Author: ayinde

Here is the full narration of “Ali and the Angel,” just as it was told in that classic Nigerian primary school textbook . The Story of Ali and the Angel Once, in a land long ago, there lived a man named Ali. He was a clever trickster, who lived by his wits and had a silver tongue that could charm anyone. But Ali was also a crook, and he was always looking for a way to get rich without working for it . One day, Ali announced to the people that he had received a wonderful dream. He claimed that a holy angel was coming to visit him in his hut. “However,” Ali declared, “this angel is special. He will be completely invisible to anyone with an impure or sinful heart. Only the truly righteous and pure of heart will be able to see him” . The news spread like wildfire. Soon, a great crowd gathered at Ali’s small hut, all eager to see the angel and prove their own righteousness. But Ali, ever the businessman, put a condition on this miracle: to see the angel, everyone had to pay a small gate fee . Inside the hut, Ali set the stage for his grand deception. He had prepared a neat, empty room. In it, he placed a single wooden chair with a coat draped over the back. In front of the chair, he set a pair of slippers. To a visitor, it looked like an invisible person was sitting there . The queue of people stretched for miles. Among them were the king, royal courtiers, religious leaders, and many others. The king went first. He paid his fee, entered the room, and saw the empty chair with the coat and slippers. He saw nothing else. “The angel must be on the seat,” he thought to himself, “but I cannot see him because I am a sinful man.” He was ashamed. When he came out, he was determined not to be humiliated. “I have seen the angel!” he declared loudly. “It is a wonderful thing to have a pure heart!” . Watching the king, the rest of the people assumed he had indeed seen the angel. No one wanted to be the one to admit they were too sinful to see it. One after another, they paid their fee, entered the room, saw the coat and slippers, and came out proclaiming they had seen the glorious angel . Everyone was “pure of heart,” and Ali sat back and watched his bag fill with gold and silver, grinning at the magnificent lie he had convinced the entire kingdom to tell . This story, from the New Oxford English Course, was a staple in Nigerian primary schools, especially in Lagos.