201cI am big and powerful, thanks to you, Kalaga. But there is one thing I don\u2019t understand: why can I have only one child […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}