by Austin Mitchell
Once, hundreds of years ago, there was a great river. It was called the Mother river. Some people said that it was in the north of the island, others said that it was in the middle of the island, but others disagreed, saying that it was in the west.
Although it was known as the Mother river, people also called it the Magic river, the Golden river and many other names.
One of the main villages the river passed through was reportedly called Dunklet. The people of Dunklet worshipped the river. They depended on it for their very existence. They bathed, swam and caught fishes in its waters. They often wondered at the size of the fishes they caught.
They were so big and full of flesh.
They used its waters to irrigate their fields. From these fields they got the finest crops. Nobody in Dunklet went hungry as there was always lots of food to be had. But there was a reason why the river was also called the Magic river. Whenever it rained, and the river became flooded, a lot of precious metals and stones were washed upon its banks.
These the people used to make all kinds of jewelry to be worn by both men and women. People wondered where these precious metals came from. Some of them even tried to find the river head, but got lost and had to turn back.
The first village chief, realized how valuable this river was to his people appointed a man named Tull as the caretaker of the river.Together, they made certain rules to govern the people and their relationship with the river. The people were not to dump their refuse in the river, they were not to dig in the river or its banks looking for precious metals. They were also not to sell the the precious metals. Some of the people were dissatisfied with the village chief, Abucadizer and Tull’s
ruling. At a meeting in the village a week later, a man called Neddy got up and asked.
“They are people willing to give us good things for the precious metals. Why stop us from selling it and making a profit?”
A young girl, Yashimaje, remarked. “We need things to fix up ourselves. We can’t eat the jewelry.”
But Abucadizer told them that it was the will of the gods that they did not sell the jewelry they found in the river. Several of the villagers, including Neddy and Yashimaje left the meeting dissatisfied.
Just like how people wondered where the river came from, they also wondered where it went when it left the village. They found out that it escaped into some canyons. Some people believed that after it left the canyons it went underground and into the sea.
The river also had healing qualities and people came from far and near to bathe in its waters. Some of the villagers, including a man called Lud, a woman called Selmaje and another young girl named Taroona were dissatisfied with what was happening. They said that all outsiders should pay to bathe in the river. However Abucadizer disagreed and said that the gods would be angry with them if they prevented people from bathing in the river.
After people like Abucadizer and Tull died others took their places. But persons from far away lands had heard about this river and the precious stones that were believed to be in it. They came in droves. At first they talked to the new chief, Balcome, but he refused to let them mine the river. Some of his own people, including Neddy, Yashimaje and Taroona tried to persuade him to negotiate with the newcomers but he refused.
But these men were determined to claim the precious metals they heard was lying at the bottom of the Mother river. One night with the aid of their friends they raided the village, killing several villagers including Balcome. They stole all the precious metals from the survivors and the dead.
They spent the following days digging up the river and its banks, gloating over the precious metals they found. The surviving villagers soon realized the mistake they had made in helping these men to kill Balcome and other people and steal their jewelry. When they told them that the gods would punish them for digging up the river, they laughed and ran them away from them.
Two weeks later when they thought they had mined all the precious metals, there was to be had, they woke up the next morning to find the river gone! It was just dry earth they found! When they went to pack up their bags of precious metals, it was just ordinary stones they found! Suspicions immediately fell on the villagers but only their friends were there as all the others had vanished overnight.
They decided to search all the villages to find the escapees from Dunklet. But to this day they never found the people from Dunklet and the Mother river never returned. People like Neddy, Taroona and Yashimaje went to nearby villages seeking shelter, but word had already gone out that they had connived with the strangers in what had happened in Dunklet. They therefore had to go to far away places to seek shelter. The strangers returned home empty handed. Many people believed that those who had fled Dunklet that night might have gone to another part of the island. Legend has it that they found another magic river down there, but this has never been proven.
The End.