The nightingale is a small migratory songbird with a rich repertoire of songs. Found in the forests and shrublands of Europe and parts of Asia for most of the year, they usually migrate to Africa for the winter, flying at speeds up to 18 mph. The Nightingale is famous across the world for singing at night. But despite its reputation, it doesn’t just perch around singing all year round. It sings mostly only during breeding season to attract a suitable female.
Legend has it that one season, while spending winter in Africa, the Nightingale got entangled with lizards, cats and rats. Because cats and rats have never been known to be best of friends and always at loggerheads, the Nightingale decided to make its services available by serenading them with its sonorous voice.
The intention of the Nightingale was a mission impossible that endangered even its own life. It was mediating in the midst of irreconcilable predators. From its rich repertoire of songs, it dished out melodies to the pleasure of two hostile foes and thought that all was fair. While music was played to the cat and the rat to calm their nerves, the lizard continuously invaded their store-holes in secret to steal food from their saves, then dropped the remnants in the Nightingale’s nest.
One day, the Nightingale went hunting for insects to feed and did not return on time to sing for the cat and rat, and the duo got into a quarrel over their depleted stores of food. In the absence of their mediator, they accused the lizard of secretly stealing their food and threatened the life of the lizard. In a bid to exonerate itself, the lizard told the cat and rat that it is suspecting the Nightingale as the culprit and urged them to check its nest for confirmation if they could find remnants of the food.
The trio, cat, rat and lizard then proceeded to the Nightingale’s nest in its absence and, lo and behold, the remnants of the food were littered inside the nest. Furious cat and rat, suspended their quarrel and vowed to lurk behind and deal with the Nightingale whenever it returns to the nest. But the lizard had a more sinister plan. It reminded the cat and rat that the Nightingale is a prey for three of them and if they can wait behind and kill the Nightingale, the three of them will have enough to eat and replenish their food stores and the ‘thief’ would have been eliminated.
The lizard’s suggestion was adopted and the three waited behind until the Nightingale flew back into the waiting venom of its three predators and was killed and eaten and it remnants taken to their various store-holes. And that was how the Nightingale never made it back after that season’s winter.
This is a subtle piece of advice to those who are always eager to dabble in the quarrels of politicians. You will be the kola nut and the barbecue they will place in the saucer and eat on their day of fence mending. While they are at it, watch like the spectators that you are and when the match has ended, share the grace and go to your house. You are also at liberty to descend into the arena if you have not learnt your lessons.
Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo is the Publisher of CrossRiverWatch and a rights activist, a Cross Riverian, and writes from Lagos.
NB: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Agba Jalingo, and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with..
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