The Perillos torturing device
During festival occasions, especially those that are celebrated worldwide, one needs to be extra careful when travelling because of the topsy-turvy nature of our dear earth. Owing to this, I decided to lie low in my own country Ghana and observe happenings.
I was indeed a happy man when I spent the two-day Christmas holiday in the house of one elderly person who saw it all in the past.
His name is Winston George, a South African who quietly settled in Ghana to escape the notorious apartheid regime in the early sixties.
As we sat down in his exotic garden with the tropical birds chirping, he narrated a strange story: There was a man who wanted to be rich and famous in a certain kingdom and he made the necessary contacts and they gave him the necessary support to realize his dream.
After sometime, the contacts informed him that their overall boss, who controlled most things to assist him, wanted to see him.
So he prepared well to meet the big boss. They came to the palace.
At every turn in the palace, he was asked to make incredible promises to some highly influential personalities. Before long he was complaining to the person escorting him about the high cost of the gifts he was to give out.
?Hey Buddy, in our realm no gift is too expensive and let me tell you and warn you that nothing is gotten free in our realm,? he was told.
The new rich big man became afraid and regretted ever dabbling in his quest to be a very important man.
When he finally got to where the big boss was, he was in tears wringing his hands like a lost child. Sitting on a huge throne with fierce looking guards holding hideous weapons, the boss welcomed him with a devilish grin.
?Welcome man,? the man on the huge throne welcomed the newly-crowned rich man on earth. Without much ado, he was given a tall long list of the things he was supposed to present as gifts every year. He immediately went on his knees to plead for reduction. That action infuriated the man on the throne and upon his command; a device was wheeled into the hall and placed in the far corner. It was bronze cast of a big bull. The device was designed in Ancient Greece by Perillos of Athens. He was a brass founder and he did the cast in the shape of a hollow bull with a door on the side.
So a condemned person was dragged to the hall and hauled into the abdomen of the bronze bull. A fire was lit underneath the device and because it was brass, it became yellow and hot, which caused the person to roast to death.
The bull device was configured with tubes, so when the person inside screamed it made the sound of a raging bull.
The guy who was helped to become rich saw the plight of the victim in the bronze bull and he nearly went mad.
?Get out of my sight and make sure you fulfill your part of the agreement, any retreat from you meant severe punishment,? the Big Boss said to the man.
Winston George, who concluded his story, said, ?Some assistance we seek in this life is very dangerous so we should all beware.?
Winston came to Ghana and settled down to avoid the evil nature of apartheid in his native South Africa.
He set up modest commercial firm building upon it gradually and paying his taxes promptly.
He married a local beauty and had two children with her; one boy and a girl.
Winston took good care of the family and made sure the children were educated well.
The boy went to London to study medicine and the girl studied economics in France.
With the wonderful guidance of their parents, the two children put up hotels and private hospitals across the globe which earned them enough returns.
Their parents are really enjoying in their old age waiting for the day the Almighty God would call them.
I learnt a lot from Grandpa Winston George and I hope to share some with you my dear readers in the New Year.
One thing Grandpa hammered into my skull seriously was that I should have a close relationship with Jesus Christ, the son of the Invisible and the Immortal God.
?We have many people brandishing all kinds of ?Jesus? but the one I am talking about is the one in the Holy Bible,? he admonished.
By Amos Amaglo
