The Boy in the Drum
Long ago there was a man called Yusufu who had a wife named Lade. They had only one son and his name was Hanafi. Because he was their only son, Hanafi was very much loved by his father and mother. His parents, in fact, always gave him everything he wanted and allowed him to do anything he pleased.
As Hanafi grew older he became very fond of hunting. One evening he told his parents that he planned to go hunting that night.
“Please do not go tonight,” his mother Lade said. “I feel that tonight is unlucky.”
“It is very dangerous,” said his father Yusufu. “You are our only son, and we do not want you to risk death in the forest at night.”
Hanafi refused to pay any attention to what his father and mother said. Finally they allowed him to go.
Hanafi went into the forest with several friends. They took bows and arrows, knives and guns and also lamps. When the animals came to the light the hunters killed two deer and six hares, and Hanafi was given his share of the meat.
As the hunters started back to their village, there was thunder and lightning in the sky. There was a great wind, and then there was heavy rain.
Hanafi saw a tortoise sitting in its house.
“Please may I have shelter from the rain?” Hanafi asked the tortoise.
“You may indeed have shelter,” the cunning tortoise replied. “Here is a big pot you may sit in.”
It was dry in the pot, so he thanked the tortoise and crawled inside.
As soon as Hanafi had entered the pot the tortoise took a large piece of skin and covered the mouth of the pot with it. With the skin tied on top the tortoise made the pot into a drum.
The next day the tortoise went to the king of the village.
“Your Majesty,” the tortoise begged as he knelt on the floor in front of where the king was sitting, “may we have a drumming competition?”
“A drumming competition is a good idea,” said the king. “We shall see who in the village makes his drum sound the best.”
Three days later everyone in the village assembled at the palace, and all the skilled drummers also came. With them they brought their drums.
Yusufu, the father of the boy in the tortoise’s drum, was amongst the crowd which came to the palace. As the tortoise beat the drum, Hanafi, the boy inside, began to sing. Yusufu heard the voice; he heard the boy singing his own and his father’s names.
After the drumming was over, the king praised the tortoise, saying that the sound of his drumming was better than anyone else’s. Then Yusufu went to the tortoise.
“Come to my house, tortoise, chief of all drummers,” he said, “and you will be given an excellent dinner.”
The tortoise thanked Yusufu and followed him to his house at the edge of the village.
While much good food and drink was being given to the tortoise, Yusufu told his wife to boil water. After his meal the tortoise lay down on a mat and went to sleep.
“Quick!” whispered Yusufu to his wife, “we will make him into soup,” and they put the tortoise in the boiling water.
“Quick!” cried Yusufu to his wife, “we must save our son Hanafi.”
He cut the skin on the tortoise’s drum and brought out his son in time to save his life.
Ever after, Hanafi was an obedient boy who lived happily because he followed the advice of his father and mother.
