our family story involves animals
In our family, the family storyteller is my father. The family story is shared in every family gathering or in instances where a person has done something to warrant the story to be told. My father shares the story to instill discipline in us.
Unlike most family stories, our family story involves animals. My father tells the story of a hare and a hyena. The story takes place a very long time ago where animals could talk, interact, dance, and do all behaviors that humans carry out today. In a distant land, far away, my dad says, there were a hare and hyena. The two animals were close friends. The hyena ate grass, and the hare ate nuts. They lived with their mothers who were aging. The two animals lived together in harmony. They took turns taking care of each other’s mothers. They checked on each other as often as they could. They took turns searching for food to feed their parents. Their neighbors, the donkey, and the chicken considered them brothers from different mothers.
However, one season, the rains failed. There was a drought all over the land. It became almost impossible for the animals to find food themselves, leave alone their mothers. One day, the two animals, the hare and the hyena, set out to find food in the distant lands. On reaching there, they found it was also dry as their homes. Hungry, angry, and depressed, they started their journey home. On the way back, the hyena was complaining of hunger all through. The hare, cunning as he was, came up with a plan. He suggested that the two of them should slaughter and eat their mothers. The two animals saw that it was a brilliant idea and they agreed to kill their mothers and eat them as soon as they arrived home.
On arriving home, the hyena pounced on his mother, beating her to death. He then ate her to his satisfaction. The hare on coming home, however, took a drum and started to hit it as his mother screamed. After some time, he stopped and ate his last serving of nuts. He then went out of the hut where he met the hyena and lied to him that he had also killed his mother and eaten her. A few days later, it rained heavily, and the grass in the fields was plenty. The animals went out to eat and celebrate. The hare came out with his mother. On seeing the hare’s mother, hyena knew that he was duped. He was angry and furious and started to chase the hare and the mother. However, the hare and his mother outran the hyena. The two animals up to date never see eye-to-eye and instances where the hyena meets the hare; he kills and eats him instantly in remembrance of his mother. The moral of the story is that we should be careful when choosing our friends.
The story teaches the new members of the family, especially the children, on the importance of telling the truth to friends and family. It also encourages the family to do actions that are for the benefit of the family. Although the hare lied to his friend, he spared his mother’s life. It also teaches us to always have a filter mechanism on the advice that we get. Some people who advise you may not have our best interest at heart. Some people are there to dupe us and take advantage of our naivety. They will exploit us, and when we realize that we have been duped, we will be angry with ourselves.
The use of such stories is very effective in teaching behaviors and family values. Such stories are fun. They are easy to remember. Such a story advocates for the right morals without mention specific individuals hence maintaining family unity. It also makes it easy to pass it to children as well as grownups who understand the hidden meaning of the story.
In my opinion, I believe such stories are an effective way for individuals to learn ideal family behavior and value. Our family story, for example, advocates for truth, loyalty, and friendship. The story makes it effective to deliver to all groups of people in the family, from the kids to the adults.