The Strongman

You wouldn’t have wanted to pick an argument with him, give him an insolent look or attempt to steal anything of his, or, much less, make moves on his wife. He was a man of few words; he preferred action. He expressed his words in the puffed up faces, split lips, lost teeth, broken ribs and aching bodies of all who crossed him. He wrote his words with a violence that earned him a nasty reputation around the countryside.

But where initially there had been grudging respect from the men and shy admiration from the women, now began a discontent against him because, lately, he had become exceedingly aggressive and indiscriminate. So people covertly resolved to deal with him. But how?

The fateful day came when one unfortunate soul got into an altercation with the Hercules. He was being beaten so badly that people saw that if they didn’t intervene, death was just a few blows away from the poor soul. Some men then rushed to the wife of the Hercules; maybe she could convince her husband to let up. The wife listened quietly and quickly got up but, to their surprise, she didn’t run in the direction of the fight but behind their house, where she rummaged about in the bushes. She found what she was looking for; a weird bundle of cloth and sticks and…the Lord only knows what else. She swiftly untied it and calmly walked back into her house and closed the door.

At the fight, the change was immediate. The Hercules staggered with a look of surprise and alarm on his face. The poor soul, who had by now been beaten so badly, even felt it because he was able to parry the next blow, and in a last-ditch attempt, he threw his arm in a wide arc, conking out in the process. The arm hit the Hercules and had the effect of cutting his forehead. Thereupon, one brave soul, also feeling a change in the tide of strength, rushed the Hercules. And poor Hercules got beaten so badly in turn...

It is still not clear what prompted the wife to betray her husband. Could it be that she also suffered at his hands? Could it be her secret sweetheart who had taken the heavy beating? Could it…? All we can do is speculate as she remains close lipped and the Hercules is now just another ordinary guy who can be beaten any time of the day...

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'The Telling Is Mine; The Story Is Not'
© Dingiswayo Allan Sambo 2018