A Marriage in The Sky

Once upon a time there was a group of people who lived in the Sky. The chief of that kingdom had a beautiful daughter whom he was very proud of. Every year the chief and his daughter came down to visit their relatives who lived on earth.

During one such visit, the cunning hare saw the chief’s beautiful daughter and fell in love with her. He asked the chief for his daughter’s hand in marriage, to which the chief agreed. Hare also known by the name Othin whose translation was ‘tiny and mischievous’, knew that producing all the gifts needed for the bride price was not a problem.

The problem was that he had to go to the sky, to meet the bride’s mother and the rest of the family, who also had to approve of the marriage. The custom required that if they did not like Othin, the marriage could not take place in spite of her father’s consent. It was therefore arranged for Othin to travel to the sky to visit the chief’s people and seek their consent to marry the chief’s daughter.

The journey to the sky which could be long and lonely required companionship, so Othin took some of his friends with him; the elephant, the rhino, the lioness and her cubs, the leopard, the hyena and the spider whose web was used to pull others to the sky. The journey which included spending several nights in the caves on the mountain, took five days. When they finally arrived they were very tired, but excited for reaching the sky!

The chief and a big gathering of his people met the visitors outside his home. Mother and daughter were among them. Othin could not hide his joy at the sight of his bride-to-be. The visitors were led into a special house where they would stay. But Othin was warned that before he could receive the approval of the family to marry the beautiful girl, he would be put through a test by the chief. After passing the test, a big party for Othin and his party would follow to crown the visit.

Othin listened carefully while the chief told them what the test was going to be. First they were told that any food brought to Othin and his group, in the name of visitors, would be eaten by Othin’s friends only. Othin was not to touch it. For him to eat together with his friends, food would have to be bought for both the visitors and the son-in-law. The procedure was that whoever brought the food would announce for whom it was intended.

For the first three days, food was brought for the ‘visitors’ and the ‘son-in-law’. Everybody ate and drunk happily to their fill. They were entertained by young attractive sky girls who wore rainbow-coloured skirts. Enchanted and excited, the visitors and the groom exhibited joy.

After this the order of events suddenly changed; food came for the son-in-law only. So Othin ate all the food for two consecutive days while his friends went without food and drink. They began to complain as hunger pangs bit them.

‘Rrrr...’ roared the lioness. ‘My cubs are starving. I shall have to return to the plains if we are not given food by sunrise.’

Fortunately, the following day, food came for ‘visitors’ only. In their gladness they forgot the three days of starvation. They ate and drunk till all they could do was to lay down in the shade to rest. Meanwhile, Othin had to endure this deprivation for five days. He began to suspect that the chief’s plan was to starve him to death, and so, technically deny Othin the opportunity of marrying the chief’s daughter.

On the fifth night, Othin felt very hungry and tired. That night, while his friends slept, he crept into the chief’s fold and killed the fattest ram. He ate everything and left only the bones. Before he went to bed, he carefully cleaned his hands and mouth on the back and face of the hyena, who was then fast asleep and snoring. He also made sure there was blood on the claws and paws of hyena.

Next morning when the chief discovered one of his rams had been killed, he called the whole village and immediately summoned the best witch-doctor around. He would do all in his power to find the guilty person who had killed and eaten his prize ram.

After some time the witch-doctor made his findings known. His medicine had assured him the ram had been killed and eaten by none other than Othin! All eyes turned on Othin who, for a moment, did not know what to do. He vehemently denied that he ever killed and ate the chief’s ram. He had been fast asleep and, couldn’t they see how thin and weak he was after five days of starvation! There was silence. The chief liked Othin and wanted him to marry his daughter, and so, he convinced the witch-doctor that Othin was innocent.

Finally he ordered an examination of everyone in the village. The examination was to be thorough and every part of the body was to be minutely examined. Soon they found clue which led to a new culprit.

Blood was found on the hyena and he was arrested at once. According to the law of the sky, a trial would follow immediately and if found guilty punishment was a drop from the sky to the earth below. The trial which took one whole day, found the hyena guilty. He had no right of appeal since he was not a member of the chiefdom.

By his cunning, and cruelty to hyena, Othin had survived the chief’s test and he was allowed to marry the chief’s daughter. An elaborate party followed the marriage at the chief’s home. The following day, Othin, his bride, the rest of his entourage to the sky, returned to earth.

Everyone wondered what had happened to hyena. After his cruel treatment in the hands of Othin, he felt hurt, and as a result, became an ugly cynical animal. In the present day, he seems to run crookedly and can neither lift his head nor neck up.

Embarrassed after his fall, he ran to the bush where he has remained ever since. Screaming and laughing hideously, he comes out only at night to tell the world that he did not kill the ram in the sky.

But since that betrayal, he has learnt to hunt for animals such as rams and goats, to kill and feed on.