Once open a time, there lived a boy called Alamuta, (meaning be patient) who lived with his family in the village of Bajonkoto, (meaning new settlement). They were envied of their wealth by many poor villagers. Even those who associated themselves with the family did it not out of a genuine intention but for material gain.

Unfortunately, Alamuta’s parents met their untimely death, leaving him with a herd of cattle. He had nobody to assist him look after the cattle. What made matters worse for him was that the hatred of his late parents by the Bajonkoto community haunted him. This was further compounded by the outbreak of drought that year.

But before his father died, he instructed him to always consult the ‘god of the well,’  a mahogany tree, whenever he was faced with the problem of getting water for  his herd. This was because there were two wells named Muya (wait) and Mantabey (lucky), which one needed to seek the approval of the ‘god of the well” before using. Failure to seek the gods’ approval always brought harm to the user.

Due to drought the oasis in the bush dried up. The villagers, being aware of the situation Alamuta faced to get water for his herd, commanded him to use the village well to get water for his herd of cattle.

The villagers rejoiced, since Alamuta had no alternative but to use the well of Muya and Mantabey, which required a special procedure they thought Alamuta was not aware of. But since  he received this instruction from his late father, he had no trouble with that.

Anytime he visited the place to get his herd of cattle to drink, he called out, “The god of the wells, Muya and Matabey, I seek your approval in the name of my late father for the use of the well appropriate for my cattle”.

The god of the well, a mahoney tree would then give him the order. This development on the part of Alamuta did not go down well with the villagers. An enquiry was made as  to what he did by planting a spy on him.

When it was discovered that he followed the right procedures by seeking the approval of the god of the wells, Muya and Mantabey, a plan was made to cut down the god with an axe. A few men were dispatched to carry out this task.

When the time came for Alamuta to take his herd of cattle to the well for the usual drink, he realised that the god had been destroyed. Though very unhappy, this did not deter him from consulting it. He called out, “The god of the wells of Muya and Manstabey, I seek your approval in the name of my late father for the use of the well appropriate for my cattle”. The god answered, “Matabey”.

He used his particular well for that day. The villagers were unhappy that nothing came out of the situation. Another attempt was made; this time the entire tree (god of the wells) was burnt down.

When Alamuta returened the following day, he realised that much damage had been done when he saw the burnt tree. The confused and helpless Alamuta again sought the approval of the god of wells, Muya and Matabey in his usual ways. This time he asked the god of the wells to punish the perpetrators of the evil act, to be free from their plots on this particular day the god of the wells of Muya and Matabey ordered him to use Muya. He got his herd a drink from this well and left.

This turned out to be a disaster for all those perpetrators. They died one after the other. When the news spread to the Bajonkoto community, everyone feared that further trouble was coming for Alamuta. As from that day he was left alone and was free from all the troubles.

This Mandinka folktale teaches that God protects the innocent and that wrongdoing does not pay.  This means that the ditch you dig for someone to fall in may be your own.

The Daily Observer thanks Lamin Sam Jaiteh, Registrar of the University of The Gambia, for granting permission to reproduce this article from the 2008 Convocation Magazine.