"Don't Leave Your Cassava Leaves with Goat!": Rabbi Gbaba Admonishes Liberians

Once upon a time, there lived a farmer named Geekowoo. He lived in the village called Gedehgbay-blee. In this village Geekowoo was the most successful cassava leaves farmer. He grew cassava, cassava leaves, eddoes, plantain, banana, rice, etc., but he was known throughout the land for his fresh cassava leaves.

Geekowoo lived in Gedehgbay-blee with his wife named Common Sense and Goat was his ‘trusted’ neighbor. Also, there were other animals that lived in the village along with Geekowoo and Goat, too. They included Dog, Monkey, and Cat. Those days the animals and man got along very well and so they developed trust in one another, but that trust was also based on common sense. One could not just go on ‘trusting’ any rat, monkey or deer unless that animal was well vetted.

One day, Geekowoo had death in his family. His great-aunt who was one hundred and three years old passed in another village which was a two-day walk from Gedehgbay-blee. Therefore, he and his family would be away for at least one week. Usually in such a circumstance, it was common for a farmer to ask another villager to please keep an eye on his crops or cattle but for Geekowoo he was a successful cassava and cassava leaves farmer. His cassava leaves were the bomb! They were wide and fresh, and everyone came from far and near to purchase them. So, he wondered who he could trust with his cassava leaves while he was away because his cassava leaves were a good source of income for Geekowoo and his family.

As he lay in bed with his wife, Geekowoo said, “Common Sense, I have been thinking on who to leave our cassava leaves with while we are away for a week. Who among our neighbors do you think shall take good care of our cassava leaves while we are away?”

Common Sense said to her husband, “Geekowoo, use your common sense.”

“What do you mean?” Geekowoo asked.

His wife replied, “You asked me who I think might be the best animal to leave our cassava leaves with, right?”

“Yes”, Geekowoo answered.

“First, you should know by now who our neighbors are in Gedehgbay-blee. You have eyes, ears, nose, you can feel, and you have interacted with the animals in this village. Use your common sense and tell me who you think you can trust with your cassava leaves when you travel.” Common Sense stated.

“We have Goat, Monkey, Dog, Cat, Sheep here in Gedehgbay-blee. But the last time when I left my banana in Monkey’s care, he ate all the ripe bananas by the time we got back. So, I don’t trust him anymore.” Geekowoo complained.

“But then, why not leave the cassava leaves with Dog or Cat?” Common Sense suggested.

“No, I don’t trust dog and cat anymore. Dog eats pupu and he likes to put his mouth in our drinking water with his pupu mouth when we leave in charge of our properties.” Geekowoo argued.

“But then what about cat?” Common Sense asked.

“Cat and Dog are the same. The only difference is that Cat eats pupu but he licks the pupu from his mouth, whereas Dog does not give a feet who sees pupu around his mouth!”

Common Sense advised her husband, “Geekowoo, why don’t you use your common sense? Why are you talking about pupu when you should be talking about who to trust with your cassava leaves?”

“I think I will leave my cassava leaves with Goat!” Geekowoo stated.

“What! Leave your cassava leaves with Goat! Good luck, my brother!”

“Common Sense, why you think Goat cannot be trusted with Cassava leaves? The last time when we went out of town, didn’t we leave our eddoes with Goat and, did we not meet our eddoes intact when we returned?”

“Yes, we did, but you said eddoes not cassava leaves. Goat took care of eddoes because eddoes are not his staple diet as cassava leaves are. I am afraid we might regret the decision should we leave our cassava leaves with Goat!”

Geekowoo and Common Sense went back and forth with who should be left in charge of their cassava leaves while they were away. In the end, Geekowoo decided to ask Goat to take care of his cassava leaves while he and his family were away. Common Sense was not pleased with her husband’s decision but in their neck of the woods, the decision of the husband was final, whether it was based on common sense or not.

Meanwhile, Goat was very excited when Geekowoo told him he would oversee Geekowoo’s cassava leaves. In his heart, Goat felt Geekowoo was very generous to ask him to oversee something that was his favorite meal, but he pretended as though he would be faithful. When Geekowoo and his family left, Goat took over Geekowoo’s cassava leaves as though they were his. Instead of going on his farm daily, Goat ate Geekowoo’s fresh cassava leaves every hour of the day until the entire cassava leaves farm was depleted. When Geekowoo and his family returned from their journey, Geekowoo could not believe what he saw! He got furious and complained to the chief of the village named Bomazah Papay.

During the court hearing, all the animals gathered to hear the verdict. Bomazah Papay, asked Geekowoo one simple question, “Geekowoo, what happened to your five senses? Since when did anybody give Billy Goat cassava leaves to keep? Did you not know that Billy Goat eats cassava ???leaves? That’s common sense. Even a baby born today would not leave his cassava leaves in the care of Billy goat. So,why did you leave your fresh cassava leaves with Billy Goat?”

“I don’t know, Chief. I thought Billy Goat would have obeyed the laws of Frogsville that prevent any villager from taking things that don’t belong to them. I did not know that Billy Goat would eat up all my fresh cassava leaves.”

“Well, at least you now never to leave your cassava leaves in care of Billy Goat. And Mr. Billy Goat, because you eat cassava leaves, it does not mean you can go about eating any cassava leaves that you did not legally purchase or that are not yours. Geekowoo trusted you, even though I am sure he knows you eat cassava leaves, but you betrayed his trust. You also violated the laws of Gedehgbay-blee. Therefore, Geekowoo’s cassava leaves you ate will be the very last cassava leaves you have eaten.”

After Bomazah Papay addressed the plaintiff and defendant, then he turned to the jury and asked, “Jury, what is your opinion in this matter?”

The jury replied, “Let us cook goat soup tomorrow!”

The following day after the hearing, the villagers cooked a big pot of goat pepper soup and some even cooked cassava leaves with goat meat in it. From that day, whenever any animal was asked to oversee another animal’s property, they took good care of it.

Rabbi Prince Joseph Tomoonh-Garlodeyh Gbaba, Sr., Ed. D.

December 30, 2022