“You can't be in our midst, you fool”, the head of the village quarter said while others laughed at Samad.
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Samad has been a man who always does things that are funny and also does things that can make people look at him as a fool.
“Just look at you, playing with children from one house to the other while your mates are out there looking for daily bread”, his dad was angry and his anger kept increasing when he saw his son playing around with kids.
“I have said all I could say and yet, Samad’s character kept increasing from worse to the worse part of worsening”, his mum replied as he watched her son doing what other kids are doing. Most of the time, he stayed at home repairing people's collapsed chairs.
Samad always stays outside his compound very late and comes back to bed in the middle of the night. The only thing he's fond of, is his tactics of laughing. His laugh can tell who he really is. The way they saw him defined his nature, “fool”.
One day, the quarter head took a stroll to the Town Hall just to relax after a long day of farming. When he got there, he relaxed his head. His eyes suddenly gazed at the position they always dropped the sacred gong. He wiped his face first just to be sure of what his eyes were seeing. “Is my seeing double, or is something wrong with me?” He asked himself openly. He walked closer and saw that the sacred gong was missing.
“Abomination”, he said as he ran out, forgetting his relaxation mood. He ran shouting as everyone gathered in the Town Hall. That day the elders were left to deliberate on the way out as this is a way of saying the quarter was going to experience hardship for a while until the gong is seen.
They began to accuse a man who had been seen as a thief for a while, although had stopped his stealing habits. Some said “he could be the one”, while some were still arguing that he may not be the one. The quarter became scattered talk going on from one end of the quarter to the other end.
Mr Tony was now a changed man and has desisted from his old way. When this talk came up, everyone was pointing their fingers on him. He was now the talk of the town. The words lingered in his ears through the air, but then he kept mute since no one had called him to ask.
Two days later, Mr Tony was summoned to the quarter Town Hall. He was asked “you know how precious this sacred gong is to this quarter. Every quarter has their sacred gong and must always be kept in the quarters Town Hall just like ours”, Mr Tony was just listening because he knew those talking were fools.
“We just wanted to ask, if you see someone taking it”, he kept mute since the best answer to fools like the quarters heads was just the silent.
“Are you now the one we are asking?” One of them said in a loud voice. Mr Tony stood up and left the meeting. It was assumed that he was the one who took the sacred gong. While leaving, he saw Samad approaching, since everyone had taken him and his words as fools, Mr Tony ignored him, but Samad said “good morning Sir”, Mr Tony looked at him and shook his head showing a sign of not wanting to listen to a fool.
“The sacred gong they accused you of is not stolen”, Mr Tony paused and turned back. “What did you say?” He asked again.
“Just follow me to the hall and you will hear what I have to say”, Mr Tony could not wait a moment before following him.
Everyone was about to leave but Samad told them to wait. “Who are you that can command us to wait?” One of them said,
“Just look at this fool telling us to wait. What do you have to say?” Another one asked.
“The sacred gong is not missing”, he said.
“What did you say?” They were shocked to hear him say those words.
“It's in its right position and right here”, they thought Samad had gone mad and his level of foolishness had turned to madness.
They all laughed. “You are laughing at your downfall and the downfall of the quarter”, they seized and listened keenly.
“The gods are not happy”, they all looked at him. “When did you turn into a seer?” They asked as they all laughed. Two men thought to themselves as they were pondering on Samad's words.
“My people, let's listen to him until he's done”, one of the men said.
“Buy 7 tubers of yam, seven bunches of plantain, palm oil and seven pieces of fish to appease the gods”, he said.
Some believed and did as he asked just to be sure of what he had said. While performing the rituals, the gong was invisible, but as the ritual was ongoing, they were surprised to see the sacred gong lying low in its usual position.
“No one must dare call you a fool henceforth. You are our Savior”, the quarter head said.
From that moment, Samad is seen as a respected being.
