Beyond the Border

Once upon a time, there once lived a little boy and his old grandmother who lived in a distant village surrounded by mountains. This little boy grew up among his peers and he was always curious about things around him. Many a time, he always wanted to go beyond the mountains to see what lies behind them. He will always ask, what's at the back of those mountains? Why isn't anybody attempting to go beyond these mountains?

He had heard several stories of people that have went over the mountain and never return. At such, the village heads made law that nobody should go beyond a certain part of the mountain. This boy also heard from stories that it has been rumored that there are treasures at the other side of one of the mountains and that people had attempted to search for it but they never returned.

This boy could not take off his mind from going beyond the mountain. He was not after any treasure. He was just curios and only wanted to see what lies behind those mountains.

One day, he told his grandmother that he was going to the other side of the mountain. The old mother would not allow him. But the young boy told her that he would be back in the shortest time. The old woman knew that even if she refused, the boy will still go. So, she had no choice than to allow the boy to go. She prayed for him and hoped for his safe return.

The following morning, the boy set out for the adventure. He took along with him climbing ropes, hunting bow, matches and a little spices. The grandmother wanted to give him food to carry with him, but the boy said to her, "ma'am, I believe there are many games to hunt over there. There is no need for me to be carrying load of food when there will be animals to hunt". The old woman did not argue.

The boy set off very early and he started off at the bottom of the mountain which people had been advised not to climb. He started climbing, skillfuly with his rope, round and up to the top.

After many hours of toiling, the boy was very tired and hungry but he was still in the middle of the mountain. He said to himself, "hunger is just nothing but the deceit of my stomach. And I will deceive hunger by not eating". He said to himself, "I will continue climbing and take off my mind from everything. I will take off my mind from food, tiredness and even the mountain." So, the boy kept climbing without thinking of anything. And after another long hours of toiling and climbing, he got to the top and it was around evening.

When the boy got to the top of the mountain, he saw a very flat, plain area on the top of the mountain. He was tired, weak and hungry. He then decided to rest in one side of the mountain top. He drank from the bottle water in his back pack. As he was about to lie down, he heard footstep approaching and he quickly rose up to his feet and and hide behind a bush. As the footstep appraoches, he saw a very big mountain goat and he took out his bow and arrow and shot the animal. And he was happy. He prepared the animal and ate to his satisfaction.

In the morning, he ate more of the roasted meet and put some in his back pack. He continued his journey on top of the mountain. He put marks as he moved on so that he will not get lost when coming back. As he moved on, suddenly, he stepped on a spot and the whole place crumbled and he fell into a hole. The boy was afraid as the place is very dark. His heart was pounding very fast. He paused for a while to calm down. Then he took out his matches and light on his torch... He looked around and then he saw a lot of jewels and precious stones all scattered on the floor. He looked around and saw a lot of the jewels of which he had never seen before.

He started thinking of a way out and how he will take all these precious treasures. He attempted to climb the wall but couldn't.  And then an idea came up in his mind. He discovered that the wall of the hole can be dug. So, he sorted out some of the hard jewels that are long and he started from the point where his hand can reach and he drive those stones inside the wall one by one and tied his rope and he goes up till he finally reached up.

When he got out, he went back to the spot where he left the carcass of the animal he killed the previous night. He removed the skin of the animal and used it to form a big sack. He tied a long rope to it and then trew it inside the hole. He descended down and and started filling the skin bag with the treasures. When it was filled, the boy went up and drag up the skin bag. And set off to go back. He spent another night at the spot where he slept before and ate from the remaining meat he had prepared.

Back in the village, the grandmother was worried and the villagers started blaming her for allowing the poor boy to go. Nobody made any attempt to go looking for the boy becuase they were all afraid of going to the mountain side. And they believed that since the boy did not arrive previous night, he must have been killed by animals on the mountain.  

The brave little boy skillfully and wisely set down. It was more difficult because he had to manouevre with heavy load down from the mountain. He however devised a means of getting the load down. He suspended the load on the rope and dropped it down slowly until it stopped on one of the spaces beside the moutain. Then he climbs downward. He was a very skilled climber, so he went down slowly until he reached the point where his load has been hanging. He further descended the load and went down as well.

It was late in the evening when he got to the bottom the mountain. He was very happy, tired and hungry. He looked inside his back pack and still found some of the meat left. He ate and there was no more water to drink. He then decided to spend another night at the bottom of the mountain.   

In the following morning which was the fourth day he had left home, he set off to go back home.  He dragged the heavy load with him as it was too heavy for him to carry. As he entered the village, his friend saw him and they rushed to meet him. Within a short time, the whole village had gathered around him and the news had reached the grandmother that her grandson is back. She was happy. The village head and chiefs also heard about it and they never believe it.

His friends helped him with his load and they were all wondering what could be inside the skin bag. When he reached home, the grandmother hugged him with tears... Tears of joy. After the boy had rested and ate enough food. The chief was already there and everybody wanted to hear the little boy talk about his ordeals.

The boy narrated all the stories to them... And then he opened the bag and showed them his treasures... Everybody was surprised and happy. And they praised the boy for his bravery.

He became very rich and famous.

Ever since then, people of the village started going to the mountain to look for treasure... And the boy was henceforth called "The Greates Treasure Master"

Moral of the story: Success is achieved by doing the impossible with efforts, hardwork and determination. No matter what people say, always follow your dream.

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