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The Apprentice 3
'And suddenly they came. Uninvited ... You know the rest
of the story, my son.' Thus concluded his mother. Her voice
sad.
His mother had died seven years ago, but the recollection of
this story made him feel as if she was once again alive; as if he
himself was once more a six-year-old carefree child. He was
happy, relieved by the knowledge that life had once been
meaningful, that once there had been a king who knew how to
rule, that one day there might yet be another...
These thoughts were Ogunmola's succour in the trying days
of his apprenticeship. Omotaiye soon got to hate him bitterly,
and before long the master asked his apprentice to leave.
Without a certificate testifying to the completion of his apprenticeship, Ogunmola could not practise. This even though he
felt he had acquired enough of the basics on which he could
build to become a great master himself. Thus he found himself
on the other side of the river, knocking on Omotola's door.
'Eh, see who is here! Come in. Come right in. Haven't I
always said you're welcome in my house? Yes ... really! I'm
not actually surprised. Isn't it common knowledge that Omotaiye is mad? I'm happy it happened, though. I have always
dreamt of having an apprentice like you. With me it will be
completely different. You'll be free to forge any kinds of hoes,
cutlasses, knives and other implements exactly the way you
like. Absolutely free. Of course, who would think of forging a
hoe that is not durable as well as being beautiful? People know
they are buying quality and, naturally, they're prepared to pay
something extra. Why worry about every Tom, Dick and
Harry? Where is the guarantee that even if their Dick could
afford our hoe that he'll make good use of it? So, you see,
you're welcome. Come right in.'
This was how Ogunmola was received by Omotola, the arch
enemy of Omotaiye, his former master. Ogunmola understood the condition of his acceptance, but he also knew that he
had been promised freedom. However, a year had hardly
gone by when Omotola called him for an explanation.
'I have given you sufficient time to get rid of all that non-
sense with which Omotaiye had stuffed your head. Apparently, you're not in a hurry. Perhaps you don't even intend to ...
Yes, yes, I quite understand. Far more than you suppose. You all say that even at the very moment you're going against one.
But it's an old game, my boy, and the answer is as old as the
Bible. You cannot serve two masters. So you're either for me or
against me. And it's time you declared your stand.'
Again life became bitter for Ogunmola. What was he to do?
He had sought to safeguard his honour by refusing to go to
school but had ended up making things more difficult. And all
because in this cruel time it was enough to be caught in the
family quarrels of strangers to be denied one's dignity, one's
rights.
Omotaiye and Omotola, as rumour had it, were twins.
Identical twins. One was as tall and athletic as the other, as
healthy and boisterous as the other, as courageous and ambitious as the other,
as talented and hard-working as the other, as tempered and
diplomatic as the other, as good a master as the other, as
...
One could go on for ever enumerating the points of
similarity. Yet these twins would be the very first to deny the
existence of any such similarities, of any kind of relationship.
They had never known each other from Adam. Didn't you
study Geography? How could you possibly confuse someone who lives on this side of the river with the one on the
other side? Can't you recognise the signs of the time? Then,
why won't you differentiate between the road that leads forward into the future from the one that goes backward into the
past ...?
The arguments were inexhaustible.
Ogunmola heard it all and was at a loss to explain that it was
his least desire to serve as an arbiter in a family quarrel, that he
did not want to be caught in the crossfire between two
brothers, that his sole desire was to be a smith; a simple smith,
forging hoes his own way and dreaming of Oba, the wise
ruler, his grandfather when the going was tough.
Was that asking too much? Ogunmola could not tell. He
knew only that this was a trying time and he wished he would
survive it.
End |
