Many years ago the hippopotamus, whose name was Isantim, was one of the biggest kings on the land; he was second only to the elephant. The hippo had seven large fat wives, of whom he was very fond. Now and then he used to give a big feast to the people, but a curious thing was that, although everyone knew the hippo, no one, except his seven wives, knew his name.

At one of the feasts, just as the people were about to sit down, the hippo said, "You have come to feed at my table, but none of you know my name. If you cannot tell my name, you shall all of you go away without your dinner."

As they could not guess his name, they had to go away and leave all the good food and tombo [palm wine] behind them. But before they left, the tortoise stood up and asked the hippopotamus what he would do if he told him his name at the next feast. So the hippo replied that he would be so ashamed of himself, that he and his whole family would leave the land, and for the future would dwell in the water.

Now it was the custom for the hippo and his seven wives to go down every morning and evening to the river to wash and have a drink. Of this custom the tortoise was aware. The hippo used to walk first, and the seven wives followed. One day when they had gone down to the river to bathe, the tortoise made a small hole in the middle of the path, and then waited. When the hippo and his wives returned, two of the wives were some distance behind, so the tortoise came out from where he had been hiding, and half buried himself in the hole he had dug, leaving the greater part of his shell exposed.

When the two hippo wives came along, the first one knocked her foot against the tortoise's shell, and immediately called out to her husband, "Oh! Isantim, my husband, I have hurt my foot."

At this the tortoise was very glad, and went joyfully home, as he had found out the hippo's name.

When the next feast was given by the hippo, he made the same condition about his name; so the tortoise got up and said, "You promise you will not kill me if I tell you your name?" and the hippo promised. The tortoise then shouted as loud as he was able, "Your name is Isantim," at which a cheer went up from all the people, and then they sat down to their dinner.

When the feast was over, the hippo, with his seven wives, in accordance with his promise, went down to the river, and they have always lived in the water from that day till now; and although they come on shore to feed at night, you never find a hippo on the land in the daytime.

One of the conditions which everybody is working tirelessly to escape is "poverty". This condition is very bad because it makes one unable to cater for everyday needs as a poor person is usually seen as a nobody in the society. This mentality has given rise to desire for quick wealth among people (especially the youths). They fail to understand that success does not happen overnight, it requires patience and hard work for one to make it in life.

There is a time for everything in life and as a young person, your main focus should be getting educated or acquiring a skill because young age is a period of building. It is so sad how youths are chasing money nowadays, most of them even go to the extent of engaging in unhealthy practices all in the quest for achieving success. I want you to understand that success is a positive achievement and any other thing aside that, should not be considered as success.

In this article, I will be telling you some reasons why you should not be in a hurry to achieve success.

This is one of the reasons why you shouldn't be influenced by the lifestyle of others. I want you to understand that destiny varies and what worked for others may not work for you. You are advised to embrace patience and hope because it takes time for success to manifest. You should celebrate and rejoice with others when they achieve success bearing it in mind that your time is coming.

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Anybody who wants to achieve success should get ready to go all the way because it has no shortcuts, everything in life works with time likewise success and when your time comes you will know. I want you to embrace patience and optimism, also don't forget to involve God in all your endeavors.

Lastly, this article was written to encourage you to always remain patient and run away from crime as much as you can.

Remain blessed!

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