One day, during a dry season, the usual after harvest feast and sacrificial ceremony was held at Ocola’s place. All members of the Lwo family took their sacrifices and spears there to be blessed. In compliance with the customary law all the spears were placed before the ancestral shrine to be blessed. The spears so gathered remained heaped before the shrine for one night in accordance with the custom while rite after rite was performed before the shrine. This was how the spears were sanctified. On the following day, very early in the morning, Ocola decided to go out and check his snares placed around a pool where wild animals usually drank.
He got up before the sanctified spears were distributed to their owners and he just picked up the first spear he found from the collection before the shrine. Apparently, the spear he took was one owned by his younger brother, Lwo Junior. He hurried away to the pool. When Ocola got near the pool he found that a lonely bull elephant had trampled down his snares meant for small game and not elephants and ruined them. The elephant in question was still drinking water in the pool. Ocola was greatly enraged and decided to attack the unwary beast that was wallowing in the mud, He checked the wind and found that it was blowing westwards.
As he was on the north of the pool, Ocola shifted his position westwards and approached the elephant carefully against the wind. Due to this Ocolla was a bit late in arriving within spear-throwing distance. As he emerged from the bush into the path made by the animals, the elephant was just getting out of the water, going to the other side of the valley. This forced Ocola to increase his pace in order to catch up with the elephant before it ascended the high bank of the pool. He quickly closed in upon the unwary beast that was lazily mounting the bank. Ocola made a small foot-hold on the ground, ranged himself well and then threw the spear at the elephant with great force. The spear caught the elephant at the back of its hind-leg. The surprised beast jumped up in terror and the shaft of the spear fell off, leaving the blade sticking firmly in the flesh. The elephant ran away into the jungle.
Ocola crossed to the other side of the pool and picked up the spear shaft. He hurried home and reported the incident to his brothers and the assembled elders. Immediately the crowd gathered under the family tree rushed to the shrine to pick up their spears in order to track down the elephant. They were led to the spot by Ocola, followed the elephant until very late in the day and returned home without recovering the lost spear-blade. When Ocola mentioned that the spear he had used did not belong to him, those who had brought their spears to the shrine for blessing checked. Ocola showed them the shaft and his brother, Lwo, quickly recognized it to be his shaft. He was very much annoyed and began to quarrel with his older brother for having taken his spear.
Ocola offered his own good spear to replace the one that had been carried away by the elephant, but Lwo would not accept it. The elders attempted to mediate between them but without success. Lwo was irreconcilable and would not listen to any explanation. The bickering got worse and continued until the evening. The disgusted elders dispersed with great anger, each of them sullenly walking away after failing to persuade Lwo to accept the spear offered by Ocola. Ocola also became annoyed with himself for having used the spear of another man while his own spears were within easy reach. In a fit of self-reproach, he asked his wife to prepare a large quantity of safari food that would last for many days, so that he might follow the elephant to where the earth met the heavens”.
Early in the morning on the following day, Ocola left to go and track the elephant. He bade his old father, Olum, farewell and swore never to return home without Lwo’s spear-blade. When his father, mother and wife pleaded with him to return home even if he should fail to recover the spear, Ocola reiterated that he would rather die of starvation in the jungle than return home without the missing spear-blade and be troubled by Lwo again. Both his father and mother blessed him before the ancestral shrine and he left home quietly. He was armed with five spears and some arrows. As the sun was beginning to appear like a big yellow mushroom on the horizon, Ocola was already at the spot where they had left off the chase the previous day.
He picked up the plainly visible eastward trail of the huge beast. He followed it hurriedly towards the mountains. After two days of long march, he began to find fresh droppings. He continued relentlessly and after more than ten days Ocola caught up with the elephant. As the spot where he first sighted the elephant was not bushy enough to hide him well. Ocola kept away from the animal but at a distance from which he could see it well. He moved with the wind to avoid being smelt. It was a very irksome business keeping a watch on a lonely elephant that was lazily treading about the field. Fortunately, towards evening the elephant began to move towards a pool, to drink water and wallow in the mud. Ocola approached the unwary beast in great excitement. He first threw small quantities of dust up to find out the direction of the wind; as usual he found that the wind was blowing westwards. This was very good because at that time the elephant was wallowing in the mud close to the western bank of the pool. He placed his food parcel down and selected his best spear. After saying a short prayer, he approached the beast carefully. When within a few yards of the elephant, Ocola made a small hole in the ground to serve as a foot-hold. He ranged himself properly to try and see if the position was good enough for throwing the spear. After he was satisfied with his position, he collected all his strength and threw the spear at the elephant with the force he could command. The spear landed straight at a spot directly against the heart and penetrated the thick skin, perforating the main artery. The terrified elephant jumped up in great agony, but the mud was too deep for it to get out quickly. The blood spurted and gushed out from the wound. The elephant roared and attempted to stagger out of the mud but fell back in acute agony. The loud roar and vigorous struggle changed into a painful moaning and feeble throwing about of the trunk. The great beast died soon afterwards due to loss of blood.
Ocola approached the carcass with great excitement. He examined the huge body of the elephant and, to his great happiness, found the spear-blade of his brother, Lwo, still sticking in the flesh of the elephant. He prayed heartily and then reverently plucked the spear-blade from the body of the elephant. He examined the spear-blade carefully, congratulated himself inwardly, looked at the sun to ascertain the time he had killed the great animal so easily and then drank water from the pool. He jumped to the other side of the pool, collected his own spear on the bank and wiped the blood from the blade. Ocola then got out of the pool and, after eating his safari food and refilling his water-gourd, sat under a nearby tree for a short rest. After snatching a short nap, he started off on his return journey. Ocola travelled westwards until the sun went down and darkness enveloped the jungle. He spent the night in a cave. On the following day he started off very early and covered a considerable distance. But at the end of the day, he was not sure of the right direction because the wind was blowing north.
Ocola spent the night in a tree. When he arose on the following day, feeling a headache, he was startled to find the sun rising from the west instead of the usual easterly direction. This confused him and he travelled backwards, thinking that he was proceeding homewards. His meagre food supply was dwindling fast. Ocola, whose memory was completely confused, walked round and round without knowing exactly which was the direction of home. He crossed his own track from time to time and was unable to go far from the place where he had spent the night. The sun was almost directly overhead and he had given up hope of ever returning home, when he accidentally stumbled upon a track made by women who went out fishing. He decided to stick to the track as he knew it would take him home or to the women if they were still in the jungle. Ocola conscientiously followed the track although, as he saw it, the track was leading in the wrong direction. As the sun went down, he reached the pool where the women had spent a day fishing. From the pool he took the outbound track. He followed this round and round until the track brought him home. As soon as he reached the simsim fields the sun suddenly corrected its position and he began to see everything normally. Coming close to the village he decided to wait until the sun went down and then enter his home under the cover of darkness. He did this because he wanted to surprise the people.
On the following morning Ocola waited until the elders had gathered around his old father, in order to comfort the old man who was not able to eat because he thought his son would not return home, and then emerged from the house with the blade of the spear of his young brother. The owner, Lwo Junior, was quickly summoned and the spear-blade was handed over to him in the presence of the many elders. After the brief handover ceremony, Ocola told the elders that in order to recover the spear he had faced death and had only been saved by Divine Providence. Therefore, he would regard himself as a foreigner among his own people. The elders thought this was a good joke and took no notice of the remark. Because Ocola was known to be a good man, everyone thought this was the end of the bitter quarrel, but they were wrong.
The feud which was to break up the peaceful settlement had been created. The old Olum sensed the danger but did not make a fuss about it for fear of aggravating the matter. He could clearly see a marked change in the general behavior of Ocola and knew that his hitherto peaceful house was doomed to disintegrate. Being too old, there was nothing he could do to save his house from imminent danger.
