Iroso Di

Orunmila had many enemies, and they went to talk to the turtle and the serpent about killing him; the two of them agreed, and the turtle hid under the mat. Orunmila, knowing he had many enemies, made Osode and this Ifá came out; he made the praying it marked: a rooster for Elegba, two hens with honey for Oshún, a pair of scissors, a small mortar, a piece of matting and boiled yam.

He boiled the yam, set the mortar on the mat and began to pound; with the blows he killed the turtle, and once he realized it he shared out her iñales among all the Saints. Then he lay down on the mat, but first he set the scissors open on top of the mortar. The serpent, seeing him asleep, tried to get in and kill him, but ran into the scissors and cut off its own head. So Orunmila beat his enemies. When this Ifá comes out and takes a road, the praying must be made at a run, and two great enemies are destroyed; there are almost always strong enemies at work, along with gossip, scheming and plotting.

The cat, the rat and the fish went for divination. The cat was told to sacrifice to Eshú, to his head and to his Guardian Angel so as not to end up carrying the yoke of someone else's troubles; he served his head and his Angel, but failed with Eshú. The rat was given the same advice and did nothing. The fish, warned that his enemies were scheming against him, sacrificed without wasting time — okra, soap and a hen — and Orunmila added white amaranth, irowa and odondon to prepare him a bathing soap. After that, the fish set up his home in the water, and his body turned slippery and scaled.

The rat talked the cat into catching the fish in exchange for a good piece of meat. The cat found him dancing in the river and struck, but the okra on the fish's body made him impossible to hold; the fish swam down to the deep and was saved, and the cat came out of the water having swallowed a great deal of it, and was a long time bringing it up. He went to the rat for his payment — he was asking for a she-goat to thank his head for not having died in the river — but the rat argued that with no success there was no payment. Then the cat set on her and killed her while her children fled; and ever since, the cat kills the rat for its food, which came of the sacrifice she refused to make.

Yemayá was Orunmila's wife, and he, in his fondness for women and for parties, was not seeing to his godchildren or to the people who came to his house as he should; the time he ought to have spent studying he spent at parties. Yemayá spoke to him about it and he paid no attention. At night, with nothing to do, she took to reading Orunmila's books in secret.

One day Orunmila went off to the country to a feast lasting several days. Yemayá, seeing that he did not come back and how many people were arriving to be read, began reading and making ebbó and works, which were very well received and very successful; more than a month went by like that. When Orunmila came back, he found his house fuller than ever, and someone told him that Yemayá was reading now, and knew more than he did. Ashamed, he went into the room and saw Yemayá in trousers and a hat making ebbó for someone. Full of anger and shame, he threw her out of his house and swore never to live with her again; and from then on he studied and saw to his duties as an Awó. This was where Yemayá first put on a hat and trousers, and a woman first threw the ókpele; that is why the Awoses of this sign do not live with daughters of Yemayá, since sooner or later they will want to take their place.