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Once upon a time, in the small and prosperous animal kingdom of Ocha, there lived a King of all animals, the Lion, whom all the animals called King Obala. The animals of Ocha Kingdom had chosen the Lion, King Obala, as their King because he was strong and mighty, and the sight of him could make enemies tremble.
King Obala was a good king who loved his people. If the Kingdom of Ocha were in trouble, King Obala would be the first to defend his kingdom and his people. He did his best to ensure that everyone was always safe and never allowed any small animals to be bullied.
Since Ocha Kingdom was small, all the elephants were forced to move to a faraway land because they could not cohabit with the other small animals. This was because the elephants were too big, and each time they moved as a group, they caused the land to shake, thereby destroying farmlands and houses.
Aside from being a protective and caring King, King Obala was a happy King who loved kids. In fact, he was popularly known as the children’s King because anytime a child followed his or her parents to the King’s Palace or the King spotted a child while walking around the kingdom, he would stop and play with the child for hours, not minding if he was a King. No animal in Ocha Kingdom could understand King Obala’s soft spot for children.
As a father of one beautiful daughter, King Obala had always looked forward to when his daughter, Princess Dana, would get married so she could give him many grandchildren to play with. But as Princess Dana grew older and refused to marry, King Obala grew worried.
One day, when the King noticed his daughter had rejected two handsome suitors who had asked for her hand in marriage, he called her to his Palace.
“My beautiful daughter,” King Obala called his daughter, who was sitting before him.
“Yes, Papa,” the Princess answered.
“What is the problem, my beautiful daughter? why have you refused to marry one of the two handsome men who came to ask for your hand in marriage?” King Obala asked in a concerned voice.
“Nothing, Papa. I just do not like them; maybe if more suitors keep coming, I will choose the man I like,” Princess Dana said.
” You better do that because I am not getting any younger, and I want to carry and play with my grandchildren before I die,” King Obala said.
“Don’t worry, Papa. You will live long enough to see them grow,” Princess Dana assured her father, and he believed her.
After King Obala’s discussion with Princess Dana, King Obala expected that his daughter would pick a suitor in the following weeks, but that never happened.
Whenever a suitor came to ask for the Princess’s hand in marriage, she would turn him down. When months passed and Princess Dana had still not chosen a suitor despite the numerous men that trooped in and out of the Palace, King Obala became even more worried.
He tried to talk to his wife, the Princess’s mother and told her to convince the Princess to choose a husband, but his wife told him to give Princess Dana some more time so she wouldn’t be pressured into marrying the wrong person.
Since King Obala loved Princess Dana so much and didn’t want her to feel under pressure, he gave her two more years, expecting that she would get married within or at the end of the two years, but that didn’t happen either.
When two years passed and King Obala could not take it anymore, he called Princess Dana to his Palace the second time.
“Princess Dana, is there anything you’re not telling me?” King Obala asked in an angry tone.
“No, papa, everything is fine,” Princess Dana said.
“No, everything is not fine,” King Obala growled. If everything is fine, then why are you not married? In the last two years and some months, more than 50 men have come to this Palace to ask for your hand in marriage, and you have rejected them all,” King Obala added.
“Papa, it’s not like I rejected them on purpose. None of the men were strong enough, and as the King’s daughter, I need a strong man who can protect me,” Princess Dana said.
“Why didn’t you say so all this while?” King Obala asked in a relieved tone, ” if you did, I could have gotten many strong men for you to pick from a long time ago,” King Obala said.
“Thank you, papa,” the Princess said.
“Do not worry; I know what to do,” King Obala said before ending his meeting with his daughter.
Two days later, King Obala announced to all the animals in Ocha Kingdom that there would be a fighting competition, and whoever won the competition would marry Princess Dana. When all the men heard this, they were excited because almost everyone wanted to marry Princess Dana. Even some men who had already gone to ask for Princess Diana’s hand in marriage also joined the competition.
Meanwhile, in Ocha Kingdom, there was a tortoise named Imo. Imo was a very shy man, yet he was very smart. Even though Imo had never gone to ask for the Princess’s hand in marriage, he desired to marry the Princess. It wasn’t because he loved the Princess but because he badly wanted the power that came with marrying someone from a royal family.
Because Imo was a small animal, bigger animals often bullied and teased him because of his walking speed. Imo wanted that to end, and he knew that if he married the Princess, every other animal, whether big or small animal would respect him.
So, when Imo heard of the fighting competition, he decided to participate since it was open to all the men in Ocha Kingdom.
The competition lasted for three days, but unfortunately, on the first day, Imo was defeated by his opponent, the giraffe. But aside from losing the fight, something tragic happened to Imo. While fighting with the giraffe, the giraffe picked Imo with its mouth during the fight and threw him out of the fighting ring, which was very far away. When Imo landed, he fell very hard on his back and crashed his shell.
Luckily for Imo, some of his friends who had seen what had happened rushed to him and helped him glue his shell back together. Unfortunately, Imo’s shell never looked the same again because of the broken pieces.
This tragedy made Imo very sad, but it also motivated him to marry the Princess at all costs. Three days after the competition, Zuzu, the Cheetah, won the competition. Somehow, the Cheetah managed to defeat all the strong men in the village, and according to the rules of the competition, the Cheetah would marry Princess Dana.
The next day, King Obala called his daughter, Princess Dana, and he told her that the Cheetah had won and that he would start making preparations for their wedding.
“Papa, I don’t like the Cheetah; he is too fast, and that scares me,” Princess Dana said.
“But you’re the daughter of a lion; why should you be scared of the Cheetah?” King Obala asked.
“I do not like the Cheetah and will not marry him. You can compensate him for winning the competition, but I will not marry the Cheetah,” Princess Dana said.
“What is wrong with you?” King Obala growled angrily.
“First, you told me you wanted a strong man, and now that I have brought a strong man, you’re saying you do not want him?” King Obala yelled.
“I’m sorry, Papa, but I do not like the Cheetah,” Princess Dana said, then she rudely walked out of her father.
When Princess Dana left, King Obala could not stop fuming angrily. He could not believe he had just wasted his time and resources organizing a competition, only for his daughter to reject the winner.
Days later, when King Obala saw that he could not change his daughter’s mind, he apologized to Zuzu, the Cheetah and compensated him handsomely. As soon as King Obala compensated Zuzu the Cheetah, the word spread in the Kingdom that Princess Dana had refused to marry Zuzu the Cheetah, and when Imo heard this, he was pleased.
As for King Obala, after Princess Dana refused to marry Zuzu, the winner of the competition, he called for a meeting with all the chiefs in Ocha Kingdom. That evening, when all the chiefs arrived at the Palace, King Obala summoned Princess Dana to the Palace, too.
“My chiefs and Elders, thank you very much for honouring my invitation,” King Obala said, “I have a problem that has been bothering me for a while now, and I want you all to help me out,” King Obala added.
“Long Live the King,” the chiefs and Elders said in unison.
“My King, we are all ears. Tell us what has been bothering you,” one of the chiefs said.
“It is Princess Dana here,” King Obala pointed to his daughter, “tell her to explain why she has turned down all the handsome suitors that have come to ask for her hand in marriage,” King Obala added.
“Princess Dana, is this true?” One of the elders asked.
“That’s not all. You are all aware of the fighting competition we just concluded some days ago. The Princess told me she wanted to marry a strong man, and I organized that competition to help her pick a husband. But in the end, what did she do? She told me she could not marry the Cheetah because he was too fast,” King Obala said.
“But you’re a daughter of a lion. Why are you threatened by the Cheetah’s speed?” one of the chiefs asked Princess Dana, but she remained quiet.
“Ask her oo. I asked her the same question,” King Obala growled.
“Hmmm! Princess Dana, If you say you do not want the Cheetah because he is too fast, then what do you want?” one of the chiefs asked. ” There must be something you want,” the chief added.
Knowing so well that her father would yell at her if she did not respond to the questions of the chiefs and Elders, Princess Dana answered.
“My King and my elders. It is true that I want something, but I have been afraid to say it because I do not know how my father will react,” Princess Dana said.
“Tell us what it is. You’re a princess, and you have your own needs,” one of the chiefs said.
“It’s not like I never liked any of the suitors who came to ask for my hand in marriage; it’s just that the person who truly wants to marry me must come with an elephant. That is all I need. If any man can come to this Palace with an elephant, then I will not hesitate to marry him,” Princess Dana said.
“But Princess Dana, you know that elephants live on their own land because of their huge size and they are not very friendly with other animals. Do you think any man will be willing to travel that far to get an elephant for you?” one of the chiefs asked in a concerned voice.
“Even though any man can make it through that journey, how will they convince an elephant to come to Ocha Kingdom? That’s nearly impossible,” one of the elders said.
“I know it’s a difficult and almost impossible task, but I am a princess and the heir to my father’s Kingdom, so if any man is willing to marry me, he must do this,” the Princess said.
King Obala knew that what Princess Dana was asking for was very difficult, and there were chances that no one would be successful, but he still ordered the town crier to spread the news within the kingdom. He did this because he was desperate for Princess Dana to marry soon so that she could bear him grandchildren.
The following day, nearly all the men in Ocha Kingdom had heard the criteria for the Princess’s hand in marriage, and despite being a difficult task, a great number of men indicated interest.
When Imo, the tortoise, heard the news, he was drinking palm wine with some of his friends at a bar. Even though he was very interested in going on the difficult journey, he decided to trick his friends into thinking that he wasn’t interested.
“Will any of you be going on that ridiculous journey?” Imo asked the other animals.
“Yes, I will,” the vulture said.
“Yes, I will,” the grasscutter said.
“Are you guys serious? Why would you kill yourselves over a princess you’re not sure will marry you, or have you forgotten what she did to Zuzu the Cheetah?” Imo asked.
“Hmmm, but I think the Princess is serious,” the vulture said, and the grasscutter agreed.
“Even if she were serious, how do you plan on getting to such a long distance?” Imo asked.
“I have strong wings; I will fly,” the vulture said.
“You? Fly? You can barely fly for 10 minutes; how do you plan on flying for almost five days?” Imo laughed. “Even if you succeed, what will you eat on your journey? What If there are no dead animals on your way there? Will you starve to death?” Imo added.
“I can try,” the vulture answered.
“Look, I am your friend, and I will not lie to you; it’s a suicide mission if you go on this journey. It’s better you stay back because it’s one thing to make it to the journey. It’s another to return with an elephant for the Princess,” Imo said, “as for you, grasscutter, you don’t have any business with this journey because even if the Princess marries you, what’s the guarantee that she will not eat you one day when you look so fleshy?” Imo added.
Just like that, Imo convinced his two friends not to go on the journey and discouraged them from marrying the Princess, and they listened to him because they believed he was looking out for them as a good friend. However, none of them knew that Imo had ulterior motives and was only trying to reduce the number of his competitors so he could secretly go on the journey the following day. Also, Imo had devised a plan for how he would travel without any stress and bring back an elephant to Ocha Kingdom.
WATCH OUT FOR PART TWO
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