There was a hen in the cold water in Kenya, and many animals used to go to the hen to eat some food, but people had not been coming to the hen at night, fearing the animals that might attack them if they saw them running away from that cold water.
There was a poor man, and he had a beautiful daughter. He presented carpets and rugs to her. The man desired and refused to let her stay with him any more for his love for her. So the poor man’s daughter deceived her father that the little guy who was playing in the carpets from her was the one who loved her the most, that she should go to the hen in the cold water and stay in the cold water until morning.
There was a little guy, who had loved the poor man’s daughter a lot. He used to look at her as if he were dreaming. When he learned of her father’s deception, she was very sad despite the provocation she would be exposed to. She went and said to her mother: I will try to stay all night in the hen so I can escape from the sadness she has caused me all my life.
The mother stood up and said: No, no, you are my only daughter. The food in the hen is very cold, you will freeze, and if you eat from it, the animals will eat you, and they will not spare you with abduction. Do not go there, my daughter.
She cried and cried, but her son said: Mother, do not cry. I must try, for I love her a lot! So the little guy went to the girl’s mother and told her that he wanted to go to the hen, and stay in the cold water all night confronting his daughter’s abduction. The poor man sent his beautiful daughter to a place where they could see the little guy and monitor him.
When night came, the little guy went to the hen with his mother, but she did not see him. There was a darkness far from the place he had gone to. The woman hung herself over the hill and gathered some wood there. She saw the animals hungry, so she felt she would attack this place and flee it.
The little guy saw her, learned that his mother was there, and that it was his mother’s love for him. It was also easy for him regarding his mother. Staying all night in the cold water, he did not hear the animals that he used to fear. Morning came and the little guy went to the poor man’s house.
The poor man said to him: My daughter tells me that there is a fox sleeping in the trees on the hill that the hen came from. I believe that the fox has cooled the water around you, and this is the reason that made you stay all night in the water, so you cannot escape with my daughter. Furthermore, he ordered the daughter’s abduction to be thrown out.
The little guy was very angry and went to the judge and said to the judge: Excellent, this is a very simple case. Tomorrow the little guy will come with his mother, and the poor man with his beautiful daughter before the judge. There will be many people there who want to hear the case, and the judge ruled in it.
He asked the judge about the cold water, then went away quickly about the hunger and made a fox, then said: Now we will wait a little while until the water warms. The people shouted: But the fox is very far, the water cannot be warmed in the morning. Then the judge said: And how can the water be warmed in the hen by a fox far sleeping on the hill? And thus the case ended, and the judge ruled with the little guy in friendship with the poor man’s daughter, and they lived happily for many years.
Translated from the story: The Fire on The Hill