NO WATER, NO WEDDING

 The Legend of Kurmi

Once upon a time, there was a little village in northern Nigeria. This was before the white men touched our soil, and there was no democracy, no states, no elections, and yes, no delegates of the kind you now know.

The village was a prosperous one, by their standards. It was bounded by a thick forest to the north and west, and endless land to the east and south. They had a lot of land, and on their land, they farmed. There was a stream which fed from a river only a few people had ever seen. The stream never ran dry and this helped the village record steady harvests annually. This was so for years until one night, when it rained and rained into the following night. That changed everything.

The villagers who never had any reason to store a lot of food because their harvest never failed were in for a surprise. They came out two days after the rain started and their tender crops were uprooted by the flood the rain had caused. Apart from that, the people noticed that as the days went by, the water level of the stream was going down, lower than it had ever been. Two weeks later, their water source had dried up.

This was an unforeseen disaster, and they didn’t know what to do. They had no wells, no taps, or boreholes, what could they do? A lot of people explored eastward and southward, hoping to find another stream, but all they saw was dry land. Food supply was running low, and without water, and no rain, they couldn’t plant.

The once generous people began to look out for themselves only. Families no longer invited their neighbours over for meals, and mothers began to ration food portions with extreme caution.

In this village lived Kurmi, a young man who got engaged to the beautiful Halita just the week before the unfortunate rain. He was to get married four months after the engagement, according to their custom, but there couldn’t be a wedding without a feast, and there couldn’t be a feast without food. Kurmi was affected just like the other villagers and not wanting to delay his wedding any longer, he made up his mind to find a solution. He was part of the team that failed to get any water down south, and returned disappointed.

He kept thinking of a way out until it hit him; no one had explored the forest that had remained evergreen while their crops died. As a matter of fact, people hardly entered the forest at all. It was believed that people who were buried there would remain as spirits and they were not friendly to humans. Kurmi decided to go to this land of the spirits, and find out how their trees had stayed watered.

When he informed other youths of his plan, they thought he was joking. Seeing that he truly meant what he said, they prevailed on him to think properly and not make Halita a widow before she got married. Halita also heard about his plan and asked him to stay, she would rather they died from hunger together than lose him first. Kurmi’s mind was made up. Only four youths decided to go with him, two friends of his and their younger brothers.

They made their plans and when the day came, they left, after gathering their things. The sun had not risen and Kurmi refused to say goodbye to Halita. They ventured into the forest before the first cock crow. Their adventure seemed to be going on fine until night fell. The night air was filled with sounds they had never heard before and how eerie it was. They were terrified and one of them insisted he couldn’t continue the adventure any more. He was asked to change his mind but he refused, saying he could not die and join the forest spirits.

Daybreak eventually came and the deserting member tried to return but couldn’t find his way back. He was lost! Reluctantly, he returned to the crew and they realised they were also lost. They tried to find a way back or forward but it all looked the same. They cursed Kurmi for bringing the on ythos trip, and Kurmi blamed himself. Fortunately for them, there were a few fruit trees in the forest and they didn’t starve.

They were like this for days until a friend of Kurmi remembered something; the stream flowed from the forest, if they could find the stream channel, they could find their way home, and so their search took a new focus. They eventually found the channel and started heading home, or so they thought.

It was after three days they realised they were heading in the wrong direction. They weren’t heading towards the village, they were heading away from it, but they also realised that they were hearing a familiar sound; the sound of rushing water! They dashed towards the source of the sound and found what had caused the problem all along: the flood caused by the rain has uprooted large trees that fell and blocked the water channel, thus preventing the flow of water.

Imagine their joy. They rejoiced and thanked their stars and their ancestors for their fortune. They drank, swam, and did all tgey could with the water before they set about to clearing the trees that blocked the channel. The trees were huge, but these men were not to be deterred. They used a day to clear the trees and finally succeeded, water flowing all the way to their home, they were sure.

They started the journey back home with renewed vigour, even having the time to explore the forest and pick up seeds, fruits and shoots of plants they found rather curious. They arrived home after two days, and how delighted the village was, having thought they had died in the forest. Halita was beside herself to see her darling after she had started to mourn his death already. She said the water had mysteriously returned two days ago and that they just worried the village for nothing.

After the heroes had rested, they told the village their story, and that was when the people realised where the water had mysteriously returned from. They celebrated the heroes, and for the first time ever, Kurmi was installed as their chief, and the rest of his team were made his advisors. The following year, he had a splendid wedding ceremony with his lovely bride, and the entire village lived happily ever after.