Once upon a time, there live a man called Ikenna. He was a best flute player in the town of Ona. Everyone likened to listen to his to him and enjoy his music. The music, they said, made sad people happy and made sick people well.
Wherever there was a big ceremony, there always sent for Ikenna. When he played, people give money and other gift. He became famous and everyone in the neighboring town knew him.
At first Ikenna didn’t think much about his fame and he did not consider himself more important than anyone else. He just enjoyed flute playing. Every morning and evening he took his flute into the forest, sat at the foot of the tree and played for many hours. Sometimes he played outside his house at night when everyone has gone to bed.
After sometime Ikenna became proud. “I am the most famous flute player in the whole country”. He boasted to his wife.
One night when he returned from a neighboring village. He said to his wife, “I shall die in three days’ time”. ‘What!’ cried the wife? ‘Die’? What have my children and I done to you? Do you want to die? Or are you sick? What’s wrong? Did you see wizard on your way back? Did you…….?’
‘Listen woman’, said Ikenna ‘I shall not really die. I shall only pretend to die’.
‘What? I don’t understand’. Said the wife. ‘Have I not been a good wife to you?
‘I want to test how important I am to the king and all the people’ said Ikenna. ‘I am sure this town can do without me’. I want to see if this is true. I shall pretend to be dead. All the people will be unhappy when I am not here to play for them. I am the greatest flute player in the country’.
‘I think it is a foolish idea’. Said the wife. ‘Listen’. Continued Ikenna tomorrow you must go to the king. You will tell him that I’m very ill. Then in three days you will shout and weap and tell everyone that I am dead’.
Ikenna rubbed shea butter on his body and lay near the fire. He pretended to be in great pain. His wife went to the king and told him that her husband is very ill. The king sent money to the family and the neighbor brought food and herbs. On the third morning, his wife and children started to cry. People ran to see what had happened.
‘My husband has died’. Said the poor woman.
The king was very sad when he heard the news. He ordered that Ikenna be giver a chief’s burial. The town mourned for him for two weeks.
In the great confusion during the burial ceremony, his wife replaced the coffin in which he was lying with another one which contained the stump of a banana tree. Ikenna was not buried alive, he went to live by himself in a small hut in the bush. He was very happy to know that everybody was mourning for him.
When the mourning period was over, the king found another flute player. He gave him Ikenna flute. When the people heard about the new flute player, they soon began to say that he was just as good as Ikenna. They praised him and forgot about Ikenna.
Ikenna heard about this and he was very jealous. One day as the new flute player was practicing some tunes, Ikenna jump out of the bush.
‘Give me my flute!’ he shouted.
Everyone was frightened. They thought that he was a ghost. Then Ikenna told them what he has done. They took him to the king. When the king heard what Ikenna has done, he was not pleased.
‘Give the flute back to our new player’. Said the king ‘you wanted to be dead. The whole town love you and give you a burial ceremony, to please you, go back to the land of the dead’, he said.
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