Big Legend

At a small town in Africa, a little boy named Jabari was fishing. “Chidinma! I got it! I finally got it on my line!”

“Really?! Keep fighting Jabari! Reel him in!”

Feeling the weight of the fish on the other end of his pole, Jabari dug his heels into the clay, as the fish was pulling him in. His grip may have been unbreakable, but as a young tike his weight was still small in comparison. Gritting his teeth, he arched his back, pulling on the string, and then the line snapped. “Awe, come on!”

Seeing her friend hang his head low, she said, “Don’t worry Jabari, even my dad can’t catch him. The village elder said that fish has been here ever since he was a young man.”

“I’ll catch him someday,” Jabari said, “I know I will.”

“If that’s what you say,” Chidinma replied. “I’m gonna go practice some arithmetic.”

“You do that. I’m gonna fix my fishing line.” Sitting down in the afternoon sun beneath a tree, Jabari took diligent work threading the line through his fishing hook. All he could think about was how much pride he’d have after landing that monstrous fish. His smile grew as he thought about how all of the villagers would sing and celebrate his name. His mouth watered from thinking about how delicious its fillet would be after his mom would have cooked it. Not a single person, in or outside of the village, could match her cooking skills.

While he was fixing his line, a fin popped up from the water. Looking up, Jabari thought it was the yellow catfish mocking him again. Meanwhile other villagers took it as a sign of the dry season about to come. The pond would be desolate in the weeks to come. Rain’s been scarce for the past couple of days. Yet, to Jabari, he saw it as a sign of their fighting to come to an end, as the fish would sleep in the mud.

The village elder has always been able to find fish hiding within the mud. Last year he pulled out a humungous lung fish. Yet, even with the harvesting of clay for their huts, the catfish has continued to evade being made a meal of for decades. Some people got to thinking that the fish wasn’t even real at all, and that it was a spirit. Not Jabari, though.

“It fights too strong to be a spirit. Even the priest made sure to bless the water, ensuring that none of us got sick from drinking it as needed.”

Watching the fins bask in the sun, the fish submerged, circled around, and then swam to the shoreline, sticking its head out of the water, “Who are you, boy?” His head perked up. Scared that it was possessed, Jabari bolted to his feet to start running away. Then the fish said, “Be not afraid, boy. I cannot, nor will I, ever hurt you.”

Turning around, Jabari said, “Tell me your name first, then I’ll give you mine.”

“They call me Yuusuf. Do you wish to catch me boy?”

“Yes.”

“You will never catch me boy. Nobody will unless I allow them to. They used hooks, nets, pikes, and chains. Nobody who stays here will ever catch me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your friend, the girl?”

“Chidinma?”

“Yes, her, she will catch me one day.”

“She doesn’t even fish!”

“She will escape this pond.”

In an angry huff, Jabari asked, “Alright then, how do I catch You?”

“I’ll let you catch me, Jabari, but first you must teach me.”

“Teach you?”

“Yes, every week when the waters are here, when I’m not buried in the mud, you must come to the water. You will tell me teach me three new things. One must be practical, another must be about life, and the last must be something you’re learning from teachers.”

“Why would I do that?”

“What am I, Jabari?”

“You’re a catfish!”

“Yes, but I am not so simple, Jabari. I am a big fish in a small pond. If you do not learn, you will remain just like me. One day, when you go to leave the village, take me with you to a larger pond, a lake if you will. This is how you will catch me. I promise.”

“You promise?”

“You have the whole world to gain, Jabari. I am but a fish, the water is my world.” With that, the catfish leapt back into the deep waters, leaving Jabari in the sun. Thinking about what Yuusuf told him, he went after Chidinma.

***

Over the years, Jabari made sure to keep pace with Chidinma. She was a natural academic, the shining star of the village, and Jabari, made sure to always study by her side. During the wet season, when the pond was full of life, every week, he would fish, and say three things to the water. His words went down the line.

Then one day, Jabari, got a job that took him away from the village. They needed people as well educated as him and Chidinma. Doing as the fish said, he went to the water with a blue barrel, and Yuusuf swam in. The whole village was surprised.

Before he left for Cape Town, he took Yuusuf to Lake Victoria. “Thank you, Jabari. Especially for not eating me. Will I see you again? I am an old fish after all.”

“Will you live to next year?”

“I will avoid sickness and predation to the best of my abilities. Please soon.”

After working up the corporate ladder at his company for a year, Jabari left Cape Town with his wife, Chidinma on vacation. Heading back to the lake, he felt a sense of sadness.

“Are you okay, Jabari?” Chidinma saw a bit of grief on his face.

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sad. It’s like I’m going to be saying goodbye to an old friend, even though I’m going to meet him.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“You’ll see, just, keep an open mind, and an open heart. Can you do that for me, Chidinma?”

Picking up his hand, and kissing it on the back, she said, “Always, now and forever.”

When they walked down to the water, they sat down at special log along the banks of the lake. Tossing a fishing line in, Jabari started to say the three things that he had learned. One that was practical, one that was educational, and the other that was meant for life. Upon doing so, the yellow fin surfaced, and Chidinma’s mouth dropped open like a garage door falling off its hinges.

When Yuusuf swam up to him he said, “There are eggs in my mouth. These are my babies. Take them, and place them in more ponds and lakes, so that others may learn. Eat of my flesh and bury my bones in your hometown. I would like for you to plant a fruit tree there, so that I may grow more flesh as to feed your village.”

Pulling the blue barrel out of his truck, Jabari put Yuusuf in there. Placing a small fish tank in the barrel, Yuusuf placed his eggs in there. On the drive back to their village, Yuusuf passed away of old age. Taking the fish to his mother, she honored Yusuuf’s flesh with the finest of cooking.

Doing as he bid, Jabari planted a fig tree after they buried the great fish’s bones. Then after the eggs hatched, he placed one small fry in his own village’s pond, and the rest in a different body of water as well. Some went to ponds. Others went to small lakes. Yet, they were all big fish that were taught words from a great fish, before they even hatched.

“Thank you, Yuusuf,” Jabari said, “for teaching me how to learn.”