Why Dead People Are Buried
Why Dead People Are Buried tells the danger of procrastination and lack of focus.
Why Dead People Are Buried
A long time ago, when the world was just being created; the Creator was very kind and empathic. He made men, women, and animals; they all lived together in the Creator’s kingdom. Because of how good the Creator was, he didn’t like it when any of his people died. It always broke his heart to see his creation suffer and then die. He didn’t even like a peaceful death as well.
The Creator thought for a long time about what he could do to make his people stay alive. Finally, he came up with a solution. But he needed to tell the people this solution; they had to employ it for it to work.
“What will I do now?” He asked himself as he paced up and down his room. “Oh, I know. I will send the dog.” The Creator was so happy with his discovery that he immediately called for the dog.
“Dog, I have something I want to tell you. I want to send you on an errand,” he told the dog when he arrived.
“What is it, Master?! You know you can tell me anything,” the dog said happily.
“Okay, I want you to take a message to my people. Tell them that because of how kind and gracious I am, I hate to see them die. This is why I have decided to allow them to live even after they die. Now, this is how they will do it. Once someone dies, the body will be placed in a compound, and then wood ashes will be thrown on it. After twenty-four hours, the dead body will come back to life.”
Immediately, the dog went to meet the Creator’s people. The dog travelled for many days but was not even halfway close to his location. Soon, he got tired and decided to rest for a few minutes.
“Goodness, I am very hungry!” The dog exclaimed as he laid his back on a tree. “What I would give to eat something right now!” Immediately he was done making that sentence, he saw a house that the door looked open. He walked slowly towards the house, and that was when he saw some bones lying on the table.
“Ah, the Creator truly loves me. He even placed food for me along my journey. Well, I will just eat a bit and continue my journey.”
So the dog went in to eat, and after eating, he was so full and tired. He even forgot the message that the Creator told him to deliver.
“Maybe if I sleep for a few more hours, I will remember,” he said to himself, and with that, he fell asleep. After waiting for days without hearing from the dog, the Creator got worried and called in the sheep to deliver the same message.
“Sheep,” the Creator called out. “I want you to help me do something. I want to send you on an errand,” the Creator said.
“Of course, Master. You know you can send me on errands,” he said.
“Okay, I want you to go to my people; take a message to them. Tell them that because of how kind and gracious I am, I hate to see them die. This is why I have decided to allow them to live even after they die. Now, this is how they will do it. Once someone dies, the body would be placed in a compound, and then wood ashes would be thrown on it. After twenty-four hours, the dead body will come back to life. Can you do this?”
“Of course, Master. I can do this. I will leave right away.”
So the sheep left. He wandered for days and soon got tired. Out of exhaustion, he fell asleep. After a few hours, the sheep woke up. Because of how foolish the sheep was, he couldn’t remember the message the Creator told him to deliver, and he changed the message to fit him.
He went to his master’s people and told them that the Creator said that anyone who died had to be buried. The people heard this and started doing exactly that.
After so many hours, the dog finally woke up. On waking, he remembered the message. Happy he remembered, he ran all the way to the people to deliver the message. When he got there, the people told him that they already received a different message from the sheep, and as such, they didn’t believe that the Creator sent the dog.
Surprisingly, some people hated dogs because they believed that if he had come on time, they wouldn’t have had to lose any of their loved ones.
Moral Lesson
- Avoid procrastination.
- Don’t get deterred when doing an important task. Stay focused.
- Discipline yourself. Master your body, cravings, and control your appetite.
More folktale, folklore, and fable