The Crow and the Lost Child

A woman lost her young child while gathering firewood near the forest. The whole village searched for days but could not find him. The woman, in her grief, sat at the edge of the forest and wept. A Crow, hearing her sorrow, came to her. The woman, in her anger and grief, shouted at the bird to leave her alone. But the Crow did not leave. It flew a short distance, landed on a branch, and called out, then flew a little further, and called again. The woman realized the bird was trying to lead her. She followed the Crow deep into the forest, to a place she had not searched before. There, in a small clearing, she found her child, safe but hungry, having been looked after by a family of monkeys. She had been saved by the creature she had initially scorned. The Mijikenda tell this story to teach that help and wisdom can come from the most unexpected places, and one should never dismiss a creature, no matter how common or annoying it may seem.