HOW THE DUMB GOT HIS WISH

HOW THE DUMB GOT HIS WISH(Jason Otieno) HOW THE DUMB GOT HIS WISH

Once there lived three men; a blind man, dumb and a normal man who had all the five senses active.
The blind man had grown old. At his old age, he had a herd of cattle that he reared in his little homestead. The dumb man had nothing as he was dwelling in a wretched poverty. The normal man was not a very good man though. He pretended to be the best friend of both the blind and the dumb men.
However he was a wolf in a sheep’s clothing. He kept stealing the blind man’s fat bulls every now and again. He would sell the bulls to the butcher for meat.
As the blind man kept doing his headcount of the cattle he had each evening, he realized one was missing. This happened everyday for several days.
The blind man became very worried and desperately wanted to know what went wrong with his stock. He sometimes wished he could see. Whenever he went to the normal man, he would be told that nothing was actually wrong and perhaps he was hallucinating.
Now one day as they were in the field grazing, the dumb man saw the normal man driving the fattest bull away from the rest. He became disturbed and disappointed. He decided he must cut friendship with the normal man with immediate effect. He also made up his mind that he must tell the blind man who was his best ally.
However there was a problem; a big problem. The blind man could not see at all while the dumb man could neither talk nor hear. How on earth were they going to communicate. This made things very complicated to the dumb that could only use gestures.
This in due course became unattainable and the blind man’s cows kept disappearing. The dumb man kept praying everyday for ability of him and the blind man to communicate.
A certain bird one day appeared to him as he sat on a stool in front of his house. Every day the bird would appear before him and say,
“Old man, I am moved by your devotion. I will grant you one desire. So ask me for something, tell me what you want.”
The dumb man would reply,
“I don't know what to ask for. There is nothing that I want.”
The bird would say,
“Then take your time and think about it. You can even talk to the blind man and the normal man - they may be able to tell you what to ask for.” But the old woman wouldn't.
As much as the dumb man wished to ask the blind man, he wasn’t able. He could not ask the normal man who had all of a sudden turned to be a bad man- not a friend anymore.
He tried to make a decision but was unable. Wish, yes call it wish. He was only being given one chance to make a wish. This means he couldn’t ask for more than one.
He was poor and needed wealth; he could not sit and watch his friend’s cows stolen by the ungrateful normal man. He wanted desperately to talk to the blind.
This went on for a long time. The dumb man considered all his thoughts and said to himself,
“To make myself happy, I should ask him for what I want. So what should I ask for - wealth, ability to communicate, or the blind man’s sight?”
The next day, bird appeared again, and as usual, said,
“Ask me for something, old dumb man, tell me what you want.”
The dumb man had made up his mind. He knew exactly what he wanted. He replied,
“I want the blind man to see how wealthy I become and tell him you are the one who made me wealthy. Give me that.”
The bird laughed and replied,
“Old man, you have tricked me! You have asked me for everything! But a promise is a promise and you shall have what you want.”
The bird gave him what he wanted - and the desires of his heart were fulfilled. He was able to talk again and the blind man was able to see. He also became wealthy.
He then told the blind man what had happened who swore to take his revenge.
So in life everything we do thinking that people don’t have the ability or power to punish us is a fault idea. This is because; time will come that those whom we thought couldn’t, now will. Then we shall be in big trouble.