lost both her son and money as a result of her greediness and jealousy.
Remember the Day After Tomorrow
‘Remember the day after tomorrow, my sons.’ That was how the father used to warn his two sons, Dele and Deji, whenever they offended one who was older than them. The father, mother, and their two sons, Dele and Deji, who, in the days gone by, lived in a remote village, were poor, but the father was not poor in the civilities which surround human life. In the night, when the day’s work was over, and as soon as all of them sat before the fire, the old father would start to lecture his sons on how to respect their elders so that they might live longer, to make their lives happy and worth living among the people of the village.
‘Perhaps,’ Dele suggested one day to his younger brother, Deji, ‘“Remember the day after tomorrow” is the name of our eldest brother who was born and left our father and mother for a big town before we were born.’
‘And probably our father is just reminding us not to forget him,’ Deji said, supporting his brother, Dele, because both of them were puzzled about this warning. And it was a pity that they did not understand what their old and weary father meant by that. But alas! Dele and Deji did not ask their father to tell them the meaning of the warning, but instead both convinced themselves that ‘Remember the day after tomorrow’ was the name of their eldest brother who had left their village for a big town before they were born.
Unfortunately, a few years after their father had startedto warn them like that, he died suddenly, and two months later their mother died as well. Then the two young boys began to take care of themselves, but not as satisfactorily as when their father and mother were alive.
Dele and Deji each had a very big hunch on his back, as had their father, mother, and the rest of the family. So for their strange hunchbacks, other people in the village always called them ‘the Hunchback Family’.
A year after their father and mother died, a strange, hefty man came to them, in their father’s house. The name of the man was Totofioko. He was tall, cheerful and talkative, and always wore smart clothes. However, he was an expert trickster and kidnapper of children. He lived in the village which was next to Dele and Deji’s village. He was very well known throughout his village and many other villages as well for his tricks.
Totofioko had overheard when the father of the two boys warned them, ‘Remember the day after tomorrow,’ and noticed as well that every one in the family had a hunch on the back. So one day he put a flat stone on his back in such a perfect way that the stone seemed exactly like a big hunch when he wore a garment over it. Having done so, he took a big suitcase and one expensive umbrella and then he went to Dele and Deji in their dead father’s house. He met them as they sat in their sitting room.
‘Hello, my dear two junior brothers!’ Totofioko said as he walked into the sitting room with a smiling face and put the umbrella and the big suitcase down. ‘Hello, sir! Welcome, sir! Please have a seat, sir!’ Dele and Deji said as they received Totofioko with a bit of a shock, especially when they saw the costly garments which he wore and the costly suitcase and the umbrella in his hand.
‘Thank you very much, my dear junior brothers! I am very sorry to tell you now that this is the first time I have ever come home since when both of you were born,’Totofioko quickly explained to the boys as he was sitting down on the seat.
‘This is the cold water, sir,’ Deji said as he ran to the pot and brought cold water in an earthen bowl. He knelt down with due respect as he gave Totofioko the water.
When he had drunk from the water and rested for a few seconds, Totofioko asked the boys, with a quiet voice, as if he had not yet heard of the death of Dele and Deji’s father and mother, ‘Has your father gone to the farm?’
‘Father?
Remember the Day After Tomorrow
‘Remember the day after tomorrow, my sons.’ That was how the father used to warn his two sons, Dele and Deji, whenever they offended one who was older than them. The father, mother, and their two sons, Dele and Deji, who, in the days gone by, lived in a remote village, were poor, but the father was not poor in the civilities which surround human life. In the night, when the day’s work was over, and as soon as all of them sat before the fire, the old father would start to lecture his sons on how to respect their elders so that they might live longer, to make their lives happy and worth living among the people of the village.
‘Perhaps,’ Dele suggested one day to his younger brother, Deji, ‘“Remember the day after tomorrow” is the name of our eldest brother who was born and left our father and mother for a big town before we were born.’
‘And probably our father is just reminding us not to forget him,’ Deji said, supporting his brother, Dele, because both of them were puzzled about this warning. And it was a pity that they did not understand what their old and weary father meant by that. But alas! Dele and Deji did not ask their father to tell them the meaning of the warning, but instead both convinced themselves that ‘Remember the day after tomorrow’ was the name of their eldest brother who had left their village for a big town before they were born.
Unfortunately, a few years after their father had startedto warn them like that, he died suddenly, and two months later their mother died as well. Then the two young boys began to take care of themselves, but not as satisfactorily as when their father and mother were alive.
Dele and Deji each had a very big hunch on his back, as had their father, mother, and the rest of the family. So for their strange hunchbacks, other people in the village always called them ‘the Hunchback Family’.
A year after their father and mother died, a strange, hefty man came to them, in their father’s house. The name of the man was Totofioko. He was tall, cheerful and talkative, and always wore smart clothes. However, he was an expert trickster and kidnapper of children. He lived in the village which was next to Dele and Deji’s village. He was very well known throughout his village and many other villages as well for his tricks.
Totofioko had overheard when the father of the two boys warned them, ‘Remember the day after tomorrow,’ and noticed as well that every one in the family had a hunch on the back. So one day he put a flat stone on his back in such a perfect way that the stone seemed exactly like a big hunch when he wore a garment over it. Having done so, he took a big suitcase and one expensive umbrella and then he went to Dele and Deji in their dead father’s house. He met them as they sat in their sitting room.
‘Hello, my dear two junior brothers!’ Totofioko said as he walked into the sitting room with a smiling face and put the umbrella and the big suitcase down. ‘Hello, sir! Welcome, sir! Please have a seat, sir!’ Dele and Deji said as they received Totofioko with a bit of a shock, especially when they saw the costly garments which he wore and the costly suitcase and the umbrella in his hand.
‘Thank you very much, my dear junior brothers! I am very sorry to tell you now that this is the first time I have ever come home since when both of you were born,’Totofioko quickly explained to the boys as he was sitting down on the seat.
‘This is the cold water, sir,’ Deji said as he ran to the pot and brought cold water in an earthen bowl. He knelt down with due respect as he gave Totofioko the water.
When he had drunk from the water and rested for a few seconds, Totofioko asked the boys, with a quiet voice, as if he had not yet heard of the death of Dele and Deji’s father and mother, ‘Has your father gone to the farm?’
‘Father?
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