CHAPTER 2
Lemna was faced with a serious conflict with Zimpah over a quarter of Lemna’s large stream which extends to Zimpah. Elmer (king of Lemna) was the cause of the conflict. Before he became the king of Lemna, his father had a close relationship with Zimpah. The part of stream that extends to Zimpah was used by both Lemna and Zimpah but when Elmer became the king of Lemna he stopped the people of Zimpah from using the stream and claimed that all the stream belonged to Lemna and no one must share the stream with them. The stream was the major source of water to Zimpah and its people had to resort to getting water from a smaller stream located close to them. Elmer even went to the extent of allowing the farmers of Lemna to extend their farmland to Zimpah and the people of Zimpah could no longer bear this. They complained to Elmer, imploring him to ensure that he stopped the people of Lemna from extending their farmland to Zimpah and should allow them to make use of the stream. Elmer did not consent to their demands, and the people of Zimpah choose to take to violence. They chased away farmers from Lemna that came to farm in their land and drove out fishermen that came from Lemna to fish in the stream that extends to Zimpah. Zimpah’s market is the main market where most people from Lemna come to sell. The people of Zimpah even went to the extent of chasing away anybody that comes from Lemna to sell in Zimpah. They made life difficult for the people of Lemna. Despite the hostility, some people in Lemna still continued to sell in Zimpah, one of them was Alexandria’s mother. One day, Alexandria and her mother went to the market to sell, the people of Zimpah chased them away and even seized their goods from them. Alexandria and her mother ran back home empty handed. This was really unfortunate for the family as it became impossible for them sell in the market. For the first time since Elmer had been their king, the people of Lemna came together to complain to Elmer to stop the people of Zimpah from being hostile to them. On this particular day, everyone in Lemna gathered together to visit Elmer, when they got to Elmer they explained to him how life had been made so difficult for them by the people of Zimpah and they begged him to do something to stop Zimpah. Elmer promised his people that he will make sure he stopped the hostility of the people of Zimpah.
He therefore decided to invite the king of Zimpah to discuss with him. The king of Zimpah accepted his invitation and told him that the only thing that can stop him from victimising the people of Lemna is, if he can allow them to make use of the stream that extends to Zimpah and order the farmers of Lemna never to come to farm in Zimpah. This seemed too difficult for Elmer to do and he explained to the king of Zimpah that he cannot do what he requested from him because the stream belongs to Lemna and not to Zimpah and the farmers of Lemna only occupied a little space in Zimpah’s land. The king of Zimpah persisted that unless he did what they want, the people of Lemna will continue to be terrorised by them and he returned to Zimpah. No one from Lemna was allowed to sell in Zimpah and this had made life terrible for most people in Lemna. The people of Lemna were very disappointed to know that Elmer could not fulfil his promise to end the problem they faced with Zimpah and they all knew the main reason why the people of Zimpah were terrorising them. When this terrible situation continued, Elmer realized that the people of Zimpah were forcefully making use of the stream that extends to their area anyway they like and had even chased away Lemna’s traders from their market. It dawned on him that the only thing that can make them to allow the people of Lemna to sell in their market is if he accepted the fact that the stream belongs to both Lemna and Zimpah and restrain the farmers of Lemna from extending their farms to Zimpah. Elmer finally reached a conclusion, he went to Zimpah to see their king and he agreed that the stream that extends to Zimpah belongs to them both and he will make sure that he stopped farmers from Lemna that were coming to farm in Zimpah. The king of Zimpah was very happy because it was not his wish to be at war with any town and he promised Elmer that he will allow the people of Lemna to sell in his market and would stop chasing away people from Lemna that came to make use of the stream that extends to Zimpah. Elmer returned to Lemna and informed his people that they were now free to sell in Zimpah’s market. Everyone in Lemna was very happy and Lance’s family was the happiest because they had been adversely affected by the conflict. Although the whole family was happy, Lance was not so happy because he wished he could live in a place ruled by a reasonable ruler who would not be like Elmer. Lance complained so much that he wished to live in a new peaceful place but his mother soothe him, assuring him that Lemna is the best place they can live in. The next day Alexandria and her mother went to the market and no one chased them away from the market. Everyone went to Zimpah’s market without encountering any problem. Zimpah and Lemna were now in good agreement although Elmer was not much comfortable with this.