Finum lived on a big farm in Kaduna. He had a big room to himself. All the other goats stayed in the open space next to his room. In the morning, Mr Asake would open the door and lead him and the other goats to the greens to graze. Finum enjoyed tearing up the grass from roots very fast. He would gobble up mouthfuls after which he would go and lie under the mango tree. The other goats would not eat until he had finished. They were all scared of Finum. If any of them came any close to his grazing spot, he would lunge his big head, horns first at them.
One day a group of people came to the farm with Mr Asake. Three men walked towards Finum. He felt something was wrong and made a dash for the pen. The men gave chase. Finum turned left and right in quick succession. One of the men tried to grab his horn and fell. All the other goats shouted, “run, Finum, run!” The second man caught his left hind leg. Finum kicked! He made a dash to right but he ran straight into the arms of the third man. The man held his horns and pinned him to the ground. Finum struggled, but the other two men joined in and tied his legs.
Mr Asake smiled and told the men, “tell Papa this is my birthday gift to him.”
The men drove off with Finum securely tied at the back of the truck.
Finum tried to be brave. Memories of how Mr Asake used to stroke his head and rub his belly came flooding to his mind. He let out a loud bleat! He couldn’t take the betrayal. “So this is how I die.” He cried all the way.
The place the car stopped was strange to Finum. They put him down and untied him. He was surprised. He quickly made a run for it. The compound was not fenced. There were bushes all over the place and Finum dashed into one. He was happy he had escaped. He was going to find his way back to the farm.
“Silly you! Where do you think you are running to?” That was the big brown Bororo goat standing in the middle of some tall grasses. The goat was surrounded by six others.
Finum was shocked! He was also happy. These goats must have escaped from the bad people who brought him. This must be some sort of hideout he thought.
“Good day guys!” He greeted. “I want to escape back to my farm. Don’t you guys have a farm too?”
The goats gave a loud bleaty laugh. Another farm goat on a lost cause.
The big brown Bororo goat came close to him, sniffed him over, then nudged him with curved horns.
“Stop that! Just tell me the way back to my farm.”
The big brown Bororo, stared Finum in the face and told him there was no going back. He told him the story of how farm goats always tried to escape but ended up dead or lost. Finum was scared. Big brown Bororo told him to be a tag along with him and he would enjoy the village. He introduced him to the other goats.
First of all, Finum had to learn what leaves to eat. This was unlike the farm where he had sweet grass prepared for him. Big brown Bororo showed him grass for different occasions. “If you have an itchy tongue, eat these wide, hairy leaves and you will be fine” Bororo said as he munched on some.
Later in the evening, big brown Bororo told Finum it was time to go home. Finum was lazing under an Udala tree, regurgitating and chewing the cud while waiting for the master to take them home. Big brown Bororo told him, they would follow the yellow ball in the sky back to the compound. He taught Finum how to follow the big yellow ball and tell when it was time to go home.
They all marched home with big brown Bororo leading the way. Different groups branched off when they got to their compounds.
When they got to big brown Bororo’s compound, some women and an old man grabbed Finum by the hind legs. He bleated, asking big brown Bororo to help him. The old man, tied a piece of red cloth around his neck and let him go.
Big brown Bororo smiled at him, “you are now one of us.”
Click to Read – My Grandpa’s Farm – Children’s Story by Rachael Twinomugisha, Uganda
