The goat tried to think about other answers to the lion's questions, but fear would not let him gather his thoughts.

So the goat thought rather, about fear itself. He remembered something he had heard recently from a dog, at a meeting the dogs held recently at the townhall, to talk about town security. The chief speaker, a quiet black nosed dog with watery eyes, whose ears drooped till it swept the floor, had come out to dispute everything the animals had ever believed about fear. He had said openly to everyone in that meeting that fear did not exist.

'What is fear' the quiet dog had barked 'Isn't fear always connected to future events that are yet to occur? Isn't fear a choice? Can anyone say for certain what would happen in the future? Do you not have the power to choose whether to walk fear or in boldness into this uncertain future...'

That was all the goat could remember from the quiet dog's speech. He had not been a part of that meeting so he had not had the opportunity to listen to the speech as much as he would have loved to. He was at the meeting as a steward. That is all the goats ever were- servants. But he was also a goat accustomed to eavesdropping and he learned a lot from them.

'Stupid goat' the lion roared, bringing the goat's senses back to his present predicament.

'I am not a stupid goat' the goat replied. The courage in his voice, shocking even himself 'My name is Capricorn and I shall be addressed by it'. As he spoke, the goat moved towards the lion, gliding across the dying grass with his head held high. With each step, he began to realise that fear existed only if you let it. Because as he moved closer to the lion, he realised that the picture of the lion he has earlier seen, was that which his mind's eye showed him. It was the picture he had been accustomed to seeing all his life. The lion, large mane, loud roar, fearful paws, king of the jungle, that is the lion he thought he saw earlier, but as he began to move closer, he began to notice, that the lion standing before him, had grown thin and sickly, there was hardly any flesh around his bones, his eyes were dull and deep sunken, why wouldn't it be, the lion had been on self exile in the suburbs for several months, in the absence of food. The closer Capricorn got to the lion, the more he became amused, at what he once feared.

'Stop there at once, stop else I come forward and devour you' the lion roared. The goat stopped, standing respectfully at the dignity in the lion's voice.

'I am not afraid of you sir' said capricorn 'Your mane is sparse and your legs are wobbly, your roar is like the squeaking of a rabbit sir, and if you have failed to notice, I have more flesh around my bones than you do, and if I were a flesh eating being, I would devour you at the spot sir and take your groins back to my little sons for dinner'.

The lion stepped back and was quiet, as if noticing for the first time that he was no longer the lion he used to be. Then slowly fear crept into his eyes, as he realised he was at the mercy of the goat.

'You do not have to be afraid sir' said the goat speaking slowly 'You are an animal used to being king, you give orders and other animals obey, I have lived my whole life in awe of your courage and dignity, you do not have to give in now, especially to something as non-existent as fear'

'You are a good animal, my dear stupid goat' the lion said, going down on all fours in hunger and resignation.

'I guess it would take you a while to get used to my name sir, afterall you have called me and my kind stupid, all your life'. The goat said, trying hard to hide the displeasure in his voice.

'I never knew goats had names' said the lion with a hint of arrogance that was always going to be part of him 'What did you call yourself again poor thing'

'Capricorn the goat, sir' the goat said and started to leave. Then as if on a second thought, he turned and said 'come home with me sir, you would die if you keep living here in these infertile surburbs, surrender yourself to the dogs as the rest of your family have done, the dogs don't treat them as bad as you lions treated us when you were in power'.

'My ancestors forbid it' the lions spat. 'The rest of my family have betrayed me and are dead to me, to have surrendered to those dogs instead of braved death, that is cowardice and I shall never forgive it'.

'You are a brave one sir' the goat muttered tiredly. 'I have to go now before my masters miss me, would you have me help you with anything, maybe a piece of meat during the week, anything sir'

'My daughter Sleo' the lion said excitedly. 'That sweet stubborn little thing, I have never been able to put her off my mind. Tell her where I am, tell her daddy misses her and would love to see her by sunrise of the week's fifth day'.

'Ok sir, good bye sir' Capricorn turned to leave.

'And remember to tell no one else that you found me' the lion said to the goat's back. He tried to accompany this last instruction with a threatening roar but remembering that his roar had just been compared to the squeaking of a rat, he swallowed it.

hi

hey

i am reading THE LAST DUTY by ISIDORE OKPEWHO, just recently, i also read his tides. i love he style. he has a way of making his things unique, his style in 'Last duty' is especially sweet. alongside that, i'm also re-reading David wright's 'Black boy' a book i can't stop reading over and over again, and i am also reading 'burning grass' by Cyprain Ekwensi, i don't like the book though. i do mainly African literature

A very old copy of "Sons and Lovers". the English bores me to death, but that's what im reading now

clue:

"Its not economical to go to bed early to save candles if the result is twins."
-Chinese proverb.

so funny

Does it really matter what i think?
if i think you would not be a good poet, does that stop you from publishing.
goodluck

about the new generation outdoing the old. it is so obvious. when was the last time you checked, cuz we have good young writers, have you read any of jude dibia's books. they are so cool. what old generation books are you even talking about. most of them are already being outdone.

nchewi:

[color=#000099][/color]this chimamanda chick is good, ain't she? but do we really have a new generation storyteller that can outdo the great chinua achebe?

yeah i agree with you, last night i was reading some of her short stories, i think she is natural and just being herself. i love the simple writing. i have not read any of her novels yet anyway. simply because everybody wants everybody to start writing like Adiche. Have you read Adiche's half of the yellow sun? read it an improve that story. have you read purple hibiscus, read it and improve this other story. it was so annoying at first. but now that i'm getting to know her i think she's sweet and original, just like i want to be

“Eat me? my lord”

“Yes, vassal” the lion replied, he kept coming forward, while the goat moved back, the lion was enjoying the game.

“But sir, you were part of them who made the constitution, and you know what it says …” the goat said, he wanted to say more, but his teeth clattered so much that he could not bring himself to say another word.

The lion laughed aloud “it is common knowledge that goats are stupid, but I did not know that they were so stupid” now he was enjoying himself so much.

“Goats are not so stupid, my lord” the goat said timidly. He was afraid this would upset the lion, yet he could think of nothing else to say now and he had a feeling that if something was ever going to get him out of this situation, it was going to be something he said.

The goat’s reply humoured the lion and he instantly decided to make it into a game. He was going to eat him anyway, yet he said “aha! Goat’s are not so stupid right, vassal”

The goat started to stammer a reply.
“Prove to me that goats are not so stupid” the lion said “and I would spare your life”.

The goat had not expected this; the lion had looked hungry enough to eat him right away.

“What is it you want me to do? My lord” he asked
“Nothing” the lion said, laying back on all fours on the pastures. “just answer my questions”.

That is too simple, the goat thought, it was the lion never intended eating him or still intended to do so, the goat was yet to decide, yet he kept talking to the lion, in a bid to get more time.

“Listen attentively vassal because I won’t repeat,” the lion continued, “first, why did we make the constitution”

The goat was trying hard to stop his clattering teeth, and flying thoughts. He too went down on all fours, pretending to relax. He thought it necessary to pretend he believed the lion would not eat him after all.

“Take your time,” the lion warned, “because I would eat you at the first wrong answer”.

The goat began to think carefully about what the lion said and in no time came up with the right answer.

“Because them other lions was eating them dogs, and you don’t love them lions eating them dogs because them dogs are important to you business” the goat answered hurriedly. He lived in the suburbs too, and he was aware of some of their politics

“That is a correct and honest answer but also very simple. Vassal, not so” the lion said, standing on all fours, and starting to walk around the goat on two.

“So” said the goat, staring at the grass, he was afraid to stare at the hunger in the lions eyes.

“The next one vassal is, what went wrong with that constitution,” the lion asked.

The goat did not hesitate this time, he said hastily
“Because them buffalo cease wandering into our suburbs and you lion cannot find food to eat” at this the lion began to laugh.

“Don’t be shallow goat that is not what went wrong, I would give you one more chance to answer, what went wrong vassal” the lion growled. His tone was high and his voice was angry. The goat thought again beginning to shiver because he knew he was going to find no more reason, that was all he knew about the matter.

Politics in the suburbs was only for the lions, he heard very little of it, the goats were not interested in complicated matters, and politics was complicated. Yet he pretended to think, and the lion hummed tunelessly as he waited.

Hey cayon, you came really, you saw and you conquered. keep it up

The lion was chewing grass, and vowing as he chewed. He lay awkwardly on the dying pasture, lying waste in the suburbs. The pastures was his secret place, a place he had made sure no other animal could easily stumble into. He had been on grass for over thirty days now, and the result showed on his sparse mane and wobbly legs, his eyes sunk in deep, and nausea hung on his throat. He made the chewing easy for himself by thinking of goats. The goats are a terrible people in all aspects he thought. Grass chewing was vile.

He could understand a lion going on grass for a few days due to the incessant hunger that lived with them, but he could never understand a group of animals who subsequent to seeing the various kinds of appetising meat in the universe decided to be vegetarians. Such breeds were too disgraceful to dwell with the breed of lions. It was better for a grass-eater to die, than a proud lion to eat grass. That was the reason, right there while he chewed the grass; he was vowing to go against the old law that prohibited goat eating.

1._(1) any person, engaged in trapping, killing, cutting, cooking, eating, or in collection, distribution, and custody of the meat from any animals, any animal from the rabbit, squirrels, goats, dogs, and lions shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to death by stone

(2)Any person, who knowingly consumes the flesh of any of these animals, in whatever manner, without being lawfully authorized to do so, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to death by rope

(3)Where an offence under subsection (1) or (2) is committed by a child or young animal, the child or young person is liable and must have his teeth removed and his tongue sliced

(4) Animals are not allowed to predate, an animal could only kill a prey stronger than itself, this means, a rabbit could kill a squirrel, a squirrel could kill a goat, a goat could kill a dog, and a dog could kill a lion and a lion could kill a buffalo.

The lion knew the law by heart, because he had made it. Those were the days when he was an administrator, and at the head of farming in the land, he had farms full of buffalos, he had the dogs who worked for him, business was good then, and those days were nothing to be compared to the present. Now hunger was with him, he had lost his family and he was in the dying pastures, chewing grass.

He spat out the grass that filled his mouth and listened very warily to the rustling of the leaves around him, for the first time since he discovered this new food, he was uneasy. The leaves cackled behind him and he had an uneasy feeling an animal was watching him. Making sure no leaf was sticking from his mouth, he began to growl.

The growling, he thought, would scare away any of the smaller animals. He growled until he got weary, and sure that no small animal could stand the hideous sounds he had created, he returned to grass eating.

But the rustling did not stop, rather he heard the grass rattle behind him, his blood froze as he tried to imagine whom it was, walking up behind him. It was humiliating, to be caught chewing grass, like a goat. Any proud lion would have sworn rather to die of hunger. He was not a proud lion, he was a coward, afraid of death by hunger and he had been caught in his cowardice.

“Good day sir!” came a goat’s voice from behind; the voice was that of respect mixed with mockery. Relief flooded through the lion. A goat was what he least expected. He had thought his growling would scare any animals of such breed. He had imagined it was one of his sons, walking up to humiliate him, or any of the rich dogs who now ruled the suburbs, the fact that it was a goat made him realize how hungry and weak he was. A goat, was less than and at the same time more than he had expected, now that the goat had caught him, he would be more than justified to eat him.

“Good morning vassal” he replied with equal contempt. Now the goat walked up until it stood a respectful distance before him. There was no fear in the goat, just respect, the lion had once been rich and powerful, and though he was quite a nobody now, it was difficult to forget totally, the power he once wielded.

“My lord, are you chewing grass,” the goat asked, it was not a question, His tone was insulting, the lion was surprised at the direct approach, there was no fear whatsoever in the goat, of being eaten, the animal-eating law had been enforced very effectively until now. The lion decided to surprise him equally.

“Yes, poor vassal, I’m chewing grass and grass is tasteless, that is why I have decided to eat you” the lion loved the effect his statement had on the goat; the mischief in his eye was quickly replaced with fear. The lion looked hungry; the goat did not for a moment doubt him. The lion began to come closer, and the goat inched backward, his bones overcome with shivers. He knew the lion was going to eat him, but he decided to try to talk his way out of it.

let's say this is related to this section cuz of the greeting cards involved. greeting cards litter the place. thank God for gsm

Cayon, you are great, don't stop.

What if i say: PLEASE TRANSLATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey everyone, i started writing a short story and i need to know how good or bad I'm doing.

eze is dead!!!!!!!!!!!! dead!!!!!!!!!!!!! pls mourn with me heheheheheheheheheh

I have been so busy in school and ive missed Naira land, I'm in love with this story competition and i'm so happy that most people suspect it is a scam. That means we would be very few submitting our entries. The fewer, the better for me. I can't stop thinking of the millions of things i can do with 25,000.
The bad news is that i'd be through with my exams by 25th of this month and might not meet up with the deadline, im slowly working on it anyway, and would sure submit, especially if the deadline is moved A LITTLE. please, for those who are writing, but not for the money, if you eventually win it, i use inter continental bank, account no, 0079 gosh, i dont have it off hand. i'd be fully back with it by 25th. see ya.

by the way, Sisikill, i missed ya, hope you missed me too, pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee say yes

This is the second time i'm trying to read this interesting story, and this is the second time i'm wondering if i would have read at all if our stories were all written this way. T he story is good no doubt, but this strange format is quite tiring

Im reading 1984, I find it both boring amd interesting(boring in the sense that i can afford to drop it, interesting in the sense that i cant afford to toss it. When im through, i intend starting all over again because i need to really understand it. But then, for anyone who has read it, i want to know if Orwell was just telling history, or predicting doom for London.

I'm beginning to hate this post, is there a way i can delete it. Okay. it's like i would start a new topic "what do you think about constructive and destructive criticism" maybe you guys can go there and argue all you like,

Well, that's why i called it a "poem". just a piece that crossed my mind and i thought it funny.(I thought i explained that at the beginning). Or maybe i could have called it "A piece". Anyway, i'm glad some people loved it, and i would say i'm sorry to all those the stuff irritated. Ok, let's stop all the , and start really talking about my controversial "piece"

Sisikill, thanks for that good one, that was really encouraging.

@chukky 76

i'm happy you think it was nice thanks.

@ch3coo

sorry you didn't like it, i appreciate critics anyway, and its a free world so you can think freely about any peom or anything, but you not free to say you burst my bubble because, last time i checked, i was still,