Welcome to Brown Girl Bloom's series of African folk tales to guide you into a peaceful sleep.
I invite you to create an environment that supports you in feeling more calm and relaxed.
You can dim or turn off your light,
Snuggle underneath your favorite blanket,
Or whatever brings you a deep sense of peace.
Welcome this time of slowing down as you prepare to rest.
Feel free to press pause until you're completely ready to go to sleep.
Now that you're comfortable,
Join me in taking in three deep breaths to release any tension that you may still be carrying with you from the day or the week.
This is your time to allow all of your worries and thoughts to gently drift away with each breath.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breathe out.
And follow the natural flow of your breath.
Enjoy this story,
And may you have the most blissful night's rest this evening.
Be well.
The Lucky Fisherman,
A Nigerian folk tale.
In the olden days,
There were no hooks or casting nets,
So that when the natives wanted to catch fish,
They made baskets and set traps at the riverside.
One man named Ikan Obo was very poor,
Began to make baskets and traps out of bamboo palm.
And then when the river went down,
He used to take his traps to a pool and set them baited with palm nuts.
In the night,
The big fish used to smell the palm nuts and go into the trap,
When at once the door would fall down.
And in the morning,
Ikan Obo will go and take the fish out.
He was very successful in his fishing,
And used to sell the fish in the market for plenty of money.
When he could afford to pay the dowry,
He married a woman named Iyong,
A native of Okuni,
And had three children by her.
But he still continued his fishing.
The eldest son was called Odeh,
The second Yambi,
And the third Atuk.
These three boys,
When they grew up,
Helped their father with his fishing,
And he gradually became wealthy.
At last he joined the Egbo Society,
And became one of the chiefs of the town.
Even after he became a chief,
He and his son still continued to fish.
One day,
When he was crossing the river in a small dugout canoe,
A tornado came on very suddenly,
And the canoe capsized,
Drowning the chief.
When his sons heard of his death of their father,
They then called their company together to play,
Dance,
And sing for twelve days,
In accordance with their native custom,
And much palm wine was drunk.
When the play was finished,
They took their father's body to a hollowed-out cavern.
When the cave was covered in,
The sons called the chiefs together,
And they played Egbo for seven days,
Which used up all of their late father's money.
When the play was over,
The chiefs were surprised at the amount of money which their sons had been able to spend on the funeral of their father.
As they knew how poor he had been as a young man,
They therefore called him the lucky fisherman.
If you feel yourself starting to fall asleep,
Feel free to float away into a peaceful rest.
If you're still awake,
Feel free to listen to another story.
Be well.
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