"Aiheu showed them that the earth was large but not boundless, and offered them a choice: "You may choose amongst yourselves who will be fruitful and continue the line, or you may choose to be treated alike, and I shall decide how to limit your numbers."
There was only a short discussion before they answered, saying: "My Lord, we are brothers and cannot deny others what we desire for ourselves." In those days, their love for one another was fresh, for they were equal as spirit children and none oppressed the other.
Aiheu smiled upon them, saying: "There is wisdom in compassion. You shall all be fruitful, but you will face challenges from your own people and from other peoples."
Aiheu seperated them into two groups, and one group dwarfed the other. “To the greater group, I give the plants of the field and the fruits of the trees. But lest you strip the earth of all green things with your offspring, I give the lesser group a taste for blood. To them I give the eaters of plants.”
Some of the plant eaters were upset and cried out to God that they should not all die. To this, Aiheu answered, “I offer you to the hunters, but they must catch you first. Be vigilant, wise, and careful, and you will not perish from the land I give you.”
For a while life was fearful for the hunter and the hunted, but as the seasons passed they discovered new pleasures, and from them new life. And only then did they fully appreciate the wonder of their existance.
Rafiki and Makaka heard the climax of a hunt very close to the baobab. Makaka is stunned; he was seeing his friends in a new light; he knew they hunted for a living, but he’d never seen a kill in all its gory detail before.
Makaka turned to Rafiki. “They are so gentle sometimes.”
“So are you. You must the creation, when Aiheu offered a choice to all living things, and all of them agreed that this way was better than the alternatives. We all live, love, and die. We are all children of the same God, and when we do what we are called to do, we return to him, all reaching the same destination and the same joy. There will be no room in a heart full of love and wonder for hard feelings.”
Makaka headed over to join the fray. Quickly he grabbed a piece of meat and bit down. As he chewed, his face screwed up in displeasure. But unwilling to spit it out, he continued to chew slowly.
“Good, isn’t it?” one of the cubs said. Makaka nodded his head, swallowed hard, and went back to Rafiki.
"Ugh!" He stuck out his tongue as if it had been burned. The moist, musky smell filled his breath as he breathed out, and flooded his throat, emanating from his red-flecked face. “Eeew! Do you have any Tiko root?”
Rafiki got some from a gourd. He handed a piece to Makaka who chewed it rapidly, filling his breath with the rich minty aroma that took the smell of raw meat away and settled his stomach.
“They like this stuff?”
“Love it. Still, you were very brave. I don’t think I could have swallowed that stuff--not raw, anyhow.”
He kept chewing the Tiko root. "Oh yeah. That’s much better. May I have some water to wash it down?"
Uzuri came over bearing a piece of meat with a broad smile on her face. “This is the best part. It was hard to get this away from those greedy gusses.”
“You did this for me?” Makaka said.
“It was no trouble. Not for my special little boy.”
Makaka looked at her expectant smile. He picked up the piece of meat and without hesitation took a large bite. “Thanks so much,” he said, a little drop of warm blood running down his cheek.
Uzuri is pleased. “My boy is going to grow up big and strong eating like that!”
He came and put his arms around her neck, stroking her soft fur. Makaka’s heart was so full of love, he forgot to feel sick.