The temperaments of Owo~Money, Iyi~Honour and Ete~Shame, despite being offsprings of the same parents, differed. The name of their dad was Orire, while the mom's was Iwa Rere. When the parents died, the entire world mourned their demise.
The children lived and began to die too. When Iyi died, the king sent emissaries and commanded that Iyi be given a befitting burial. He decreed that Iyi be buried at his backyard in the palace. Since then, the throne and its occupants, irrespective of age and status, became men that everyone honoured. Suffice to say that, men and women alike also like and desire Iyi.
Ete would not live long afterwards. When she died, there was nowhere to bury her. The women mobilised themselves to give her a befitting burial, being the only daughter of her parents. They, however, didn't get a suitable burial site for her. To save her the shame and nauseating decomposition, they unanimously agreed to bury her in the secrecy of their being. Since then, ti okunrin ba koja aye lodo obinrin, o nko iwe si ete niyen~if a man conducts himself rudely with a woman, he is courting dishonour and embarrassment. The most revered of men can lose his honour if he has an uncouth appetite for that which lies beneath the skirt. There is no faster route to shame and public disgrace than for a male boss to sleep with a female subordinate of his. Whether by intent or mistake, he immediately loses his honour and respect, and people treat him with contempt and disregard.
Proud Owo, the most famous of the three, is liked by everyone. He gave no one any clue about his death. He went to the forest and never returned; hence, the popular saying, igbe lo owo wa. There it was assumed he died. Nobody knew how and when he died. Because of his fame and acceptance among the people, the forest was bombarded in search of Owo or, at least, his dead body. The hunters led the park, the farmers followed, the market women and the artisans were not left behind. The king also joined in in the search. The youths refused to stay behind, and the teenagers did not buy into the trick to stay behind. The village is virtually empty. The long search began in earnest. The seekers went in different directions in the forest. Some to the north; some headed south; another group went eastwards while others combed the south of the forest. After the exhausting search, the dismembered body--the legs and hands--of Owo was found. But tifutedo Owo~the internal organs of money, the real deal~and the head were not found. They re-grouped the following day, to continue with the desperate search for Owo.
The desperate search did not leave the seekers the same. The day before, some of them were devoured by wild beasts in the forest. It's the second day, and they have come with rejuvenated zeal and interest. They will not be deterred. They are more desperate than they were the day before. Some of them had come armed and fortified with amulets and charms, to ease and prosper their mission. For some, it was a potent fragrance to attract Eleda Owo. A few ensured they got Awure Owo. They divided themselves into smaller groups, with one mission, lati wa Owo. As they parted, they chanted, igbe lo owo wa and swung into action, a frantic search for Owo and all it can afford.
After a long search deep into the heart of the forest northward for Owo, the seekers ran into one mysterious being, neither human nor animal. This mysterious being, ready to attack them, assumed they were hunters. What other activity brings humans into the heart of a forest if not to hunt games. He was not a game to be killed. Rather than hunting, they were pleading. They pleaded with him to help them. Their being in the forest was for another reason entirely. When they told this mysterious being their mission in the forest, he guffawed and told them how to go about locating the beloved Owo. "You must love him so much that you are this passionate to find him," he shrieked. "Yes, we do! Without him, life can be frustrating and unbearable," they pleaded. "This is what to do: Go to the cosmopolitan cities and put in hardwork. There, you will have to consciously appease Owo by your industry, innovation and ingenuity. These are the timeless and universal sacrifices that Owo require." As they were departing, he reminded them that in their new land of sojourn is where ideas thrive, where dreams come true. They profusely thanked this mysterious being and departed for different cosmopolitan cities. The advice of this mysterious being is still being heeded on a daily basis. It is the basis for rural-urban mobility.
The other group that traversed the forest via the south, when they were exhausted and famished, decided to take some rest. They couldn't fathom the way forward in achieving the purpose for which they were in the forest. After they had taken enough rest, they encouraged themselves to intensify their efforts. They did and came to the same point hours later. At this breaking point, a heavy rain with violent storms descended but they could see an old thatched hut afar off. They made haste to get to the hut. To their shock, it had an occupant, a very old diviner. Going by his look, he belonged to centuries only told of in myths and legends. They took shelter in the leaking hut of this strange diviner, who eventually told them the whereabouts of Owo. The divination revealed that in the lands beyond the great seas laid the fortune they sought in the forest. To the seas, they headed, not knowing how to navigate it, expect the assurances of the divination that beyond the seas~Oke-Okun~lies fortune, even in abundance. Since the Mediterranean lay in between them and their search, they didn't mind the risk. Only the Mediterranean can account for the number of souls that have perished in it, in the desperate and daring search for Owo.
The group that combed the forest eastwards repaired to the village after an exasperated search for Owo in the forest. They had nowhere to turn to. They contemplated the next move and acted fast on it. They have heard that some in the other group had found Owo, the general quest for which they went to the forest and made away with it to the cosmopolitan cities. They visited their kinsmen in the cities and accused them of being selfish. They wondered why they found the entire body of Owo and made away with it to the cities to make it entirely theirs. They sought no explanation but demanded that the body of Owo be released to them immediately. No explanation offered by their kinsmen sufficed them. Rather than daily contend with their kinsmen, they chose to stay back in the city to do what they could to better their lives. They chose to labour afterwards but their labour was not too productive. Their labour wearied them. They are the hustlers; always genuinely endeavouring to make ends meet. At some point, a faction among them felt jilted and decided to pay their kinsmen in their own coin. They chose the dark hours of the day to actualise their intent. With time, it became a splinter group behind every known human vice and nefarious act.
The last of the four groups went in search of Owo westwards; they were the largest of the four groups. They gave up the futile search and returned to the village. They seemed doomed, since they neither had the dismembered body of Owo nor tifutedo Owo. They always live in hope that, one day, fortune will smile on them. They live seeing and beholding the wonders of Owo and the ambience he offers in and around them, but they are never partakers. They are not lazy folks but the proverbial folks putting in industry the size of an elephant, with nothing substantial to show for it. A sizeable number of them live from hand to mouth and continue to live believing that, one day, one good day, the gap between them and their kinsmen will be closed up. Many have died believing, though.
Inspired by one of Orlando Owo's masterpiece, Itan Owo
1 Comments
Good one my brother keep it up.
ReplyDelete