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Early one morning, a handsome young man came into the village. He wore a long, stripped robe. He walked round the village and the only person he spoke to once was a toothless, wrinkled and dumbed old woman who sold kola nuts. He told her his name was Tiga. All the maidens who saw this quiet, handsome and strong-looking man were impressed by his qualities. They wished that he would marry them. The young man did not say anything to any of them and I the evening, he walked away into the forest.
Seven weeks later, the young man came again and went round the village without speaking to anyone. He returned to the village after another seven weeks. By the time he had come to the village seven times, one of the beautiful maidens called Amope admired him so much that she followed him into the forest when it was evening. Amope, who was an orphan and had been very lonely thought it was an opportunity to have a companion.
The young man looked back, saw her and begged her to go back to the village. Amope refused and said, “I shall never leave you. I must be your wife”. The young man told her that she would regret her action if she refused to turn back. The man begged her two more times to return to her home but she gave the same reply.
They kept going into the deep forest. Suddenly, the man got to a mighty tree and stopped. Under the tree was a tiger’s fur. The young handsome man picked it up and began to sing a sorrowful song. In the song, he said although he was allowed to mix with people every seven weeks, he was a tiger. He also sang that as soon as he put on the tiger’s fur, he would tear Amope into pieces. He flung himself on the ground and changed into a tiger.
Amope turned back and ran as fast as she could. The tiger ran after her. She began to call on her dead parents to save her from the tiger. Suddenly, two ghost appeared and were running between her and the tiger. The tiger got confused and this enabled Amope to run safely into the village. She narrated her sad and bitter experience to other maidens in the village. From that day, the maidens became careful about running after strange handsome young men.
QUESTIONS:
Whom did the strange man speak to in the village and how many times did he speak to the person?
What was the strange man’s name?
How many times did he come to the village before one of the maidens followed him?
What was the maiden’s name?
What did man tell her? What was her reply?
What did he pick up in the forest?
What type of song did he sing?
How often was he allowed to mix with human beings?
Was the man a human being?
What did he say he would do to Amope?
Who helped Amope to escape from the tiger?
What lesson does the story teach you?