The hunter and the leopard (2)

The story so far: A hunter had left his young son alone in a cottage in the deep forest and gone hunting. In his absence, a leopard had arrived a the cottage and began to quiz the boy about animals the hunter had killed in the past. Now read on:

Earlier, the leopard had said: “I’ve heard that your father keeps a room in which he has collected the skulls of all the animals he has been able to kill. Is that true?”

“Yes!” the boy had answered.

“Is there a leopard among them?” the leopard had pur­sued.

The boy had paused before answering. For he had realised that a lot would hang on the answer he would give – includ­ing his very life. He thought for a while, giving the leopard the impression that he was trying to recollect what he had seen in the Skull Room. Finally, the boy said: “I may have seen some­thing like that, but the truth is that I don’t know what a leopard’s skull looks like! To be quite sure, I shall ask my father when he comes home tonight. So if you come back tomorrow, I shall have the answer ready by then.”

To test the boy, the leopard had pointed at one of the skulls he himself recognized and asked: “To which animal did this skull once belong?”

The boy answered without wavering: “Oh, I know that one: it is the adowa or duiker. Its human name is Kwadwo Abrefi Adowa…. It was my brave father who slew this duiker!”

“Tweaah! the leopard snig­gered in contempt, “you need bravery to kill a mere duiker?”

“Yes!” answered the boy.

“Well, is there – emm — a tru­ly brave leopard also among his trophies?” the leopard asked, choosing his words with care.

The boy paused. He knew that a lot would hang on the answer he would give – includ­ing his own life. He thought for a while, giving the leopard the impression that he was trying to recollect what he had seen in the Skull Room. Finally, he said: “I may have seen something like that, but the truth is that I don’t know what a leopard’s skull looks like.”

To demonstrate his immense power, the Leopard let out a ferocious roar that reverberated through the forest and made any animal that was nearby sprint away into the safety of the deepest recesses of the forest.

To conciliate the leopard, the boy threw this in: “Maybe you don’t know too much about us humans. The fact is that we re­spect you leopards so much that we give our Paramount Chief the same eulogistic appellation

as we give to leopards – Etwie!“

The leopard smiled, baring his awesome fangs. “I like that Etwie name, yes. But you humans are extremely hypocrit­ical. You can rain nice names on a creature whilst harbouring the most unspeakable thoughts about that self-same creature… Anyway, you want to settle the matter tomorrow? That’s fine. But make sure you don’t tell your father why you want him to show you the skull of a leopard. Otherwise you will die a very painful death!”

The leopard growled when he said this, baring those fierce, yellowed fangs for the second time. He then took his leave.

The boy heaved a sight of relief. Would his father believe him when he told him what had transpired? An adventure, nay, a torrid time, with a real live leopard that had a grouse against mankind – especially a hunter’s son? Who would be­lieve he had been through such an experience and survived to tell the tale?

BY CAMERON DUODU

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