Once upon a time, there lived a nice king, Gbadegesin in an ancient town called, Sebootimo. King Gbadegesin's reign was highly peaceful, and he was loved by every inhabitant of the town.
The king had two male children, Adeoye and Fadesola. The former is the elder while the latter is the younger. Fadesola was a replica of his father attitudinally, but Adeoye was terribly arrogant and wayward.
The king was very aged and battling with some illnesses. All the herbalists in the town have tried their best but their efforts were to no avail. One day, the king summoned his chiefs for an emergency meeting and they responded appropriately.
"Thank you very much elders of our great town for attending this unusual and impromptu meeting", the king appreciated.
"You are welcome, Your Highness", they said in unison.
"The reason why I invited you here is because of my two sons, Adeoye and Fadesola", he continued.
"What about them, I hope they are fine?" Otunba inquired.
"Yes, they are", Gbadegesin responded. "I just want to tell you that this throne must not be automatic for Adeoye after my demise, but you must conduct a test for the two of them, and whoever performs better should be my successor".
"But, kabiyesi, the normal practice is that, the eldest son of a late king would succeed him", Iyalode reminded.
"That is how I want it", the ailing king finalized, stood up gently and started leaving the meeting venue.
"Kaaaabiyesi oooo", the chiefs prostrated and hailed.
Six weeks later, Gbadegesin gave up the ghost. Since it's the tradition of the town never to leave the throne vacant for more than seven days, they commenced the process of installing a new king immediately. The two princes were sent to the evil shrine of the town to go and bring the ancient calabash, that whoever enters the shrine and brings the calabash would be the next king.
The shrine was a journey of four days to and fro, and it could only accommodate one person at a time. So, the two princes couldn't enter the shrine at a time, but only one person would enter and take the calabash.
They started their journey as expected, but on the second day, Adeoye said he was no longer going. Fadesola pleaded with him to continue but he remained adamant. He returned to the town and sneaked into his friend's house late in the night and hide there.
Fadesola got to the shrine, carried the ancient calabash and started returning home. Adeoye knew he would get to the town very early on the fourth day, so he went to hide at the boundary of the town. His friend, Banjoko followed him too. Expectedly, on the fourth day before the breaking of the day, Fadesola showed up. The two wicked friends gripped him from behind and twisted his neck. The innocent boy fell down lifelessly. They injured some parts of his body so that people would think he was killed by a dangerous animal. Adeoye collected the calabash and hurriedly took it to the palace.
He later sent for the chiefs, and when they asked of his brother, he said he was killed by a wild animal when they were about entering the town. The chiefs sympathised with the royal family, and proceeded with the coronation. Adeoye was later crowned as the new king.
On the third day when King Adeoye was holding a meeting with his chiefs, Fadesola and one old man suddenly surfaced. The king and chiefs were very shocked. Some of them were even shouting, 'ghost', 'ghost', but Fadesola told them to calm down, that he was not a ghost. He thereafter narrated his story, how his brother and his friend thought they had killed him, and how he was rescued by an old man who was a hunter from a neighbouring town. The old man who came along with him testified too.
"Yes, Fadesola was right. He was only lucky that I was at the scene at that exact time, it would have been a different story today", said the old hunter.
"Haaaa!!!!" All the chiefs exclaimed at once.
"Now that you have committed this terrible crime, it's very glaring that you are not worthy to lead us in this town, because we cannot afford to have a killer as king", said Otunba.
"Yes, Otunba has spoken well," Balogun supported.
Some minutes later, Afobaje moved closer to the helpless king, removed his crown and beads. They thereafter unanimously instructed him to leave the town immediately and never return there again. But Fadesola pleaded on his behalf, they forgave him and allowed him to continue living his normal life in the town.
Three days later, Fadesola was installed as the new king. Every inhabitant of the town was exceedingly happy.
Second day after crowning his brother, Adeolu could no longer bear the shame. He intentionally ate a poison, and died.
THAT'S THE END OF A WICKED PRINCE/KING
MORAL LESSONS:
1. We should not be too desperate in seeking position of power.
2. Humility is a great virtue.
3. Arrogance and waywardness are killers of destiny.
4. Nothing is ever hidden under the sun, it's just a matter of time.
5. No matter your status, it's good to be nice to everyone. Because whatever you do, will return to you one day.
Story written by Odunayo Ogunmodede
isaacodunayo35@gmail.com, 07033504020
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