Somali Short Stories

[SOMACOON]

Egal Shiidaad And The Camel

Egal Shiidaad was a long-standing character in Somali storytelling and fables. It is usually said that Egal lived in Somali-inhabited Horn of Africa about a few hundred years ago. One of distinctive traits of his character coined by his herdsmen peers was that he was a coward, which showed in many instances of his life that he was more a wise man than a sheer coward.
Egal lived among a nomadic society, which depended on livestock for livelihood. Egal owned a share of about a few hundred camels. The other shareholders were three men who used to make fun of Egal whenever it was his turn to take the camels for grazing.
One day, Egal took the camels for grazing but the herd drifted all day that it was impossible for Egal to bring it back before it was sunset and meat eating beasts were active for hunting. Egal lost his favorite she-camel to a lion and brought the rest home three hours after sunset. His friends (other three men) were curious about what happened to Egal and Egal didn’t tell them that he lost one camel to a lion; his friends teased him so mercilessly to the extent that Egal decided to go to bed without reacting to any of their teasing game. “Nowadays Egal doesn’t know even how to find his way through the forest and he is afraid of flies, let alone the king of the jungle”, one of them laughed heavily.

It was time to milk the camels and the men were ready to call the name of Egal’s favorite she-camel. “Star, star,” they yelled holding the baby camel for Star (the she-camel) to make Star visible among the rest of the camels in this full and crowded camp. The three men kept calling Star all night but Star was nowhere; Egal was listening to all this while faking sleep. Finally, Egal said, “please don’t tantalize the baby camel for drinking milk; her mother has been eaten by a lion”. “Once you are dead, you never come back to life no matter how many times they call your name!” Egal laughed out loud. His three friends who used to tease him mercilessly were the laughing-stock this time!

Lessons to be learned

Don’t belittle anyone; they might have a superior IQ and can use it to your disadvantage!

 

[SOMACOON]

The Lion And The Three Oxen


Once upon a time there were three oxen in the forests of Somalia. One of them was white, one was black and one was red. Whenever there was an enemy, they used to defend themselves as a group and the word "unity" was a very important phrase for those three oxen. Those three oxen used to see everyday weaker animals being preyed on by beasts. This taught them a great lesson that no matter what, they had to defend themselves as a group and see every enemy with the same eyes.
After many successful years where the three oxen lived with freedom and the sweetness of sovereignty, there was a lapse in their commitment to their unity; there was a weak, thin lion who emigrated from a very far away land where hunger and draught killed most of the animals there; the three oxen welcomed the weak lion with open arms with the condition that if he tried anything stupid against them, they had to kill him with their sharp horns.
After many months, the lion gained much of his strength by hunting elsewhere, but couldn't do anything to the oxen as long as they remained allied with one another. So, the lion resorted to deception turning the oxen against each other; the lion divided the three oxen into individuals; first he singled out the white ox, then the black ox and finally it was the time to eat the red one. Before tearing his meat into pieces, the lion asked the red ox if he had any last words. The red ox said, "why are you eating me today because I have been your friend and I went against my old friends for the sake of you, why?' "When you accepted me to eat your friends, that was when you accepted me to eat you..." the lion laughed.

 

[SOMACOON]

The Lion And The Meat

Once upon a time there was a long drought in Somalia and the beasts in the jungle were starving to death. After many technical meetings chaired by the king of the jungle, the lion, the last meeting on how to survive the drought were held at the palace of the king of the jungle, Mr. Lion. In the meeting, it was agreed that whenever there is hunting, it should be done in accordance to the whim of Mr. Lion; it was dictated in the meeting by Mr. Lion that how to share the meat of the killed will be determined by Mr. Lion himself and anyone who oppose it will be punished under the strict laws of Mr. Lion's court.

One day, the day came when there was a kill after a very long days of no food. The one who made the kill was Mr. Haynes who was for many instances angry at the dictatorship of Mr. Lion. Well, Mr. Lion called for a big meeting to decide how to share the meat among the hungry beasts. Mr. Lion talked too much and finally said with fearful eyes, "I need somebody to honestly distribute the meat among the starving beasts". Everyone was silent and afraid if they chose to take the task, Mr. Lion will see it as unfair and punish them. Then Mr. Lion who knew Miss Fox was good at chores like this said, "Fox will do the meat distribution, do you agree with me?", "Yes, sir", everyone rushed with fear. Miss Fox slowly moved towards the meat and started this conversation with Mr Lion agreeing with every word she said:

Miss Fox: Divide it by two

Mr Lion: (roaring) Yeah...

Miss fox: Half goes to Mr Lion

(The rest of the beasts looked angry but hopeless)

Miss Fox: Divide it by two

Mr. Lion: (Still roaring) Yeah...

Miss Fox: Half goes to Mr lion

The fox kept the same pattern till all the meat went to Mr Lion and one small bite was left.

Miss Fox: This is very small bite and goes to Miss Fox!

The rest of the beasts walked away hungry and angry and after the end of the drought, rebelled against the regime of Mr Lion and toppled it.