Iwori Roso

Two men of great wisdom lived in the same town, and each regarded himself as king. Each gave orders according to his taste. The neighbors began to separate, and each followed the ruler he preferred. One group called itself a descendant of the Sun and put on yellow clothes; the other, a descendant of the Moon, dressed in blue. Families broke apart and relatives even came to fight one another.

The ones of the Sun became selfish, since they considered themselves superior: the Sun has more strength than the Moon. Living together there was almost impossible without some quarrel. Then the people who had joined neither side went to Olofin to explain the disorder to him.

Olofin had the two kings brought. He announced that he kept two words in a chest, which both would have to obey, since the Greater King was he. He wanted to know whether they accepted, and both said yes.

The next morning, the people of both groups filled the square. Olofin waited there with a king on each side. He invited them to take out what was in the chest and to obey it, so that the confrontations in that land would end. Each king put in his hand, took a paper and read it aloud. It said “Olofin King.” Ashamed, they lowered their heads and declared: “From today there will be only one king, and it is you.”

Olofin sent them to the river to cast off their clothes; afterwards they could wear whatever color they wished. He also asked them to bring fine food to celebrate that everyone was together again.

Asojuano lived in the Yoruba land and nobody esteemed him. His sores gave off such a strong stench that people feared falling ill, and for that reason they drove him out. As he walked, he ran into his younger brother Shangó, who was returning victorious from a war. Shangó gave him a kingdom: Arara, a small land that lay across a river, far from the Yoruba one. He asked its inhabitants to treat him well. Before leaving he said to Asojuano: “Those who expelled you are going to need you, so make them beg you a great deal.”

Time passed and an epidemic struck the Yoruba land. People were dying and nothing relieved them. Shangó informed them that they would be saved only through the leper they had expelled. They went to Arara, but Asojuano answered that he would not go. They got down on their knees, clapped their hands against the ground and implored him, promising not to get up until they received his forgiveness. So much pleading softened him: he agreed to go with them and healed everyone.

For this reason, when Asojuano is moved to another place, he is asked with clapping hands.

Pire was an awó who tanned and worked leather, and he was also a good diviner. A godson of Ifá worked for him, but the pay hardly covered the day's meals.

Every day the young man went to the river and begged Oshún for gold and power. A woman saw him and told the godfather, who drove him out of his house. Even so, the young man kept visiting the river and asking Oshún.

There came a time when, stubborn, he consulted the oracle and this odu came out. Ifá prescribed an ebbó of 2 hens, combs and a key; the combs were for Oshún. It cost him a great deal to gather it and do it, and he kept the key from the ebbó for himself.

On going to the river with the ebbó he ran into an old man, Oduduwa, who offered him a job on one condition: that he keep his eyes covered. The young man accepted. Oduduwa led him to a palace full of gold, with three doors, so that he would clean them. When the task was done, he gave him a tiny coin as payment.

Some time later Oduduwa left that land. The palace gradually became covered in dust and the king put it up for auction. The young man, who already knew the place, offered an enormous sum with the money Oshún had given him. With that kept key he opened the three doors one by one and became the owner of the palace. Then he gave his godfather fine hides of tiger, lion and ox, and rescued him from poverty. It was all owed to Oshún, Oduduwa and Orunmila.