The Magic Drum
ORIGINAL TITLE: Igba nri na ọfe
AUTHOR: Based on a Nigerian/African folk story, edited and adapted to a contemporary context by Arinze Prosper Emegoakor.
ILLUSTRATIONS: Amalia Alvarez
Long long time ago in the Kingdom of Obodo Oma lived a king called Oranwezue. He was loved by his family and the entire kingdom.
The whole village would gather at his palace every night to wine and dine. When it was time to eat, the men of the kingdom would spread white clean cloth on the ground. The King would politely ask a child from the crowd to play the magic drum.
The lucky child would play on the drum.. Dum dum dum…. With each stroke on the drum comes, fruits, drinks out from the drum.
After they have all eaten and are satisfied, they would sing praises to the king and thank him for the meal. They did the same the next night and night after that.
Everyone loved and praised the king for his kindness and generosity except Mr Tortoise. Mr Tortoise became very jealous of the king. "If only I could get the drum, I will be respected and worshipped in the kingdom of Obodo Oma", thought Mr Tortoise. He smiled and said to himself. "Now I know exactly what to do!"
Mr Tortoise knew that the queen usually went out every morning to run in the park. So he decided to set a trap for the queen. He dug a very long tunnel from the park to the forest. When he was done he covered the hole with leaves.
