YOUNG OBSERVER:The man with two wives

Once upon a time there was a king who lived in a village called Kunting.  He was married to two wives with no children. 

The king was aging and becoming very worried. One day he called his two wives and shared his concerns, about  who should replace him as king when he died since he had no child or brother.The king’s two wives, Fatou and Mariama, advised him to put his trust in God.

The king took his wives’ advice and believed that one day God would bless them with a child.  A few months letter, Mariama became pregnant and gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. The king was very happy and named the child after his father, Momodou. He praised Almighty God for his goodness. Fatou, the childless woman became envious of Mariama because her husband no longer loved her like before.

We should all learn a lesson that children are a gift from God, but Fatou didn’t want to know. She yielded to the temptation of the Devil and bribed
the watchman with a promise to give him three bags of gold. The watchman, though a pious man, yielded due to the thought of becoming rich.

One day, the watchman called the boy and asked him to go hunting with him to the forest, but when the boy insisted that he would inform the king, his
father. The watchman said it was not necessary. When they arrived in the forest, he asked the boy to lie down with him to wait for the animals to come. But as they were lying down, the boy felt weak and tired and soon fell asleep.

The watchman then saw his opportunity to kill the boy, but as he raised his knife to kill the boy he remembered that he too had children at home.

The watchman took the boy home and went to claim his gold from Fatou  who thought that he had killed the boy. He was given his gold. After two weeks of hiding, the boy finally returned home, where he found the king and the queen very worried. After interrogating the boy, the watchman was called and he dropped the bombshell – the evil plot hatched by Fatou to kill her co-wife’s only son.

The king had no option but to divorce and exile his wife despite much pleading.The watchman was praised for his loyalty to the king and his fear of God and the hereafter.