Sweet-Talking The Beautiful Damsel Again!

Good morning, Abusuapanin. Do you remember the story about the beautiful damsel I narrated sometime back? I did tell you how she allowed herself to be fooled twice by the same bloke. It is said that once bitten, twice shy. But this damsel is beyond shyness, because she is likely to fall for the same trick thrice. I�m therefore compelled to revisit the story today. The lady in question is what any man would call marriageable material. She lives in a country with very peculiar laws on marriage. A wife in that country has the right to decide on whom to marry and live with every four years. The damsel had many suitors but the real competition was between two men. Both were handsome and from good families. One was very sweet-tongued. He promised her heaven on earth, claiming he was as pious as Yesu Kristo himself. He also pledged to shower love on her to prove he cared for her. Being very honest, the other gentleman tried as much as possible to paint a very true picture for her. He told her life was not a bed of roses so she should not allow herself to be fooled by the sweet words being whispered into her ears. He however promised to do everything in his power to make life comfortable for her. Oblivious of the fact that the former chap was only singing the tune she wanted to hear, the beautiful lady did not even ponder over it before making her choice. She fell for his sweet promises and gave him her heart. She was therefore betrothed to him and they later got married. For four years, the beautiful damsel saw none of the goodies promised her. The sweet promises had all turned into bitter realities. Indeed, the man who promised her heaven on earth made life a living hell for her; and the once beautiful lady who was the cynosure of all eyes became a pale shadow of herself. The damsel did her best to regain her lost beauty. She became the talk of the town as many suitors tried to snatch her away from the sweet-tongued chap; and she had to make another decision on December 7. Leading the pack of suitors was the honest bloke who lost the competition to Mr. I-Care-For-You some four years back. The honest bloke did make some promises in order to win the heart of the lady. They were promises he could satisfy and was determined to redeem if given the opportunity. They were promises that could help improve the lady�s standard of living and secure her future. But Mr. I-Care-For-You would not give up so easily. He could not make new promises because he knew too well that the lady wouldn�t believe him. She wouldn�t believe him because he had failed to redeem the ones he had made to her some years back. Indeed, it would be foolhardy on her part to believe such a dishonest bloke. Desperate to keep his wife, Mr. I-Care-For-You siphoned cowries belonging to his company and showered them on the lady. He showered her with all manner of gifts in order to delude her into believing that he loved her. He also bought vehicles for chiefs and elders of her village. The damsel made her choice on December 7, 2012; and the whole world was shocked at her choice. She once again chose the sweet-tongued chap over the honest bloke. She was hoodwinked into falling for the freebies showered on her and her kinsmen. Soon after she made the choice, the damsel began to realize that she had made the same mistake twice. The man once again started spending his time out. He showered all his cowries on his girlfriends, leaving the wife to struggle and fend for their children. This time she did not hide her frustrations. She complained about the hardship she was compelled to endure as a result of that horrible choice. She complained about the frequent power cuts known in local parlance as �dumso-dumso�; regular fuel price hikes; high tariffs on utilities, high secondary school fees; rising cost of living and the everyday �wahala� in fending for her children. She was heard on many occasions expressing regret for not choosing the honest bloke. The husband was last Tuesday summoned by the lady�s family to give an account of the damsel�s present living condition. The shameless bloke that he is, he deliberately painted a very rosy picture of the pitiable situation. He refused to acknowledge the fact that his recklessness was the cause of his wife�s woes. He behaved as if all was well. In order to please the wife�s family, he offered to pay for their children�s secondary school fees from September 2015. Hmmm! This man never ceases to amaze everyone! Was he not the one who, not too long ago, said footing the bill for any student in secondary school was a misplaced priority? Truly, wonders shall never end! My unsolicited advice to the damsel is simple: A true relationship is about mutual trust and respect. A man who loves and respects his woman would not look her in the eyes and tell her she looks good, when he knows she is wearing tattered clothes. The only reasonable excuse for a person who looks at a white wall and tells you otherwise is because he has bad eyesight. But if the person has good eyesight and goes telling you that white is brown, then the person simply thinks you are a fool. Simplicita! The damsel did make her choice in 2012 and we respected her decision. Good or bad, she is now living with the consequences of her choice. There is another opportunity for her in 2016 to right the wrong she made in 2012. Would she listen to wise counsel or, once again, swallow the sweet words from the sweet-tongued bloke? See you next week for another konkonsa, Deo volente!