Little into the dawn of mankind on earth, the time when only few craft men thread the surface of the earth. A certain sculptor exists in the valley land, who devoted his time in the carving of natural accidents. He wanted to win the favour of his king and one day, he went into the presence of the king with a carving of a five petal rose. The king was impressed with the gift that he allowed the poor sculptor raise his face and beheld his face for a moment (for no one is allowed to gaze on his majesty’s countenance).
The king dismissed him only after asking him how come the flawless effigy regarding the fact that fire from heaven devoured all their flora a generation past. The sculptor told the king that his father who was a merchant had on two occasions come home with five petal rose. The king was impressed.
The second visit went just like the first but this time, with an effigy of an eagle. How come? asked the king. The eagles never weave their nests here in the valley land. The sculptor explained to the king how he had been privileged to come in contact with the golden eagle on one of his explorations in the woods. The king allowed him to behold his face for the second time; and he dispersed.
And so the sculptor became an uninterrupted guest in the bamboo palace of the early king of the valley land. Always with a gift on each visit, the meeting followed the same routine: a surprise at the rare gifts and an invisible opportunity to behold his majesty’s face.
All his gifts had been that of rare plants and animals of the early earth life – behemoth, ostrich, cherry blossom and so goes the list. The courtesans are now getting used to this generous sculptor and the awe that accompany his wonderful gifts.
One day, on his thirty third visit, the sculptor showed up with his master piece - an effigy of a mammoth (elephant of those days). As he held the mammoth up, all the king’s right-hand men had to stand in adoration to this most wonderful creature of the Iceland (a half world away from valley land). They were expecting a similar reaction from the king but were soon amazed when his majesty gradually stood up from his giant tortoise-shell throne and commanded his guards to seize the poor sculptor. First he had him flogged and then, ordered that his five fingers be chopped off.
No one dared to ask his majesty question, as the culture demands, except on the festival day.
And so, one moon passed and another, come the festival day. When the king have had enough wine, the best and the wisest of his right hand men approached him and asked him why he had a whole five of the most generous sculptor chopped off; his majesty laughed so loud, cleared his throat and , here comes his reply.
Why do you waste your one chance to inquire of my majesty for one season by asking me of the man that has his brains in his fists? He saw the five petal rose only but twice and designed a flawless effigy of it. He saw the golden eagle but once and carved an impeccable effigy in honour of it. He only saw the ostrich run past his hut once, and a master-piece was made in her honour. As if that was not enough, he only but dreamt of the mammoth and here is an unmistaken representation in yellow wood. But the daft wood monger beheld my face for thirty two good times and not even a bust of me was made from the most inferior of woods. He is daft as he is wicked and incorrigible. I took off five of his fingers so that he doesn’t carve woods again and left him the remaining five to use them in teaching his students how to carve; maybe, they will grow in craft to become more reasonable than their master...he gave off another loud laughter and gulped his wine.
Of course the king achieved his intention for the sculptor taught his students both the craft of the hands and also the craft of the mind. The culture of sculptors till today remains the carvings of figures of great men in life and larger-than-life sizes. A sculptor rarely give a powerful man a gift of inanimate carvings or that of animals.

Lesson
Satisfy your patrons
The lessons are numerous but I’ll expound the one of utmost importance to a prospective star.
You are a youth on his way to the fountain of stardom. You are now at the base of the fountain, which means, you have discovered your talent be it music, writing, humour, acting and so forth. The question is; ‘how do you play along with your patrons?’
They have this holy pride in them that forbids them telling you how they want you to do it but their gestures betray them. This is why you should pay more attention to non-verbal communications. Your patron might not be as patient as the king of the valley land as to allow you thirty three chances, why, because, your talent is not as rare as the primitive sculptor’s.
You have been dumped by many potential sponsors, but before you meet the one that will also chop off your five fingers, learn the art of gift giving and persuasion (patronage, like any other vehicle, is dangerous when you don’t know how to ride it). Call it seduction if you like but the end is always the same - attaining your maximum height. Your problem is not ill fate and fouled destiny. Use the art well, have faith and think of your destination. We will talk about ethics when we get there – the time is short.
Fable,
Efobi Jerry
2012