Tale of Kame, the Clever Hare (Episode 1)

When Kame was found by the Baboon clan.

The Tale of Kame, the Clever Hare 

Episode 1 – The River’s Secret 

Ever heard of the famous hare? Ever heard? His name was Kame; they also called him the wise hare. He was mysterious and his story has been retold and retold for thousands of generations.  

This is the tale of Kame, the clever hare. But like most tales, his has only been told in bits because no one actually knows the full tale. Only bits and pieces of it. Only bits and pieces—but now no more. 

Once upon a time, in ages past and gone, there existed an animal kingdom. It was the strongest, most revered, most feared, most thriving kingdom. All the animal clans lived together as one under the reign of the Lion Clan.  

It was in those ages that one day—a day that has never been forgotten—Kame came along. It was long ago; the kingdom has since collapsed. Many kingdoms have come, collapsed, and gone. Others came after them, collapsed, and gone, like that, like that—yet the tale of Kame has lived on. 

Let me tell you the story.  

One summer, on a bright sunny day when the wild was all green, the beautiful animal kingdom was teeming with the hustle and bustle of life, when every animal came out to experience the special warm glow of the June sun. In the small village of the Baboon clan, something unusual came along. 

In the Baboon village, the Baboon clan was holding a gathering festival by the Leni river. Now, the Baboon clan held a gathering festival every summer that would last a week. All the baboons would come out to celebrate, dance, swing and sway around the trees as they gathered fruits.  

Usually, these celebrations were held by the riverbanks of Leni. Leni was the biggest river; it passed right through, right in the middle of the Animal Kingdom. Now, no one knew where River Leni came from or where it went but everyone knew that it was the source of life for the kingdom, providing water for drinking and fish. It passed through all the villages of the animal clans, giving of itself generously to each one. 

So, for ages, each June, the Baboon clan would gather at the banks of River Leni for the festival. The banks of Leni were more fertile compared to other parts of the kingdom, bursting with the best fruit trees in all the land. That is why the celebration happened at the banks. That is why the baboons would congregate there. They would gather the finest fruits while celebrating with festivities. 

On that fateful day, the sun was bright, the wind swept across with a calm, cool breeze and all the Baboon clan and its families, donned in bright colors, went along with the mood of celebration—their voices filling the air with laughter and song. The river Leni, winding and endless, was their lifeline—its waters flowing like a gift, clear and steady. 

Mono, one of the elders in the Baboon clan—a sturdy and wise baboon with a serious gaze—was high in the trees, plucking ripe fruits one by one. He tossed them down to his daughter, Amal, who darted about animatedly, giggling, picking them up, one by one and then racing to bring them to her mother, Kuya.  

Kuya, Mono’s wife, had a graceful and kind character. She sat under the shade of a wide tree, a large basket by her side, receiving the fruit with a warm smile from her daughter, Amal. 

Mono and Kuya had Amal, their youngest child, along with two older boys: Rugo, the eldest, followed by Ram. The boys had an adventurous spirit. On this fateful day, the boys were moving about, playing with other children of the Baboon clan, chanting and running around.  

They were busy in their own world with the other young ones, their playful shouts echoing through the trees. 

Suddenly, as they played, Rugo noticed something odd. He stopped, staring in the direction of river Leni. Then, suddenly, he shouted out, “Look, Look!” pointing to the river. 

“What?” one of their friends asked, coming over to where Rugo stood. “What is it, Rugo?” the friend asked again. 

“Look, it’s a basket floating on the water,” Rugo said again, pointing at the river. Soon, all the young baboon children, including Ram, came running excitedly to where Rugo stood, pointing. 

“Wow, that is a beautiful basket,” another young baboon noted in amazement. They stood there for a moment, all the young baboons amazed by the beauty of the basket. Their eyes filled with wonder, reflecting their curiosity about where it could have come from. They had never seen anything like that basket in the Animal Kingdom. 

The small, white, glowing basket was floating along the water’s edge, bobbling and weaving as it drifted downstream. The other children stopped in their tracks, their eyes widening with surprise and excitement. 

Without a second thought, they all began to follow the basket along the riverbank, their feet padding through the soft grass. They followed along, giggling, chanting and jumping with excitement. 

Up in the tree, Mono noticed the children’s strange behavior. With a furrowed brow, he grew concerned and feared that they might slip and fall into the river. No one in all the animal kingdom knew how to swim. All animals approached Leni’s water with caution and children were told to stay away from the water. 

Mono climbed down the tree and ran toward the river. “Hey, stop! Stop!” he shouted while running towards the children, waving his arms in the air. Kuya and Amal remained behind, standing and watching as Mono ran after the children. 

“Stop running along the river, children—stop!” he called out as he reached them. 

“It is a basket, Dad,” Ram pointed out to Mono. Mono pushed through the children, moving forward until he saw the floating basket on the water. Other adult baboons had now joined, attracted by the unusual excitement of the children and Mono running after them. 

“Stay back, all of you!” he called out, standing in front of them, waving his arms. “We don’t know what that is,” he cautioned. The other adults and the children all stood there, astounded by the floating basket on the river. 

They stared, murmuring among themselves. Their eyes narrowed with interest, but they kept a cautious distance. 

“Dad, we should get it from the river,” Ram called out to his father. 

“No, we can’t,” Mono replied with authority. “We don’t know what it is.” He turned around to all the young baboons. “Children, never pick up things you are not sure of.” The children nodded. The other adult baboons seemed to approve. However, all of them, their eyes filled with curiosity, wondered what could be inside the beautiful floating basket. 

As they stood there watching it float on, they heard a small sound—a soft, gentle cry—it was from the basket. They all looked at each other. They were sure it had come from the basket. They were sure. The baboons froze, their eyes widening. A few took a step back, startled. What could it be? The cry was faint but unmistakable, perhaps a call for help. 

“There’s something… in there,” one of the older baboons whispered, his voice a mix of fear and wonder. They started to follow it along the riverbanks. The small, squeaky cry went off again. This time they were sure. It was indeed from the small basket floating on the water. 

Mono’s gaze was fixed on the basket, his heart pounding with the thrill of discovery. Without a word, he grabbed a sturdy stick, one end bent into a hook. He ran faster along the river, the baboon crowd, buzzing with excitement, followed along. There was a bridge coming up ahead, a small, beautiful bridge going over River Leni. 

Mono ran ahead of the mysterious basket to the bridge while the crowd followed along. He lay over the bridge, stretched his stick into the water and waited for the basket to come along so he could hook it. All the baboons watched on curiously, holding their breath. What could be in the mysterious basket? The small cry in the basket was now constant. 

While Mono lay over the river, waiting, the basket came along. Its small handles went straight into the hook of his stick. The children and the adult baboons watched, breathless. Kuya and Ama had come along and joined the rest of the crowd. Mono carefully lifted it up, carried the tiny, beautiful basket and came off the bridge back to the riverbank with it. 

The basket was made out of the most beautiful straw they had ever seen. He rested it at his feet, and the baboons gathered around, peering over each other’s shoulders. They could not believe their eyes. They murmured amongst themselves. The more they looked, the more they were curious and filled with amazement. 

Inside, lying curled and small, was the most beautiful, fair creature they had ever seen.  

In all their kingdom, they had not come across an animal clan like it. They could not figure out where it had come from. It looked like a baby of some other strange creatures they had never seen before—a tiny baby with long ears and soft fur; it was beautiful. Its eyes were closed and it kept twisting around in the basket, crying. 

For a moment, they just stood there, quietly. They did not know what to do with it. 

“It is hungry,” said Kuya, “it needs to eat.” 

“But what could we feed it?” one of the elders asked. 

“Perhaps, we should place it back on the water and let it continue floating,” another adult baboon suggested. 

“But go where?” Kuya retorted. “It cannot float back and the more it continues downstream, the more it would be lost.” 

“It’s too strange… too different,” Mono responded. “We don’t know what it is; perhaps it’s best if we let it go.” 

There was another moment of silence for the adult baboons. The children kept looking and murmuring to themselves, looking excited, bending over the basket while the adult baboons stood surrounding them from behind. 

Amal, clinging to her mother, Kuya’s youngest daughter, looked up at her mother with wide, pleading eyes. “Mom,” she said softly, “he’s beautiful. We can’t leave him here. He’ll be scared… he’ll be all alone.” 

“No, Amal, my dear, we can’t. What shall we feed it? It’s a baby; it can’t eat fruits,” Mono replied gently. 

“We can give him milk,” Amal responded, pleading, “Mum has milk in her breasts; I will share with him, Mum’s milk.” The adult baboons murmured amongst themselves, some laughing. 

“We cannot tell if it feeds on milk like our babies,” another adult baboon commented. 

“Don’t all babies feed on milk, Mum?” Amal asked, looking up at Kuya. 

“Yes, babies feed on milk,” Kuya replied. 

Before Amal could respond, Mono spoke. “This baby is different from any other baby we know of in the whole of this kingdom; we cannot tell if milk helps.”  

Meanwhile, the small creature was now crying louder. Kuya looked at it, concerned. She kept gazing at it, her eyes flashing with kindness mingled with worry. It was starting to roll and twist around in the small basket. With each twist and turn, the children grew more excited, more curious. 

“I’ll feed the baby,” Kuya announced at once while stepping toward the basket. 

“Ahhhhh…” the gathering crowd went off in unison, their eyes widening towards her in bewilderment. Mono looked surprised too. Kuya carried it from the basket, arousing an even louder murmur from the gathering crowd. 

In her arms, she soothed it. It grew quiet. Everyone was amazed. The children crowded around Kuya, clinging to her, wanting to have a look. She sat down. The children sat closer, the adults drawing in. 

“I’ll take it home and feed it,” she announced. Amal lit up with excitement. 

“But…but how?” Mono sounded concerned. 

“I will try breastfeeding it and we’ll see,” she replied. “We can’t leave it out here or let it float down the river—it will die, that’s certain.” Mono kept quiet. He did not know what to say but understood Kuya’s point. 

Once the baby creature was quiet in her arms, it blinked, opening its eyes for the first time to look at her with a gentle innocence that melted her heart.  

“Look, look, it has opened its eyes,” Kuya announced. The crowd drew in; it was the most beautiful creature they had ever seen. Their eyes melted with awe. 

“Mono,” Kuya said, her voice soft but firm, “this little one needs us. We cannot turn away from him.” Mono nodded. 

“We will have to take it to the chief first to gain his approval,” Mono responded quietly. The crowd approved. 

Then Kuya, still sitting down, undid her apron with one hand and then her blouse. She brought him to her breast. The crowd lit up, holding their breath. To everyone’s surprise, he held onto the breast and began to suckle. He was hungry; he suckled hard with small gasps for air. 

“Look, it can breastfeed!” Ram exclaimed in amazement. 

EzroniX Kids.