Thunder and Lightning
Athieno Gertrude and Owino Ogot
Jesse Breytenbach
In the olden days, Thunder and Lightning lived on earth amongst people.
Thunder was the mother of Lightning.
Lightning was hot tempered and he often got into arguments.
Whenever Lightning was angry he used to go around burning houses and knocking down trees.
He made a frightening noise, "Pia-la-la-la, pia-la-la-la!" He damaged farms, and even sometimes killed people.
Whenever Lightning did these things, his mother would call out to him in a very loud voice, "Bum-rambo-la-la-la, la-bum!"
She tried to make him stop causing damage.
But Lightning did not care about what his mother said.
He would cause problems for everyone when he was in a bad temper.
At last, people complained to the king.
So the king ordered that Thunder and her son should leave the village.
He sent them to live far away from people's houses.
This did not do much good. When Lightning was angry he still burnt forests, "Pia-la-la-la, pia-la-la-la!"
The flames sometimes spread to farms and burned them.
So people complained to the king again.
This time, the king told Lightning and Thunder that they could no longer live on earth.
He sent them to live in the sky, where they could not cause as much damage.
Ever since then, when Lightning is angry, he still manages to burn and destroy, "Pia-la-la-la, pia-la-la-la!"
And we still hear his mother, Thunder, scolding him, "Bum-rambo-la-la-la, la-bum!"
You are free to download, copy, translate or adapt this story and use the illustrations as long as you attribute in the following way:
Thunder and Lightning
Author - Ogot Owino
Translation - Athieno Gertrude and Owino Ogot
Illustration - Jesse Breytenbach
Language - English
Level - First paragraphs
© African Storybook Initiative 2016
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
Source www.africanstorybook.org
