This dilemma tale is used for audiences who are asked what the hero of the story should do – if you don’t have an audience, think about what you would do if you were Umbogo.
ONCE THERE WAS AND ONCE THERE WAS NOT, in a small dusty village in the deepest and darkest part of Africa lived a hunter named Umbogo. Every day, Umbogo would walk into the jungle and check all of his traps for anything that he might have caught and at the end of the day, he would walk back to the village, tired dusty and empty handed.
And as he walked down the street, he could hear the villagers laughing and pointing as they said “here comes Umbogo, the successless hunter”, And each time Umbogo heard these words and heard the laughter, he would grow even more dejected.
TO AUDIENCE – do you know what it feels like to be successless? Do you know what it feels like to find your traps empty?
And one night, has he lay in bed, Umbogo thought to himself “this cannot go on like this!” and resolved to waken earlier than he normally did to see if this would change his luck.
The next morning, Umbogo awoke with the feeling that things would change for him. He dressed quickly and made his way deep into the jungle towards a trap he had not visited for some time.
It took some hours but Umbogo eventually saw the trap in the distance. And as he approached it, he suddenly felt a surge of excitement as he saw that there was something in the trap. Unable to contain himself, he rushed to the trap where he saw an enormous Royal Python. Umbogo took out his hunting knife and was just about to cut the snake’s through when the snake hissed:
“Sssstoppp – Sssstoppp – Umbogo! I have never killed any of your kind, why do you try to kill me?”
Umbogo stepped back, terrified (for he had never heard of a snake who was able to talk) and dropped his hunting knife. But realising that the snake was still in the trap, Umbogo went closer and said:
“How is it that you can talk? And how do you know my name?”
“Ssssimple – I am a magical Sssnake and all magical Sssnakes can talk. And because I am a Magical Sssnake, I also know many things, including your name, Umbogo, and alssso the fact the you are a successsslesss hunter” The Snake continued “If you kill me, you will have food tonight but if lisssten to what I have to sssay, if you come back with me to the Sssnake village, I will give you gifts that will make you the the most successful hunter that there has ever been in Africa.”
Umbogo thought for a while. What was he to do? Should he listen to the snake or should he follow his hunters instinct and kill the animal right there and then so he and his family could feast. But then again, this was a big snake and he would need all his might to carry it back to the village and he may even need to ask for help which meant that he would need to share his kill with others
TO AUDIENCE – what would YOU do if you were Umbogo?
After scratching his head for a while, Umbogo goes back to the snake and says:
“OK, I will come with you back to your Snake village to collect my gifts as you promised, but you better not be having me on for then I will surely kill you, whether you are a magical snake or not and then I will feast tonight with my family”
“Agreed!” Hissed the snake.
Umbogo opened the trap and noticed the beautiful jewel-like quality of the patterning on the snake’s skin as the serpent slithered out and recognised it as a Royal Python, the kind of snake that stories told could eat an entire elephant at once.
The two of them set off towards the snake village that lay in the part of the jungle where Umbogo had never been. Soon they arrived at snake village. Tongues flickered out from mud holes everywhere and hissing filled Umbogo’s ears.
TO AUDIENCE – have you ever been in a snake village? Do you know what lives in a snake village?
“Don’t worry, said the Magical Python to Umbogo “stay here and I will bring you your gifts shortly”
The python slithered off up a dusty trail leaving Umbogo feeling very exposed and scared in the middle of Snake Village. ”Maybe I’ve made a beeg mistake!” he thought to himself “Maybe these snakes are going to have me for their supper?” “Maybe the magical snake is himself a hunter?”.
And while Umbogo was having these thoughts, he experienced a surge of relief as he saw the Magical Python slithering up towards him bringing two large Ukhamba or gourds that he placed at Umbogos feet.
“The first ukhamba has a sssspecial magic” said the Magical Python Snake. When you throw it on the ground at your home, everything that you have always wanted will suddenly appear and you will be the richest man in the village.
“The second ukhamba has a sssspecial magic” hissed the Magical Python Snake. “When you hold it to your ear, you will be able to understand the language of all of the animals and with this gift, you will be the best hunter that Africa has ever seen.”
With shivering hands, Umbogo took the two Ukhamba and left the village as fast as his feet would take him, never stopping once until he reached the outskirts of his own village. And there, hi held up the first Ukhamba and smashed it down onto the ground as hard as it was possible to smash it. There was a roll of thunder, a flash of lightning and suddenly, everything was transformed for there in front of Umbogo was everything he had always wanted. The big black BMW. An array of satellite dishes on his mansion. Women working in the fields. All His! He was indeed the richest man in the village as the Magical Python Snake had promised!
And then Umbogo took the second Ukhamba and placed it to his hear and pointed it at some monkeys in the tree. Hi was filled with amazement when he could understand their chattering! He pointed it at some birds above and could also clearly understand what they were talking about.
The moon made many cycles and Umbogo used his gift to become the best hunter anyone in the village had known. The townspeople didn’t anymore say “here comes Umbogo the successless hunter” but rather they gaped enviously at his spoils and wondered how it was that Umbogo’s luck had transformed so completely. Success had transformed him, and while he was always successful when he went hunting, he had begun to hunt less often and the nightly feastings and luxuries of life had given Umbogo a large tummy that made it difficult to go deep into the jungle. So he would often merely listen to the discussions of the animals via his Ukhamba and direct his men to go to the good hunting spots.
And one afternoon, when Umbogo was lying in front of his Satellite TV channel flipping through the channels, he suddenly noticed that his favourite hunting dog was having a conversation with a Mangy Dog in the yard outside. Umbogo had never seen the Mangy Dog before and was curious so he placed the Ukhumba to his ear and heard the Mangy dog say the following: “I see bad things happening in this village because before the moon completes her cycle, a great flood will come and wash away the stores of food!”
Umbogo had great respect for the Ukhamba – it had never let him down before and so he leapt up from the couch and called all his workers and sons together. And told them: “Today we will move all of the sorghum we have away from the stores up to the mountain where you will build a new store for the crop. You will stay at the store for news from me of when you can come back down to the village!”
And soon that which the Mangy Dog had foretold had come to pass – a great flood broke the banks of the river and washed away the sorghum stores. And when Umbogo’s men returned from the mountain with his sorghum, and Umbogo was richer than he had been before.
And then it happened again one afternooon, when Umbogo was lying in front of his Satellite TV channel flipping through the channels, he again noticed that his favourite hunting dog was having a conversation with the Mangy Dog in the yard outside. Umbogo placed the Ukhumba to his ear and heard the Mangy dog say: “I see bad things happening in this village because before the moon completes her cycle, a great sickness will come and kill many of the cows!”
Umbogo leapt up from the couch and called all his workers and sons together. And told them: “Today we will move all the cows up to the mountain where you will stay for news from me of when you can come back down to the village!”
And soon that which the Mangy Dog had foretold had come to pass – a great sickness came and took all the young cows. And so, when when Umbogo’s men returned from the mountain with his cows, he was richer than he had been before.
And then it happened again one afternoon, when Umbogo was lying in front of his Satellite TV channel flipping through the channels, he suddenly noticed that his favourite hunting dog was having a conversation with the Mangy Dog in the yard outside. Umbogo placed the Ukhumba to his ear and heard the Mangy dog say: “I see bad things happening in this village because by midday tomorrow, your master Umbogo is going to die….”
TO AUDIENCE : What does Umbogo do next having found out that he only has a few hours to live? Does he tell anyone? Does he give his gifts onto anyone? How will the villages feel about knowing the truth of this story? What could Umbogo’s legacy be?
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