A very long time ago, in the wilderness of Chezam mountains lived a shepherd called Maltiba. Maltiba was a very humble shepherd who took very good care of his flock. In the mornings, he will follow his flock of sheep up the mountains to graze. At mid-day, he will command the flock down a river valley to drink water. From the river, he usually trod down a path to a kapok tree that stood along the pathway to Chezam.
It was the custom of all shepherds in that village to gather under this kapok tree for their lunch. In line with the rules of these shepherds, the young boys among them were usually required to go back home to the houses of each shepherd, carry back food and water to the kapok tree. After lunch each shepherd gathered his flock back to the bush to graze.
Such was life among shepherds in Chezam village for years. One bright afternoon after lunch, Maltiba went along a road leading to the highest peak of the mountain. He stopped at a point to allow his flock to graze. As he stood relaxed with both hands on a firm hold of his club against the ground. There came a sudden wild rash of the animals towards his direction. Maltiba realized that danger was imminent; he quickly stood up, fetched his bow and arrows and started moving towards the direction where the sheep were running from. Maltiba maneuvered stealthily through the bushes and shrubs until he was a bit further away from the animals. He got up and to his amazement; a baby wolf was lying close to its mother wolf. The kind shepherd could observe from where he stood that, there was no life in the mother wolf. He untied a piece of cloth he wore on his waist, tied back his bow, went closer and took the baby wolf in his arms with excitement. When it was evening, Maltiba went home with his new found baby wolf.
Back home, Yelsima the uncle of Maltiba had already prepared the sheep pen and waited for the return of his nephew. Maltiba arrived with a baby wolf in his arms. His uncle suffered a pang of awful doom at the sight of this strange animal. After a close observation, Yelsima identified and protested vehemently against the idea of keeping a wild animal in the house, especially in the midst of a flock of sheep.
Maltiba on the other hand felt so much sympathy for the wolf and continuously pleaded with his uncle to allow him keep the animal. Yelsima had no option than to allow Maltiba to keep the wolf. He however told his nephew that, “The smell of burnt hair is better sensed by the man who burns his own hair” and warned that he may be the first to suffer if the animal grows to be wild.
In the midst of the flock was an old ewe. Maltiba milked the ewe everyday to feed the baby wolf. He fed and took care of the wolf until it grew into a full-sized animal.
For sometime the wolf mixed freely with sheep and showed no sign of wildness. One early morning, Maltiba rolled away the cover of the pen to let out the animals. All the animals came out except the wolf and the old ewe which was often milked to feed the wolf. Surprised at this, Maltiba peeped through the pen. He was shocked to see that the wolf had killed the ewe and was busy having party with the mutton.
Maltiba in anger and awe rushed back to his room for his bow and arrows. He charged forth and shot at the wolf which was still inside the pen. Because of his standing posture the shot was not properly made, but the wolf was slightly hurt on the fore leg.
The wolf was alarmed by this hurt and roared boisterously at its God-father. In the next moment, it sprang at Maltiba. He was able to swerve to the other side of the pen. He run and hid himself to prepare another arrow.
Yelsima, the landlord, heard some noise outside the compound and came out immediately from the room. He understood the situation right away but ill-prepared for an encounter with the beast.
Fortunately for him the home grown wild beast did not come after him. Rather it galloped into the bush threatening any domestic animal that came its way.
The wolf chased people on their way to the farms there was indeed every indication that the taste of a sheep’s blood had made the beast so wild to be feared.
For three days nobody from Chezam could go into the bush for fear of the wolf. All the shepherds decided to come together to take care of their flock.
One afternoon a young boy among the shepherds went into the some nearby bushes only to see a middle-sized ram lying dead with some of its parts missing. He run back and informed his comrades. They quickly left the spot for another place. When they got back home, the matter was reported to the elders.
The following day, the elders of Chezam asked the shepherds to go at a different direction and not so deep into the bush. When they had left, a group of hunters were gathered with the aid of a talking drum. The hunters were then sent to look for the wolf.
Things however took a different turn. The search party of hunters combed everywhere and could not find the wild beast. Instead, it was the shepherds who spotted it again. When they were busy commanding the flock, Mindini, one of the heards boys spotted the wolf and informed the others.
The shepherds were not scared, and stood their grounds. The young boys were asked to command the flock away whilst the elderly ones battled with the wolf. They shot at it from a distance and after a long struggle the wolf escaped unhurt. At the time it was spotted, the hunters were far cry away from the shepherds and before they could arrive to the aid of the shepherd boys, the beast was gone.
For many days, every effort made to subdue the beast proved futile, and sometimes when the people woke up in the morning, a goat was either missing or found dead with some traces of the carcass outside.
At the gray of dawn one early morning as a group of young men prepared to go after the wolf, Yelsima offered Libation to their ancestors. He then went into a small hurt in the middle of his compound and removed an ancient arrow which was a preserve of battles. He handed over the arrow to Maltiba and said, “son of the land, the beast that survived your toil shall surely die by your hand. Go with them and you shall surely capture the beast that has decided to turn against us”, Yelsima concluded.
Yelsima was compelled to act in such a manner due to the numerous complaints and angry remarks from the people of Chezam. Members of that noble community were unhappy about the problem Maltiba had brought on them.
The search party went looking for the wild animal until they found it at the river valley. The wolf had just finished drinking water and before it could turn, an arrow shot from Maltiba sunk deep in to its head. The wolf struggled for a while. With the help of the many strokes of arrow shots from the others, the animal fell dead.
The party was greeted with cheers when they were returning from the bush with the dead wolf carried shoulder high; amidst singing and dancing. Everybody gathered at Yelsima’s house to thank and praise the young men for their bravery.
The shepherd thereafter went about their daily activities in the village of Chezam peacefully.
By Sulemana Haruna
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