The Story of Lightning and Thunder

- An African Folk Tale

- The king said, "That's it! From now on, Lightning and Thunder must live in the sky!"

- Ravi Ila Bhatt

A  long, long time ago, lightning and thunder lived on Earth, just like regular people. But because they often caused trouble, the king made them live far away-at the edge of town, far from everyone else.

Thunder was an old mother sheep, and her son, Lightning, was a strong and fiery ram.

Lightning had a big problem - he got angry very easily. And when he got mad, he would run around burning houses, breaking trees, and damaging farms. Sometimes, people even got hurt!

Whenever Lightning started destroying things, his mother, Thunder, would shout at him in her loudest voice:

"Stop! That's enough!"

But Lightning never listened. He kept burning and smashing things whenever he got angry.

The villagers grew tired and scared. So they went to the king and complained.

The king gave an order: "Thunder and Lightning must leave the town and live deep in the forest."

So they moved to the wild bush. But that didn't solve the problem. Lightning still caused fires when he was angry, and sometimes the fire reached the farms again.

The people complained once more. This time, the king said, "That's it! From now on, Lightning and Thunder must live in the sky!"

And so, they were sent up into the clouds.

Even today, when Lightning gets angry, he flashes through the sky and causes damage. Right after that, you can hear Thunder, his mother, shouting at him:

"Stop it, now!"

But sometimes, Lightning strikes before his mother can catch up. That's why you see the flash before you hear the sound. When she's nearby, you'll hear her scolding him. But when she's far away, you only see Lightning misbehaving, and Thunder's voice doesn't reach in time.

Moral 

Even powerful ones need someone to guide them. And when we lose our temper, we can hurt others-just like Lightning.