The Proud Wren: 5 African Fables of Boasting and Bravery

A family of wrens established their nest proximate to a well-trodden road.

Upon a certain day, the fledglings espied a camel traversing the thoroughfare.

“Papa!” they chirped with youthful exuberance. “We have witnessed a creature of immense proportions!”

The wren, in a display of paternal pride, extended his diminutive foot. “Of such magnitude, perchance?”

“Nay, Papa, larger by far!” came the insistent reply.

Thereupon, the wren unfurled his wings to their fullest extent. “Of this breadth, perhaps?”

“E’en larger, Papa, exceeding large!” the fledglings rejoined.

“You labour under a misapprehension, my children,” he declared with unwavering conviction. “No creature exists that surpasses me in grandeur.”

“Await the morrow, and thou shalt witness the truth,” the chicks asserted.

On the subsequent day, the camel once more graced the road with its presence. The wren, in a desperate attempt to maintain his pre-eminence, stretched and strained to an inordinate degree, whereupon the camel, in a moment of capricious appetite, did swallow him whole, only to promptly disgorge him.

“I shall concede that this beast possesses a certain magnitude,” the wren declared, undeterred, “yet I must steadfastly maintain:

I remain, without question, the most considerable of beings.”

'I am, indubitably, far superior to thee!' the Francolin declared with immodest boastfulness. 'I traverse the terrain with celerity, whereas thy pace is lamentably sluggish. Furthermore, I possess the faculty of flight!'

'Pray, accept my felicitations,' the Tortoise responded with equanimity. 'I merely endeavour to perform to the best of mine abilities.'

Thereupon, a pungent odour of combustion assailed their olfactory senses.

'The herbage is ablaze!' the Tortoise exclaimed with alarm.

'We must seek sanctuary forthwith!' the Francolin squawked in a state of agitation.

The Tortoise, with fortuitous serendipity, discovered a profound indentation in the earth, wrought by the appendage of an elephant, replete with aqueous fluid. He immersed himself within this cavity and thereby evaded the conflagration.

The Francolin, in his endeavor to escape through aerial means, was overcome by the noxious vapours and incandescent flames, precipitating his descent to terra firma and his ultimate demise.

He who doth indulge in vainglorious pronouncements is not invariably the most pre-eminent.

The Eagle and the Leopard, in a display of vainglory most unbecoming, engaged in a spirited disputation concerning their respective merits as predators par excellence.

'I am, without a scintilla of doubt, the superior hunter!' proclaimed the Eagle, his voice ringing with unwavering conviction.

'Pray, desist from such pronouncements!' retorted the Leopard, his tone laced with umbrage. 'The mantle of supremacy rests, assuredly, upon my own shoulders.'

'I shall furnish demonstrative proof of my ascendancy,' shrieked the Eagle, whereupon he executed a swift and audacious manoeuvre, seizing one of the Leopard's offspring and bearing it aloft to his aerie.

The Leopard, overcome with grief, commenced to lament the loss of his cub. He ran hither and thither, leaping with desperate abandon, yet possessing no means to emulate the Eagle's aerial prowess. He sought instruction in the art of flight, but alas, the Leopard, bereft of wings, was incapable of such locomotion.

Thus did the Eagle, through this lamentable deed, furnish the Leopard with irrefutable evidence of his predatory dominance.

The Lion and the Crocodile engaged in a display of vainglory, each extolling his own prowess.

'I possess superior strength to thee!' proclaimed the Lion, his voice resonating with a formidable roar.

'Nay, it is I who am the stronger!' countered the Crocodile, his tone laced with vehement protestation. 'I am capable of dispatching the Hippopotamus within the aquatic domain.'

'Yet, I can overcome the Buffalo upon terra firma,' retorted the Lion, his words carrying a note of triumph.

To substantiate his claim, the Lion stealthily approached a Buffalo grazing near the riverbank. As the Lion launched his assault, seizing the Buffalo and endeavouring to bring it down, the Crocodile emerged from the water, seized the Buffalo by a hind limb, and exerted a forceful pull.

The Crocodile succeeded in dragging the Buffalo into the water, inadvertently drawing the Lion along with it. Subsequently, the Crocodile submerged both the Lion and the Buffalo, leading to their demise, and proceeded to consume them.

'Exquisite!' he declared with an air of satisfaction. 'Now, all shall acknowledge my position as the most formidable of creatures.'

Upon hearing of his sire's demise at the jaws of the Crocodile, the Lion's cub didst harbour a desire for retribution.

The youthful Lion, with grim purpose, proceeded to stalk a Buffalo along the riparian margin.

Anon, the Lion didst spring upon the Buffalo, and once more the Crocodile emerged from the waters, seizing the Buffalo's leg with resolute grip, and exerting a powerful pull.

Yet, on this occasion, the young Lion offered resistance, pulling with such vigour as to draw the Crocodile further upon the terra firma. Whereupon, the Lion, with alacrity, fell upon the Crocodile, rending him asunder.

Thus did the young Lion avenge his progenitor, demonstrating that the Lion reigns supreme upon the land, whilst the Crocodile holds dominion within the aquatic domain.