TROUBLED MARRIAGE? HOW BEST TO DEAL WITH YOUR HUSBAND

SUCCEEDING IN A TROUBLED MARRIAGE

 

While growing up in Ogume, Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State, I enjoyed listening to and learning from stories. The stories came through diverse means such as moonlight tales, band music, and work songs. This is not surprising because, in Ogume, a typical narrator is an orator, a singer, teacher and living encyclopedia.

 

One of the stories, I listened to through band music was about a man, his wife, a traditional doctor, a female lion and a goat. The man, prior to marrying his wife considered her the most beautiful woman on earth. He longed to get married to her. The woman, also considered him as her heart desire; eventually, they got married. However, few weeks after marriage rite, trouble set in. The man considered his wife a troublesome woman who often denied him life's basics. He complained, quarreled and fought; all to no avail. The wife, on the other hand, considered her husband to be an over-demanding man, who cared little about her. The house became uncomfortable for both of them. "This fell apart", the bond weakened and the house became a hostile ground . . . The woman recalled the day she got married to the man; how happy they were, their hope and aspirations; how all gave way for bitterness!

 

She decided to see a traditional doctor who would help in finding a solution to her troubled home. When she got to the doctor's operational ground (shrine), she was asked to walk into the court with bared feet; she did. The traditional doctor asked her, "Young woman, why are you here"? She narrated her story the troubled home.

 

When she finished, the doctor asked her to bring a goat; she did. The doctor asked her to go to the evil forest, where a lion is. Her goal is to go and bring the breast-milk of the female lion. It was an instruction she had to obey, considering her love for her husband and home, however, she was not ignorant of the danger such journey posed.

 

She began her journey to the evil forest, with the goat. After several days, she got to the evil forest. Not long she arrived, behold, the lion appeared. She hid herself behind a tree, crawled on her knees, praying and strategizing. Meanwhile, the lion was approaching her. As the lion was about to attack her, she threw the goat at the lion. As the lion laid its hands and teeth on the goat, she pressed a drop of the lion's breast milk into a cup and disappeared!

 

Her walking pace accelerated. "Getting the lion's breast milk will certainly enable the doctor to restore my troubled home", she thought. When she finally got to the doctor's court, she presented the lion's breast milk to him, expecting him to mix some substance with it . . . To her surprise, the doctor told her to go and utilize the same obedience, endurance, kneeling and strategy used in getting the lion's breast milk to relate to her husband. The woman began to cry saying "the traditional doctor has tricked me . . . "

 

Note: The traditional doctor did not trick her as she alleged. The doctor just told her that marrying a man, beyond loving him, entails patience, wisdom and prayer. May God bless your home.

 Written by Udoka Udo Udoka

 

 

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