Ofún Fundá

There was a man who was very poor and went to Orunla's house; this Ifá came out, Orunla made ebbó for him and told him to go and bathe in the river, but to be careful not to lose something, which could be his luck or his ruin.

The man went to bathe in the river and carried a half peso in his mouth so he would not lose it. But in a careless moment it fell out, and he followed it until it reached the mouth of the sea. Night caught him there, and he asked Olokun for leave to sleep; Olokun granted it: he could sleep on the reefs.

The next day, Olokun asked him how he had spent the night, and he answered that he had spent it well. Then Olokun pointed out some gourd plants and told him that the ones on the right did not speak, but the ones on the left did, and that he should go on along that road, that when he got home he would find it changed.

That man prospered overnight. But a neighbor asked him, and asked and asked until he knew the secret, and said that he could do it too. Without going to Orunla's house first for a reading, he went to bathe in the river, dropped his half peso and followed it. When he got to the place, at night he asked Olokun for leave to sleep, and Olokun granted it.

In the morning Olokun asked him how he had slept, and he answered badly, because on top of the reefs he could not sleep well. Then Olokun told him: «Do you see those gourd plants? Well, the ones on the right do not speak, but the ones on the left do. You take three from the right and throw one right away, another halfway along the road and the last one when you get home».

He obeyed, but he was not satisfied; and when he took those gourds, when he threw the first one everything went dark; when he threw the second one, snakes and other fierce animals came out and ate him, for being greedy.

Work: put a 50-cent piece for Elegbará. You must not look at yourself in water, because you will see death. You must not sleep naked, because there is an Egun who lives with you.

On this road there were two friends who always went about together, in laughter and in tears, that is, at the parties and in the hard moments a man has in life.

Barakoyí was a practical man, rather straight in his dealings; he never got into anyone else's business. Envy and pride disgusted him: modesty was who he was. Eyiguei, on the other hand, was the opposite: a bad-tempered, quarrelsome, selfish man, never satisfied and never modest.

One day, these two friends were talking about the bad situation they were going through and, as fate would have it, neither of them had more than ten cents in his pocket. It was then that Barakoyí told his friend he was going to Orunmila's house for a reading, to see if his luck would change. And the other answered: «Fine, you go and spend your money on those things; with mine I am going to buy something to eat».

Barakoyí got to Orunmila's house, and Orunmila read for him and this Ifá came out, and he told him he had to make an offering and then leave that town, but with no fixed road, and wherever he arrived, there he would make his happiness. Orunmila made the ebbó for him and, knowing how poor this man was, gave him back the five cents he had charged him, saying: «Take this, so you have something for the journey». Barakoyí set out, and Orunmila blessed him this way: Omá Iré Ki Olodumare Agueó Ki Bogué Ochá Agueó.

This man walked all day and part of the night, and came to a very beautiful place, since there was water on both sides: a river on one side and the sea on the other. Since he was tired and thirsty, he took his hat to drink water and, bending down, the coin Orunmila had given him fell out. When he had finished drinking, he gave thanks to Olofin and to the Oshas for having brought him to such a lovely place to drink a little water and rest. There he fell fast asleep, on top of the reefs, and he dreamed that something was pulling at his feet, that he was being thrown into the sea, and no end of other troubles that kept breaking into his sleep.

At daybreak he woke up, glad to have rested, and it was then that he saw an old woman, disheveled, in rags and ugly, who stopped beside him and asked: «Son, did you sleep well, and did no one bother you in this lonely place?». He answered that no one had. Then the old woman said: «Well, son, I am going to help you. Do you see that gourd plant by the road? Take three gourds from the right: throw the biggest one when you leave here, the second one when you are coming into the first town you find, and the last one, the smallest, throw it where you are going to spend the night».

He did so and, when he threw the last gourd, it held a great fortune, which he gathered up in amazement and wonder; and it did not take him long to become one of the greatest men in name and in fortune in that town.

Some time later, Barakoyí went back to visit his old town to greet Orunmila and his friend Eyiguei. After greeting Orunmila and giving him some valuable gifts, he looked for his friend, embraced him, gave him several gifts and they ate together. Eyiguei told him he was the same or worse. Barakoyí told him his story and said his prosperity was due to the work Orunmila had done for him, and offered money to his friend, who turned it down out of pride and envy.

Wanting to copy Barakoyí, he borrowed ten cents and went to Orunmila's house expecting him to make an ebbó for five cents; and when Orunmila told him that ebbó could not be made with five cents, that he had to pay four pesos and twenty cents, he answered: «If I had $4.20 I would not have gone to the trouble of coming all the way here». And right after that he left without saying goodbye and took the road his friend had told him about.

He got to the place beside the sea and the river, saw the old woman and the gourd plants, so he understood his friend had not lied to him. He bent down to drink water, the five-cent coin fell out, and he started cursing. Then he lay down to sleep saying: «Let us see when the old witch shows up». He slept, and the things that were there would not let him sleep.

In the morning, at daybreak, he saw the old woman coming. When she got there she greeted him, and he answered through his teeth, which she noticed at once. But without saying anything, she asked: «My son, what brings you here?». He answered: «What business is it of yours?». The old woman said: «Son, I want to help you». He said: «Then help me and stop talking so much».

The old woman said: «Do you see that gourd plant? When you leave here, take the ones on the right: throw the biggest one when you go, without looking back; throw the middle one in the town you will soon come to, and throw the smallest one where you are going to spend the night».

When Eyiguei was leaving, he went to take the gourds and saw that the ones on the left were bigger, and said: «She thinks I am a fool». And he took those, because they were bigger. And then he did everything backwards: he left the smallest one there, at the edge of the town he left the middle one, and when he got to where he was going to spend the night he threw the biggest one, and out of it came a snake that went for his neck and strangled him.

Note: in this Odù the dead also speak. Receive the Ibeyis and Olokun; give food to the sea and to the river; give food and a party to the Ibeyis; receive Ozain for your luck in this life. Maferefún Ibeyis, Maferefún Olokun.

Prayer: Aboké Koró Kukuté Kukú, Adifafún Oggún, Adifafún Orishaoko, Laró Lebó Ifaradá.

Ebbó: akukó, etú meyi, eyelé meyi, plowed earth, ashó ará, ashó timbelara, ekú, eyá, awadó, otí, opolopo owó.

Once, Orishaoko was worn out from working so much, because the more he worked, the less he had to show for it. He kept begging Olofin to help him, but Olofin did not help him.

Tired of the life he was living, he stopped working when he saw that everything was going wrong, and decided to leave the place where he lived. But one day when he went out walking he went to the house of his compadre Oggún and told him all the hardship he was going through, because he could not break the ground deep enough with the plow he had, since it was made of wood and the ground was very hard and dry, because it did not rain.

Then Oggún begged Olofin to make it rain, and told Orishaoko he was going to make him an iron plow. When Oggún made him the plow, Orishaoko was able to work the way he wanted, and felt happy and content again.

Orishaoko had to have Oggún's help to be able to have what he wanted.