Story Telling: The Adventures of a Village Hero - Otikoik

An old African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” The meaning is simple: Raising a child is not only the parents’ responsibility but also the community’s... 

Otikoik was one of those village boys who had been raised by the community. Over time, he grew up to be a man of great stature. Immediately he reached marriage age, his parents and the community urged him to marry as soon as he could. Unfortunately for them, Otikoik was not a man of such a school of thought.

One day, Otikoik met a young beautiful village lady who drew his attention. Otikoik said a few lines to her and all was alright for them. It was absolutely clear that he had gathered himself a wife... Everyone in the village was happy for both of them since it was a blessing for two to become one in that village.

As days passed by, Otikoik informed his girlfriend that he had developed much appetite for goat meat. He especially had too much and an uncontrollable appetite for wild-goat meat. It was such a time that he had known that his destiny was goat meat. It is claimed that he could devour a full goat alone, in just a day's clock.

Hunting was heroic in that village and Otikoik was one of the celebrated village heroes. The love for goat meat had turned Otikoik into one of the village heroes. As months passed by, the young beautiful lady discovered that she had to live the rest of her life - cooking a goat each and every day for Otikoik. She, therefore, decided that if she was ever going to live a free life, she needed to opt-out of the marriage arrangement - before she was roped with the man.

The last days of Otikoik were around the corner when he gathered all the young villagers for a Goat-Hunt training. His aim was to secure a large number of reliable goat hunters in that village. Such that, in his old days - the loyalists would provide him with a goat each day; most goat species by the time of this story were not yet domesticated.

The final day of the training arrived and every young man was eager to bring home a goat, from their own sweat. Many goats were secured during the hunt and all were gathered in one secure place. Now, a group of leopards is known as a "leap" or a "prowl." These leopards had noticed the hunters moving with a tribe or a trip (a group of goats). The leap hid in the nearby bushes. Otikoik loved goats so much that that night, he decided to sleep in the tribe as he wanted to feel the smell of the goats till the next day - where he had the chance to eat one of them.

At midnight, the leap attacked the tribe and the leap leaders had arranged in such a way that young leopards attacked smaller goats as the older leopards attacked bigger goats. As they entered into the arena of the tribe, the leap leaders noticed a two-legged goat and they agreed to attack that one first and in unison. Otikoik was therefore seen as a goat by the leopards and was the first to lose a life in the invasion.

****************That ended the Hero in Otikoik****************