Somali Short Stories Series: The Lion And The Three Oxen

Once upon a time there were three oxen in the forests of Somalia. One of them was white, one was black and one was red. Whenever there was an enemy, they used to defend themselves as a group and the word "unity" was a very important phrase for those three oxen. Those three oxen used to see everyday weaker animals being preyed on by beasts. This taught them a great lesson that no matter what, they had to defend themselves as a group and see every enemy with the same eyes.

After many successful years where the three oxen lived with freedom and the sweetness of sovereignty, there was a lapse in their commitment to their unity; there was a weak, thin lion who immigrated from a very far away land where hunger and draught killed most of the animals there; the three oxen welcomed the weak lion with open arms with the condition that if he tried anything stupid against them, they had to kill him with their sharp horns.

After many months, the lion gained much of his strength by hunting elsewhere, but couldn't do anything to the oxen as long as they remained allied with one another. So, the lion resorted to deception turning the oxen against each other; the lion divided the three oxen into individuals; first he singled out the white ox, then the black ox and finally it was the time to eat the red one. Before tearing his meat into pieces, the lion asked the red ox if he had any last words. The red ox said, "why are you eating me today because I have been your friend and I went against my old friends for the sake of you, why?' "When you accepted me to eat your friends, that was when you accepted me to eat you..." the lion laughed.

Lessons To Be Learned

Being united against potential enemies is very important.