Emperor Maliyauma

Ali Makhwata

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First Published in 2009 by Queenex Publishers Ltd.

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©Ali Makhwata

Edited by Mercy Kirui

Illustraons by Abraham Ngume

transmit in any form or by any means: graphic, electronic,

mechanical, photocopy, recording any part of this book without

prior wrien permission of Queenex Publishers Ltd.

Revised and reprinted in 2013

Reprinted in 2018, 2019, 2022

ISBN: 978-9966-788-16-0

Emperor Maliyauma

Emperor Maliyauma ruled in a country called Bara.

He was growing old and knew it was time to choose his

successor.All his children were wayward and disobedient.

They could not inherit his crown.So he decided to choose

somebody else who would rule the empire when he was

too old to rule. He called all the young people in the

empire for a meeting.

“Its time for me to step down and choose the next

emperor. I have decided to choose one of you,” he told

them.

The young men and women were shocked. One of

them to become an emperor! The emperor entered his

palace and came out with some seeds. He said to them,

“I am going to give each one of you a seed. This is a

very special seed. You will plant the seed, water it and

take good care of the seedling, once the seed germinates.

After six months, each one of you must come back here

with the seedling from the seed I will give you. I will then

judge from the plants that you bring the person who

deserves to be the next emperor!”

The young men and women were each given one seed.

They left the palace very excited. Each one of them was

planning how to take care of the seed and the seedling.

They all wanted to be the next ruler of the empire.

One proud young man shouted excitedly,“I will become

the emperor and I will have all the money I want.”

A young girl said,“I will become an empress. Everyone

will obey my orders.”

Another one shouted,“I will be the next emperor! I will

give all hungry people food and punish evil people.”

One girl who was given the special seed was called

Mikato. She went home and excitedly told her mother

the story. Her mother helped her get a nice polythene

bag and some soil. She put some chicken manure and

the soil in the bag. She planted the seed and watered it

carefully.

Every day, she would water it and check to see if it had

germinated. She began to worry when the seed failed to

germinate after ten days.

Meanwhile, all the other young people were talking

about their young plants that had began to grow. They

would boast about their healthy seedlings and how they

watered them daily. They all hoped to rule the land of

Bara.

Mikato had nothing to say. She felt humiliated and

worried about the fate of her seed. Nevertheless, she

kept watering and checking her seed everyday.She hoped

that something magical would happen. Days turned into

weeks and weeks into months, but nothing grew out of

the soil.

Two months, three months, four months and still

nothing grew in Mikato’s bag. She began to give up. She

suspected that her seed had either rotten or had been

eaten by earthworms.

She, however, continued to water it. Still, nothing

happened. After six months, Emperor Maliyauma called

all the young people, who had been given the seeds, to

present their seedlings.The one with the best plant would

be declared the next emperor.

Mikato told her mother that she would not go to face

the emperor empty handed. She feared that the emperor

would put her in jail for killing his seed. Mikato’s mother

encouraged her to go and be honest about what had

happened. She assured Mikato that if the emperor jailed

her for being honest, she would go with Mikato to jail.

Mikato felt sick in her stomach, but she knew that her

mother was right. However, the idea of going to jail, even

with her mother, made her feel even worse. Her mother

tried to encourage her to face the emperor.

Finally, Mikato decided to go and speak the truth. She

carried the polythene bag in which she had planted the

seed.The soil in the bag was still wet.

When Mikato arrived at the emperor’s palace, she

was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other

young people. They were beautiful - in all shapes and

sizes. Shamefully, Mikato put her lifeless polythene bag

on the ﬂoor. Many of the other youths laughed at her.A

few jeered at her and called her Miss Zero.

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and

greeted the young people. Mikato just tried to hide at the

back, shaking in fear.

“My God! What great plants you have grown,” said

the emperor.

“Surely, today one of you will be crowned the next

emperor or empress!”

The emperor looked around and spotted Mikato at the

back of the room with her polythene bag. He ordered his

soldiers to take her to the front. Mikato was frightened.

“The emperor will know I killed his seed and I’m a

failure! Maybe he will have me jailed or even killed by his

sword-welding guards,” she thought. When Mikato got

to the front, the Emperor asked her name.

“My name is...Mikato Mwana...lisa...Kapi.....la,” she

replied, stammering in fear. All the youths laughed and

made fun of her.

The emperor asked everyone to keep quiet. He looked

at Mikato, and then announced to the crowd, “Behold,

your new empress! Her name is Mikato Mwanalisa

Kapila!”

Mikato could not believe what she was hearing. The

other young people too could not believe what the

emperor had just said. Maybe only the emperor believed

it. How could she be the new empress and yet she did not

make the seed grow?

The emperor told the surprised crowd, “Exactly six

months ago, on a day like today, I gave each one of you

here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water

it and bring the seedling back to me. But I gave you all

boiled seeds.Boiled seeds cannot germinate,of course.All

of you, except Mikato, have brought me trees, seedlings,

full grown plants and ﬂowers.” The young people were

shocked by this revelation. They had tried to trick the

emperor but the emperor had tricked them.The emperor

went on.

“You all know that a boiled seed cannot germinate.

I know what you all did, except Mikato.You substituted

another seed for the one I gave you.You can see all of

you have different seedlings, ﬂowers and trees although

I gave you similar boiled seeds. Mikato was the only

one with the courage and honesty to bring me a lifeless

polythene bag with my seed in it. Therefore, she is the

one who will become the new empress.”

Mikato was immediately dressed in royal clothes as the

other young people left the palace, their heads bowed in

shame.

Moral lessons

I. It is good to speak the truth all the time.

Questions

1. Why did the other young men and women laugh at

Mikato?

2. How did Mikato take care of her seed?

3. Have you ever planted a tree? How should we take

care of our trees?

The Desert Cactus

Once a upon a time, plants and animals used to speak

like human beings.They would also live in villages just like

human beings. The trees and animals even married like

human beings. However, there was a cactus plant that

grew in a desert. It was the only plant of its kind in the

whole desert.

It was surrounded by some thorny trees, stones and

sand. It was so lonely that at times, it would speak alone

in the desert, wondering why it was stuck in the middle

of nowhere.

“I do nothing but stand here

all day,” it would complain.“Of

what use am I? I’m the ugliest

plant in the desert. My spikes

are thick and prickly. My leaves

are rubbery and tough. My

skin is thick and bumpy. I can’t

offer shade or juicy fruit to

any passing traveller. There is

nothing good that I do.”

Day after day, week after week, month after month,

the cactus just grew taller and fatter. Its spikes grew

longer and its leaves tougher. And it swelled here and

there, until it was lumpy and lopsided all over. It was ugly

and strange-looking.

“I wish I could do something useful,” it sighed. By day,

birds circled high overhead.The cactus called at them,but

they never answered.They moved on with their business.

The cactus, however, remained stuck in the desert.

At night, the moon ﬂoated across the sky and cast its

pale glow on the desert ﬂoor. Snakes slithered around

looking for rats to eat.

“What good can I do with my life?” the cactus lamented.

The moon only stared coldly as it walked across the

sky, lighting up the whole world.

In the morning, a lizard crawled by, drawing a little

trail in the sand with its tail and little ﬁngers. The sun

rose slowly, giving the lizard a very nice warmth. It lay

on a stone to bask in the sun’s heat.When it got too hot,

the lizard moved around the sand, decorating it with its

ﬁngers.

“What worthy deed can I do?” The cactus agonized.

“You?” The lizard laughed, pausing for a moment.

“Worthy deed? You can’t do anything! The birds circle

overhead, tracing delicate patterns for us all to admire.

The moon hangs high light for us at night, so that we

can see our way home to our loved ones. Even I, the

lowly lizard, have something to do. I decorate the sands

with these beautiful patterns, as I pull my tail along. But

you? You do nothing but get uglier every day.”

And so it went on, year after year. At last the cactus

grew old, and it knew its time was short.

“Oh,Lord!” It cried out.“I’ve wondered so long,and I’ve

tried so hard. Forgive me if I’ve failed to ﬁnd something

worthy to do. I fear that now it’s too late to do anything

useful.”

But just then, the cactus felt a strange stirring and

unfolding. It felt a surge of joy that erased all despair.

At its very tip, like a sudden crown, a glorious ﬂower

suddenly opened in bloom.

Never had the desert known such beauty. Its

fragrance perfumed the air far and wide and brought

happiness to all passing by. The butterﬂies paused to

admire the cactus’ beauty. That night, even the moon

smiled when it rose to ﬁnd such a treasure.

The king was travelling, with his caravan, when he saw

something beautiful very far away. He told his servant

to go to it and see what it was.When the King arrived

there, he was amazed by the magniﬁcent

beauty of the cactus ﬂowers. He sat down to draw

pictures of the cactus to decorate the palace.

The cactus was very happy to decorate the emperor’s

house.

Moral lessons

I. We must thank God and be contented with who we

are.

Questions

1. Why was the cactus unhappy with itself?

2. How did these things show their usefulness?

a. the moon

b. the birds

c. the lizard

Maganda the Greedy Mason

Once upon a time there was a very successful mason.

He was the richest man in the village and everyone hired

him because he built very beautiful houses. But many

people did not like him because he was very jealous.

One day, as he journeyed through a far away country,

he saw a wealthy merchant’s house. Through the open

gateway, he saw many beautiful things and important

visitors.

“How powerful that merchant must be!” Thought the

stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he

could be like the merchant-owning all those possessions

so that he could attract such important visitors.

To his great surprise, he suddenly became a merchant,

enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever

imagined. He was wealthy but not happy because he was

hated by the poor.

One day, as Maganda was thinking about his new

position in the market place, the king of the land passed

by. He was carried in a golden chair, accompanied by

armed bodyguards.

Maganda noted that everyone,no matter how wealthy,

had to stand in respect as the king passed. Everyone,

no matter how short or tall, had to bow before the

procession.

“How powerful the king is!” Maganda thought.“I wish

that I could be a king.”

Suddenly he became the king.

Maganda, the king, moved around but all was not well.

He had so many enemies who wanted to kill him.He lived

in fear. Sometimes he would have nightmares of people

chasing him.The enemies in the dreams were armed with

pangas, guns and spears.

One day, it was very hot and Maganda felt very

uncomfortable in the golden chair. He looked up at the

sun.It shone proudly in the sky,unaffected by his presence.

“How powerful the sun is!” Maganda thought.

“I wish that I could be the sun!” Suddenly, his wish was

fulﬁlled and he become the sun.

Then Maganda became the sun, shining ﬁercely down

on everyone, scorching the ﬁelds, cursed by the farmers

and labourers. He was very happy until a huge rainy

cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light

could no longer shine on everything below.He felt jealous

and said:

“How powerful that storm cloud is! I wish that I could

be a cloud!”

Then, Maganda became the cloud that sometimes

would melt into heavy rains that would send every one

running to shelter.The rain would cause ﬂooding, destroy

bridges and also make crops grow. Maganda was feared,

yet loved by many people.

After sometime, Maganda realised that there was a

greater force that tossed him from one place to another.

He could not go or rain where he wanted. He realised

that it was the wind.

“How powerful that wind is!” he thought.“I wish I could

be that wind!”

Then, Maganda became the wind, blowing off the roofs

of houses, uprooting trees, raising dusts and blowing off

papers. He was feared and hated by many people for the

damages he caused.

As Maganda, the wind, moved around places scaring

people and causing destruction at his pleasure, he came

across something that would not move, no matter how

forcefully he blew against it. It was a big rock.

“How powerful that rock is!” he thought and wished

he could be a rock.

Then Maganda became the rock. He was very happy

that nothing could move him even an inch. But as he

stood there, Maganda heard the sound of a hammer

pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself

being damaged as debris started falling off.“What could

be more powerful than I, the rock?” he thought.

Maganda looked down and saw it was Peter, the

mason he trained when once he was a mason himself.

He wondered what to wish for next.

Moral lessons

1. We must thank God and be contented with who we

are.

Questions

1. What made Maganda behave the way he did?

2. What would you like to be when you grow up?

3. Why was Maganda hated?