Mama Baboons Kindness is Punished by Death
Mama Baboons kindness is punished by death African folklore teaches us kind-heartedness should be accepted and rewarded, not punished by death.
Mama Baboons’ Kindness is Punished by Death
Once
there was in a town a baby whose body was covered with a very troublesome and
unsightly skin disease. The father and mother of this child had no choice but
to work very hard on the neighboring rice farm, and owing to the condition of
the little one's body the mother could not strap the baby upon her back, as is
the usual custom, and take it with her to the field. She had to leave it in the
hut uncared for and alone.
When
all the people of the town had gone to their farms, a baboon who lived with a
family of baboons in the nearby bush came into the town and soon found the suffering
baby. It took the child in its arms and carried it to the creek, where it bathed
its wounds and anointed them with medicine made from roots and herbs. This was
done with tender care.
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| Kindness African folklore |
The
baby was then taken back to the hut where its mother had left it, and this
performance was repeated for several days.
The
mother, returning from the farm and finding that her sick baby had been well
cared for, was surprised, and as this kind treatment continued day after day, she
resolved to hide herself and watch for the kind nurse.
She
had not long to wait, for as soon as the people had left the town
and
the baby was alone, the baboon came, took the baby in her arms, and cared for
it as she had been doing. The next morning the father of the child watched for
the baboon; she soon appeared and, emerging from the bush, made a direct line
for the hut.
The
father was terrified and, as soon as the animal was near enough, shot the poor
thing, painfully wounding her.
The
baboon dragged its bleeding and mangled body with difficulty into the bush and
there uttered loud and pitiful cries which told of its pain. This soon brought
her mate and companions near.
They
were angry as they saw how her kindness had been rewarded. The baboons gathered
in large numbers, determined to avenge the wrong inflicted upon their innocent
and suffering companion. They armed themselves with guns, made war upon the town,
driving all the people away, and it was never again inhabited.