Under a leafy mango tree, an old man, surrounded by children, was telling a legend. The myth was one of those present in humanity's collective unconscious. The versions changed according to the region and the experience of the teller, but the thrust of the story remained the same.

  It was a hot summer's morning. The students and the teacher decided to leave the formality of the classroom and take shelter under the tree. Patiently, the teacher continued to lecture.

  “The vulture decided to ignore the irony and fears of his neighbors, and flew to the abode of the sun. The closer he got, the more his wings weakened, and the sunlight punished his eyes…”

  The narration with its exaggerated touches of drama drew the deepest feelings of apprehension from the children in the audience. However, one of the children remained serious. In fact, he was incredulous at the way the story was going.

  Hanging from one of the tree branches, a fat boy was waiting for the right moment to pour the bucket of water over the old man. He was bored with the long narrative. He wanted to hear the magic word 'children, you are dismissed. He was the most mischievous of the pupils and didn't like the classroom at all. Which got him into trouble.

  “For this reason, the vulture lost all sight. To his misfortune, he never saw the face of the sun. His feathers burned to ashes and he fell from the sky. Well done! Children, you're dismissed. Ah! Glad you could join us, Hakim.”

  The teacher elbowed the tree. Its trunk shook, and the young man hanging from the branch began to unbalance.

  “What? No, argh!”

  The boy collapsed to the ground. The bucket of water fell on his head, soaking him. The boys laughed at him as he tried to remove the bucket stuck on his head.

  The students left the teacher, except for one. The boy remained sitting in front of the teacher.

  “Master Feruzi…”

  “I see you're not very happy with the end of the story.”

  “I think I misunderstood, Yerodin.”

  The boy in front of the Sage of Knowledge was slight, with short, curly hair and eyes as sharp as a sword. Unlike the others, he didn't rush into anything, but observed everything.

  “I didn't quite understand.”

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  “What didn't you understand?”

  “Well… you often say that only knowledge can set us free. But in this story, the vulture didn't see the true face of the sun. It's not fair, he tried very hard.”

  “Yes, knowledge really is liberating, but obsession imprisons us.”

  “But shouldn't knowledge always bring the truth? You mean we can be punished for trying to know beyond our own limits? So what's the point of knowing if that knowledge can turn against us?”

  “Obsession with something can put us at risk. The vulture wasn't looking for the true face of the sun out of curiosity, or to solve a real problem. It was a vain search. I'm sorry I wasn't so clear, I didn't want to discourage you. Wow, you ask very deep questions for someone your age!”

  After several attempts, Hakim managed to pull the bucket off his head. Gasping deeply, he mocked his master:

  “Never mind that silly old man, Yerodin. He's just trying to discourage you. He's trying to stop you from becoming the new Sage of Knowledge and…”

  The unfounded accusations continued. Yerodin let out a deep sigh. The veins began to throb at Feruzi's temple.

  “Look, kid, don't push your luck. You should do like your friend Yerodin.”

  Hakim crossed his arms around his waist and retorted:

  “Yerodin doesn't need to study because he's already a genius, and I don't need to study because I have a lot of intuition.”

  Feruzi let out a sigh. He ran his hand down his face and tripled over:

  “Yerodin, don't follow your friend's bad example. You can go, you're dismissed.”

  Yerodin took Hakim by the arm. The fat boy gave tongue to the teacher and stretched the lower lid of his left eye with his index finger.

  The pair of boys walked through the courtyard until they left the school. Yerodin looked serious. Hakim tried to strike up a conversation with him, but the other boy responded monosyllabically. The fat boy knew that when his friend looked like this, it was because something was really bothering him.

  “What? You didn't say you were impressed by the crow story.”

  “Crow, it was a vulture.”

  “Whatever, they're birds.”

  “Actually, they're birds.”

  “Damn! Why does everything have to be so serious for you?”

  Yerodin stopped abruptly. Hakim slapped his forehead. A long and complex conversation was about to begin. He felt unprepared for such dialogues.

  “Argh! All right, what is it? Talk.”

  “That story didn't bother you a bit?”

  “Because of the… blind vulture?”

  “No! I don't know, this thing about knowledge having a limit, or you being punished for trying to know too much.”

  “That's just like those stories they tell to scare children. If I were you, I wouldn't think too much about that old man's nonsense.”

  “He's not just an old man, Hakim. He's the Sage of Knowledge, he possesses a Spiritual Key, a manifestation of Fante Obataiye's Divine Power. Don't talk about him so disrespectfully.”

  Hakim squinted his eyes. It was as if he had been caught red-handed committing a crime. He put his hands up, closed his eyes and said:

  “I'm sorry, I know how you feel about these rules, 'Mr. Right'.”

  “Don't call me 'Mr. Right'.”

  “Fine! 'Mr. Right'.”

  “Argh! Hakim.”

  “Try to catch me, if you can.”

  Hakim began to run awkwardly through the streets of Ilu Nla. Yerodin, out of pity, let his out-of-shape friend get a few meters ahead.

  Despite the casualness of the moment, Feruzi's words hadn't left the boy's mind. The boy didn't believe that knowledge should have a wall where you run into it and turn back. If knowledge was truly liberating, it should have no limits.

  Life already imposed too many limits on human beings. It was constantly changing, full of dangers and challenges, and human life was finite. Yerodin decided that he would not die like the vulture, blind before the sun.