There was an ancient king named Efriam Duke in the Kingdom of Calabar.

He was a peaceful man with a

wonderful drum. Every time the drum was beaten, plenty of food and drink were found at the tables. So
whenever any country declared war against them, they used to call them and beat the drum to prevent
the war and changed into festivities.

One morning, one of the king’s wives together with her daughter went down to the spring and they met
a tortoise who wanted the king’s drum very much. The tortoise knew that the king’s wife stole the nuts
that fell from the ground at the tortoise garden. The tortoise went to Efriam Duke and told what
happened. The king asked the tortoise what he would accept as a compensation for the loss of his palm
nut. The tortoise only wanted the king’s drum so the king decided to give his drum.

The tortoise made a great feast for three days together with the wild animals. He became lazy for a few
weeks and drink too much. He did not notice a stick along his path. The tortoise did not know that
whoever owns the drum and walked over the stick or slept over a fallen tree, all the food would
immetiately turned into bad things. Three hundred Egbo men appeared and beat the owner and also all
the invited guests. The feast was ruined.

Lesson: The lesson of the story is about valuing the things that we have. We should be contented on all
the things that we have. We should consider them as a blessing even if it is big or small.

Reaction: I felt so worried and disappointed about what happened in the story. The tortoise did not
notice of the consequences of having and aiming for more great feast.