"Sekhti Loses His Temper"

By: Liz Hunhoff

    In Egypt, there was a man named Sekhti. He was the adviser of the Pharaoh. Sekhti was well known for his fairness, and being able to not act superior to men of a lesser status. He was a good husband and father, and always worked hard at his job. Well, all the years of being fair and nice must have taken their toll on Sekhti, because one hot, summer day, Sekhti lost his temper.

    It was a Tuesday morning when Sekhti woke up. He usually woke up feeling happy and excited to start his day, but today was different. He was grumpy and didn’t want to get out of bed. When he went downstairs to the kitchen, his wife greeted him with a smile and a kiss, but Sekhti just shrugged her off. His children tried to greet him good morning, but instead of replying kindly he told them to eat their food and leave for school. As Sekhti himself was venturing off to work, his wife questioned him if anything was wrong. He told her to be quiet and mind her own business.

    When Sekhti arrived at the Pharaoh’s palace, he went straight to the Pharaoh’s office. Sekhti demanded that he be given a week off for vacation time, or he would quit his job as the Pharaoh’s advisor. At first, the Pharaoh sat there in disbelief. He remained calm and began explaining to Sekhti that he couldn’t take any time off from his job because he was needed all the time. When Sekhti told the Pharaoh that he didn’t care, the Pharaoh became angry and told Sekhti that he would no longer be working for him. After hearing this, Sekhti became outraged. He stormed out of the Pharaoh’s office, banging the door behind him.

    When Sekhti got out into the streets, he began yelling and ranting about how unfair the Pharaoh was to him. People in the village tried to calm him down, but as soon as anyone got within arms reach, Sekhti would punch them and push them down to the ground. Sekhti fought his way though the people and ended up stealing a camel. He jumped onto the camel’s back, and rode to the outskirts of the village. Little did he know that the village law enforcers were right behind him.

    The law enforcers eventually caught him, and Sekhti was arrested. He was thrown in jail for thirty days. While Sekhti was in jail, he came to his senses. He realized that what he had done was wrong, and that he was not that type of person at all. He then wrote a letter to the people of the town explaining what had gone wrong with his mind that day. He explained that he was tired of being nice to people and having them treat him like dirt. The everyday stresses of his job had finally pushed him over the limit, and he lost control. The letter was then addressed to the people of the town, and they forgave him.

    The Pharaoh gave Sekhti his job of the advisor back, and he also gave him his longed for week vacation. When Sekhti returned back at work he was just like normal. The people of the town also treated Sekhti with greater respect in fear that if they didn’t, Sekhti would have another breakdown like he did that Tuesday in Egypt.

Based on the folktale, "The Salt Trader’s Justice"

http://www.saxakali.com/youth/african_folktales.htm