Mora Naba, a Mossi emperor in Burkina Faso, had conquered a powerful ethnic group in the south called the Kaesena. He extracted tribute from them once each year. One year, at tribute collecting time, the emperor made the mistake of sending his son, Nabiiga, a prince and his heir apparent. When the Kaesena saw Nabiiga with only a very small entourage of guardians, they overpowered the group and took the prince hostage.

His kingly robes were stripped from him, and he was forced to walk around in only a loincloth. The prisoner received only one meal per day and was forced out into the fields each morning to work. Normally, manual labor would be beneath the dignity of royalty, so the Kaesena made great sport of him. The women would pass by and belittle him. While he was working in the fields,…