One chief named Ndi had three sons. One day, when he fell ill, he called his sons and told them:
- I'm dying. I have three chests. They contain all my wealth. Take each of you a chest, whatever you want. Just don't open them until I die.
So they did. Everyone took a chest for themselves. So the father died, his sons buried him, and then everyone opened their chest.
The first one had a chest full of gold. The second one had pieces of different wood in his chest. And the third one had soil in his chest, also different, but other than that there was nothing.
Then the second and third brothers said:
- No, that’s not good, it’s unfair. It is necessary to divide the contents of all chests equally among everyone. Let the first give us each a third of his gold, and we will give a third of our firewood and our land.
But the first one answered them:
- No, I don’t want that. We must fulfill our father's will. If one of you got a chest of gold, he wouldn’t share it either. It's all a matter of chance. But this is what the late father bequeathed.
The second and third brothers gathered the villagers, all wise people, told them about their dispute and asked them to judge. And the people said:
“Your late father ordered it this way, we can’t change anything.” The leader was a smart man, he probably thought everything through well and knew what he was doing.
Then the brothers turned to the ruler of the entire country. But he was unable to help them in any way.
Here one old man advised:
- Go to the man called Kabaku. If anyone can help you, it's him.
The brothers found out the way and set off. After a long search, they saw a tree under which a very young man was playing with children. The brothers asked him if he knew where to find the Kabaka.
“I am Kabaku,” he answered. - Why do you need me?
“We want to ask you for advice,” they said and told him about their dispute.
“You are arguing over an inheritance,” said Kabaku. - One of you received a chest of pure gold. Another got a chest containing all the types of wood that grow in our forests. The third received a chest with land from the entire country. Your father decided that everyone would own what they got. Two of you are unhappy and prefer gold. But I cannot dispute your father's last wish. He was very wise. I think you two can be happy too. After all, one of you has taken possession of all the species of trees that exist in the country. This means that he has rights to all forests and trees. Anyone who wants to cut down a tree is required to pay a fee. Another received all varieties of land. He has rights to her. If someone wants to dig a well, dig a trap for rats, or break off a piece of a termite mound to feed chickens, he must pay a fee for this to the owner of the third chest. I hope you are all happy now that you have understood this?
The brothers thanked Kabaka and went home. Soon the first brother, who received the chest of gold, bought himself slaves and ordered them to plow the field for himself. But as soon as they got to work, the third brother said:
- If you want to cultivate the land, pay me a fee.
Another time, the first brother sent slaves to chop wood in the forest. As soon as they got down to business, the second brother appeared and said:
“If your slaves want to chop wood, pay me a fee.”
The first brother realized that he could not do anything with his gold, and divided it with the others.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru