The price of peace is war
The novel is a long narrative dealing with a serious subject of heroic deeds and events significant to a society. It depicts this feature of old narrative which came into prominence in the early nineteenth century. The novel’s success is buried in its ability to give an act of great deeds and how the protagonists […]
The novel is a long narrative dealing with a serious subject of heroic deeds and events significant to a society. It depicts this feature of old narrative which came into prominence in the early nineteenth century.
The novel’s success is buried in its ability to give an act of great deeds and how the protagonists surmounted all odds to achieve their primary goal which is to find the ‘lasting peace’ which eluded them in their country home Bukalu.
The two main characters, Ojemba and Ike, both natives of Bukalu, decided to leave home. The tyrannical tendencies of their traditional ruler, King Ejike, spurred their exit from their community.
Their departure ushered in an era of peace because a month after they leave, the tyrannical ruler died and their father His Royal Highness King Ezeudo took over the mantle of leadership and turned things around.
As it was the case with Tennysson’s Ulysses, the two protagonists on their adventures knew what they would face. So ‘they took with them some drugs, dried food, assorted local drinks, flint and steel’.
They went to a far place called Alabrabra. They got there on foot. At a time, they hired a cyclist who conveyed them to the community after a forty miles’ journey. They were sleeping in caves and under trees; ate fruits and roasted meat. They were also at the mercy of mosquitoes and other wild animals. Upon all these, they were not perturbed.
The picture of their arrival at Alabrabra was painted thus: ‘children rushed out from almost every compound they passed by and gazed at them until they were out of sight’.
At the kingdom of Alabrabra, they told the king they needed a fertile land to farm.
The journey of an epic hero is always characterised by threats to lives. The duo faced the same ordeal. They were welcomed to be sacrificed because they were seen as ‘spies’. Thus they were chained, jailed separately to be killed someday.
They were in jail for twenty-one nights, but for the intervention of beautiful Princess Ugo who sacrificed her throne to save the duo. She fell in love with Ojemba, and agreed to elope with him.
News of their escape reached the king. He summoned his warriors and asked them to get the escapees dead or alive. They consulted a fortune-teller who revealed the route by which they escaped.
But Ojemba was prepared for the chase. “He crossed their route with magic wood-ash which killed instantly when crossed by any person or animal.” It was this charm that saved them because twenty-one persons among those pursuing them died after crossing the line.
Their next line of call was Alaquoquo where they submitted to King Miringo. What endeared them to the kingdom of Alaquoquo was the charm they administered to the King’s sick daughter, Beauty, which saved her life. This singular act made the king adopt them. It was also the reason people of Alaquoquo stood by them when warriors of Alabrabra attacked them to reclaim their princess.
Ojemba led the soldiers of Alaquoquo and his bravery earned him the title of the traditional prime minister, while Ike became the mayor of the community. Mayor Ike later fell in love with Princess Beauty and they got married.
Ike later became a gambler. The author used it to create an avenue for Mayor Ike’s promotion. His wife betrayed him by revealing the secret of his gambling success to King Kwasa, his opponent. Once more, while in jail, the king’s son was bitten by a snake. He was very close to dying when Ike administered medication on him which saved him. This gesture informed King Kwasa of Alabique to make him a co-king.
But later the prince he saved died of another ailment many years later and the king felt the death of his son should end the joint kingship with Ike. His plan to kill him boomeranged because the cup of wine which he poisoned meant for Ike was interchanged and the hand that set the trap became the victim. Henceforth Mayor Ike became the sole king and brought the peace which the people of Alabique had yearned for.
In all, the peace which they sought was achieved. Except at Alabrabra where they escaped by whiskers and the blood which was later shed, other places they touched saw peace. They effected the changes which they yearned for and left the stage better than they met it.