Kwame Ahenakwah Soapmaker and the Catholic Priest Droboso is a beautiful town lying between two rivers. As a typical traditional town, the inhabitants have much regard for their culture. Food is not expensive. Farmers produce yams, plantains, rice and vegetables in abundance to the satisfaction of the townspeople. The townspeople are happy and enjoy the beautiful and peaceful environment. They have everything that makes life worth living. Droboso is full of entertainment. Regular visitors stay and tour the town for long periods. There are many beautiful churches. Famous among them is the Catholic church, which has a hospital, a school, and a training college. The other churches have schools that bring in new Christian converts. The traditional priest has his Oracle at one end of the town. A young and intelligent Catholic priest lives in Droboso and does his priestly work. There is also a friendly and intelligent middle-aged man who makes soap. He is simply called Soapmaker. He is a friend to the priest. One evening, Soapmaker and the priest walked together through the town. They came across a young man having a bath without soap in a puddle of mud. This attracted the priest. He asked Soapmaker, “Do you see this young man in the mud?” Soapmaker answered in the affirmative. The priest remarked, “Surely then, the soap you are making is useless.” Soapmaker did not say anything. They continued walking until they crossed the bridge that linked the town, the market, the hospital, and the training college. After a few minutes' walk, they spotted a young man who had attended the church of the Catholic priest on the previous Sunday. The young man had both his hands in handcuffs. Soapmaker called the attention of the priest to the scene. The priest was surprised at the sight. Then Soapmaker said, “The preaching you do on Sundays is useless.” The priest protested saying, “The preaching was not useless, but this young man did not apply the lesson.” Soapmaker replied similarly, “The young man bathing in the mud did not apply the soap.” Copyright © Liberian Association of Writers