This story of the despising king is a classic African tale that begins with a king. The king ruled over a territory. This land was the land of Okaigo. The reason the people adored the king was because of his gentle heart. In every matter that concerned him, the king would get advice from his council of chiefs.
The king wasn’t worried about his age or title. He would stoop to the level of his chief of council to seek advice. The king would use the advice he got from his council of chiefs to rule his people. He ruled his people peacefully for several years.
When the king became ill one faithful day, his eldest son, who was to be the king’s heir, was required to carry out certain rites. The elders asked him to perform a ritual before the second cockcrow to save his father’s life.
The heir agreed. The night before the ritual, the king’s heir visited his concubine’s house and stayed there until late morning. The prince slept till the next morning and so he wasn’t able to perform the ritual for his father.
Upon his return to the castle, the prince noticed a large number of people in tears. The council of chiefs was angry with his actions and they decided to suspend his coronation. The elders asked him to pay a fine before the king could be buried.
The prince paid the fine, and so his father was laid to rest. The prince succeeded to the king’s throne as the heir apparent. He was waiting for the council of chiefs to crown him as the new king. After completing the coronation, he enjoyed his dinner.
Unlike his father, the new king didn’t seek any advice from the council of chiefs. The elders would also advise, but the new king would refuse. The new king was not like his father in any way. He only did that which he thought was right and not what would favor the people.
After so much pressure the council of chiefs decided to crown the prince as the new king of the land. The crowned prince threatened them with the palace guard before they decided to crown him as the new king. Upon hearing this, the people in the land were angry.
On the day of his coronation, everyone gathered at the market square which is usually the venue for the celebration of the past kings. Then the chiefs and the people in charge of the coronation all went to the palace to get the crowned prince ready for the coronation.
The crowned prince refused to eat breakfast before his coronation. After completing the coronation, he enjoyed his dinner. However, the crowned prince insisted that he must have breakfast. He said that he must eat the watermelon prepared by his wife.
All the council of chiefs tried to stop the crowned prince from eating the food. Everyone tried but they didn’t succeed. The crowned prince ate the food and some of the food hung on his mustache. The food was so visible because the color of it was red. Nobody told him that he had food hung in his mustache because he would not listen to their advice.
The crowned prince has become the new king, and now it is his time to dance with his family, the council of chiefs, his friends, and the elders. Unknown to the king, there was a portion of the red melon on his mustache.
As the king was dancing, the drummer was the melon on his mustache and they translated through the talking drum. This caused the king to notice the melon on his mustache right away. This made him very angry and so he called his council of chiefs, elders, wives, and his friends. The king asked them why didn’t tell him about the melon on his mustache and they all replied that they didn’t tell him because they knew that he wouldn’t heed their advice. This made the king apologize and he promised to heed his people’s advice and make corrections.