IN THE previous episode, the storyteller ended the story of Mucha, the lion, and Ticha, the zebra, when she noticed that the children were getting quite excited. As all story-tellers do, she wanted to leave them on the edge, wondering whatever happened next to Ticha and his children.

On resuming the tale, the story-teller will probably remind them that in years gone by, long before man lived, Mucha and Ticha used to be great friends – perhaps, the best of friends. Ticha would graze the tall grass of the African Savannah, whilst Mucha hunted his prey. They lived happily with their families and clans.

The great Save Valley ran out of water. The pastures became bare. Only the shadow of Gandamasungo Mountain remained. It stood there, the big mountain, as it had always done for centuries except that presently it had the look of a frustrated farmer who despite having so much land around him had produced very little.

Mucha, the lion and his clan found prey hard to come by. Ticha, the zebra and his clan, found there was little to feed on. Both sets of clans had to travel far and wide in search of food.

In the desolate atmosphere, Mucha became suspicious and paranoid. He began blaming Ticha and his clan for angering the spirits of the land who, he alleged, had responded by refusing to bring the rains.

Mucha, who was King of the land, thought his power was at risk. The relationship strained, hunger refusing to leave, members of Mucha’s clan began to steal Zebra’s clan members. They said they were meat, so why should they suffer?

Feeling powerless and defenceless, Zebra went to see the elders in neighbouring regions. He complained bitterly, calling for mediation between him and his old friend Mucha. But he discovered that the elders were also lions. They only tried to accommodate the two but did not admonish or rebuke Mucha. Ticha left the gathering in no doubt that the elders were on Mucha’s side. They had told him openly that he, a zebra should be grateful he was living side by side with a lion. They simply told Mucha to take it easy because it was becoming embarrassing as the world was watching.

So Ticha had withdrawn. Dejected and miserable at his powerlessness, he wanted to cry. But he saw that his children were watching. So he decided to conceal his misery. Instead, he reassured them that things would eventually be alright. His children saw that he was upset so they decided to show his some support. They were even feeling sorry for him.

He said he had decided to show some mercy and that to live together again as friends he was going to give Ticha and his clan some space in his committee that was running the land. It was called the Committee of Wise Men.

Mucha wasn’t sure but eventually he thought it wasn’t a bad idea. He hoped at close quarters, he could persuade his old friend to change his ways. At least, to protect his clan, he thought.
So Ticha chose some members of his clan and they began to participate in Mucha’s Committee of Wise Men. Making the choices was hard because many around him thought they deserved to be in that committee. It was hard to accommodate everyone, so Ticha said he would ask Mucha for more space in the committee. Mucha refused and said what he had given was more than enough.

The Committee of Wise Men met every week. They were not easy meetings. However, they soon realised that there was a lot of food and drink that was served at those gatherings.

Mucha had reserved some watering holes for his clan. Then there were others exclusively for the Committee of Wise Men and their families. Ticha and his clan members who had joined the committee realised they now also had exclusive rights of access to these watering holes. The grass around these water points was green and juicy. Members of Ticha’s clan in the committee began to feed on these nutritious pastures. They even moved their families closer so they too, could enjoy the privileges.

Feeling that they were now in good books, Ticha asked Mucha if he could have more power in the committee so that he could also extend resources to his fellow clansmen. But Mucha ignored him and said he was lucky to be in the position he had given him. He said he could even take away the privileges that he had extended out of kindness. On hearing this, those around Ticha, the fellow clansmen who had been admitted into the Committee of Wise Men pleaded with him not to upset, Mucha. They said, actually things were better so even though their fellow clansmen were not enjoying similar privileges, they were coping.

Those in the Committee of Wise Men became bigger and fatter. Their stomachs grew larger. It was clear they were living well. When they occasionally visited their clansmen, they told them to be patient. They told them that they were fighting very hard on their behalf. They said that Mucha was very bad and that Mucha’s clansmen were very bad, too and changing their ways requires extreme patience and resilience. They said things would get better. They said so whilst adjusting their stomachs, which were heavy because they were too full.

Some of their clansmen became restless. They were hungry and tired but they were seeing that their clansmen in the Committee of Wise Men were growing bigger. Sometimes, Mucha’s children would come in the dark of the night and steal some of Ticha’s clansmen. When they complained to Ticha, he would raise a storm and complain bitterly for a while but eventually things would die down. “Don’t worry. Things will be alright, soon”, they would be told.

He said to them, “Listen, I’ve been watching from the sidelines. I feel sorry for you, wangu. You know, we are not the best of friends but I hate Mucha and his clan even more. You may not know this but for many years I used to be King of this whole land. Then Mucha and his clan came and they pushed us away. I have got very good land where I live but I don’t like the way he is treating you. You’re one of us. You have rights, too and you must fight. But I know you haven’t got power. So maybe, I can help you”.

Ticha was suspicious at first. He had heard that Pongwe could not be trusted. Pongwe always looked after his own interests and he was surprised that he was coming promising to be so charitable.

Pongwe then said, “Ah, Ticha, you know there is nothing for mahara in this world!” He laughed as he said so. It was the wild hysterical laugh of the hyena that made little creatures around rush into their holes.

Pongwe, the hyena, continued, “It’s a very tough world we live in, old Ticha. So if I help you, then you know, I might also have some little things that I am looking for. My family is getting bigger and the land we live in does not have the things that we want. But we know this land here has some things that we can do with. We know because we used to live here. So if I help you, then maybe you can help me too, let’s just say you can give me a license for these things. What do you say about that?”

He asked his clansmen for their thoughts. He didn’t realise that unknown to him, Pongwe had brought many gifts for his clansmen who sat in the Committee of Wise Men. So when he asked them for advice, they all agreed that Pongwe’s help was needed especially against an adversary like Mucha, who was very powerful. Pongwe was known to be a clever fighter – he and his clansmen hunted in packs and they were so many of them around the world.

“How can you be used by Pongwe?” he asked in public. “Don’t you know Pongwe’s ways?” he asked again. “You want Pongwe to rule this land again?” The questions were many.

Ticha protested. But what he didn’t realise was that while his clansmen who had persuaded him to agree to Pongwe’s proposal had received gifts from Pongwe, some of them were also receiving even more gifts from Mucha’s clansmen. In return, especially when they were drinking together with Mucha’s clansmen, they gave away information. Ticha became exasperated and angry. Who really could he trust in this world? He looked around and found little evidence to cheer him up.

Then, just as the children wait keenly to discover what happened next, the story-teller will tell them to come back the next evening, to hear the next episode. So she will say, ndipo paparera sarungano (the story ends here, for now).

Again, the children will be sad not to get to the end. They will probably spend the rest of the night and the next day thinking about Ticha and wondering what happened to him and his children. What did Pongwe do? Did he really help or make things worse?

They will wonder, before they doze off for the night, if ever this long story will have a happy ending. They will probably have nightmares – so thin is the line between fiction and reality. When they wake up, they will be happy to be alive; happy to realise that they are not Ticha or his children. But they worry, too, that it could be a story without an end … and perhaps that’s why grandma cannot tell them the end. The end, perhaps, does not exist …