Hidden curses

In a small village of Pakadha,Zombo District,Uganda there lived an old woman with a daughter in-law. While the old woman was hardworking,her daughter in-law was lazy,selfish and bad mannered. They had flock of animals which they had to take care of. "We should take proper care of these animals",the old woman would say. Hmm! animals are meant for food and not us to serve them, the daughter in-law would reply with a lot of arrogance and disrespect.

There was a river called nyagak at some distance from the old woman's house . Every afternoon,she used to take the animals to the river to drink water meanwhile the lazy daughter in-law would remain home doing nothing but sleeping instead of cooking. The old woman could come back from the river hungry and finds nothing to eat despite the daughter being at home.

One day the old woman fell ill and she requested her daughter in-law to take the animals to the river. "It's very hot today,dear!the animals must be thirsty,said the old woman. "Look! I have some mangoes here and I know you love mangoes dear. Take the animals to the river to drink water. While they are drinking water,you can eat mangoes,the old woman added. She handed a box of mangoes to her daughter in-law,the greedy girl agreed.

But no sooner had she left the old woman's sight than she tied the animals to a tree and sat down to eat the mangoes . The thirsty animals waited for the daughter in-law to finish eating the mangoes. We hope she eats fast. We are really thirsty,thoughts of the animals. But after having eaten all the mangoes,she returned home and lied to her mother that she had taken the animals to the river and they drank water.

The animals were extremely hungry and angry,they cursed the daughter . "In your next birth,you may be born a chatak,a bird that drinks water when only it rains. As you kept us thirsty today,so will you remain thirsty.

After sometime,the illness of the old woman worsened and she could not move.She requested her daughter to take her for medical attention but she gave deaf ear to the old woman. Unfortunately the illness of the old woman made her blind since she could not receive medical attention due to the daughter in-law's negligence. Due to her condition,she asked her daughter in-law to prepare her some food since she was hungry. "Which food do you want?,Iam not in the mood of eating so shall you be,the daughter replied. "Please! please!,I am too hungry,the old woman added. The daughter in-law collected the animal wastes from the kraal and brought to this woman as food. Since she was blind,she ate the wastes. The hungry and angry old woman cursed the daughter in-law. "In your next birth,you will give birth to dwarfs only and suffering will be your portion". "Hah!hah!, nothing will happen to me you old woman",the daughter in-law replied.

Years later,she left the old woman's place and got married to another man. They lived bit of good life but suffering was her friend. All her plans were not working,even including businesses. She could not also conceive and all these brought misunderstanding between them in the house. The house was full of fire with stress only. They tried all possible means to solve the problems but the solutions were all futile for them.

Some happiness and joy came in the family after years when she conceived. But this did not last long since the curses of the animals and the old woman came true as in her next birth she delivered a chatak and a dwarf at the same time.

It's said that a chatak is bird that waits for rain,remaining thirsty through out the year despite having water all round while ba dwarf is some one who is dwarf. This realized when the baby born could neither eat nor drink water despite having all the items and the baby was not growing like how normal children should. As a result of all these,more misery befell the family. No happiness but sorrow only.

Months later they visited a man of God for help. They wanted to know why the child was in that condition. As the man of God was praying,some vis ion appeared to him. He started asking the woman,do you remember how treated the old woman and her animals some years ago?,yes!I remember,she replied.T he husband was perplexed with the revelation. You did all these this to your mother in-law?,the man asked. Now the man of God,what should we do?,the man asked the pastor. "If possible go back to that woman and apologize,the curse she split on you and that of the animals are the ones affecting you and the entire household.

Immediately they came to village to look for this woman but unfortunately the old woman had died days before them. The daughter in-law cried and cried but still problems were not solved since the old woman had died. "This is all your mistake,you would have told before when the problem had just started.",the husband added."I had forgotten",the woman replied. The child remained a chatak and a dwarf.The child was not of help at all. They also had to produce the second child with hope that this one would be different but the second child was also the same like the first one.

The husband later married another woman and neglected this first woman because of her past. The second woman gave birth to normal children compared to these ones.

This woman was later chased by the husband with her chatak and dwarf child. She thought of marrying another man but her condition could not change since she could produce chatak and dwarf children wherever she was going. After passing through all these she decided not to marry again but look after her children.

After experiencing all these,she realized her mistake and blamed herself for not listening and following the old woman's directives. She said to herself,"Indeed the truth has come to light".