Once, in a village, lived a man named Obasi. Obasi was so swift at hunting, and so strong, that one day he decided he would call himself 'The Strongest Man in the World'. His wife just rolled her eyes and did not look very impressed at all.
WIFE: 鈥淵eah, yeah, yeah, you are strong, but that does not mean that you are the strongest in the world. You know just yesterday I was on my way home from the market. The road was blocked by an angry buffalo. But a woman from another village was there with her baby and the baby lifted the buffalo all by himself. Now imagine just how strong his father must be!鈥
At this Obasi got very angry.
OBASI: 鈥淎rghhh! I鈥檒l show him who's the strongest man in the world.鈥
(Obasi uproots a giant baobab.)
OBASI: Rawrr!!鈥
He soon found the village and the house of the man whose baby was so strong he could move a buffalo. But when the door opened, he did not feel like calling himself 鈥楾he Strongest Man in the World鈥 any more. I n front of him stood the biggest, strongest and angriest man he had ever seen in his life.
GIANT 1: 鈥淩AAAAWRRRR!鈥
OBASI: 鈥淎aaaaah!
Obasi ran for his life. He ran through fields, swam through rivers,
GIANT 1: 鈥淩AAAAWRRRR!鈥
OBASI: 鈥淎aaaaah!
and raced through forests.
Suddenly, he saw a big cave.
OBASI: "Perhaps I could hide in that cave".
He thought. For Obasi knew that he could run no more.
(Obasi runs towards the cave and collides head-on with another Giant.)
GIANT 2: 鈥淎AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!! Who are you?鈥
Said the Giant who had just appeared from the cave.
OBASI: "uh鈥 my name is Obasi, and I am being chased by the strongest man in the world."
GIANT 2: "Arghhhhh!! What is this madness, "I am the strongest man in the world!!"
(First giant runs in)
GIANT 1: "RWAARRRRR!!!"
GIANT 2: "Arghhhhh!!
When the giants caught sight of each other, they forgot all about Obasi. They fell upon one another; snarling, bashing, fighting and gnashing. It was the most ferocious fight Obasi had ever seen. They leapt high, high, high into the sky, and disappeared into the clouds.
Obasi crept out of the forest and slowly walked back to his village, and never again did he dare to call himself the strongest man in the world.
And as for the two giants, we can still sometimes hear them battling away in the sky today, and this sound is what we call thunder.
Video summary
A beautifully animated tale from Nigeria about a man whose boasting lands him in trouble.
Obasi is not as strong as he believes or claims to be, and his arrogance almost gets him killed.
Forced to adopt a more realistic view of his strength and significance, this story encourages children to think about pride and the value of humility.
Teacher Notes
This short film could be used to support the teaching of key literacy skills such as reading, writing and listening. Encouraging pupils to explore the decisions of characters, and examine their actions to understand their cultural belief, values, differences and similarities in everyday life.
It provides an effective tool to engage pupils in the way others see and imagine life and help enhance further discussions on what is familiar and unfamiliar.
This could be used in connection with stories from other cultures, as well as traditional stories and fables to explore the differences or similarities in storytelling.
The tale could be incorporated into specific reading and writing exercises (e.g. pupils can write about a specific dramatic scene or a descriptive setting in the film). This could enhance pupils knowledge and understanding of Nigeria.
This short film will be relevant for teaching English at KS1 and KS2 in England and Wales.
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