Oggunda Arikú

There was once a king who was much loved by the people of his town; he had great authority over his subjects and over the neighboring lands. One day he needed to travel to one of his lands, and to avoid being attacked on the road he consulted Ifá: Orunmila made osode for him, saw this Odù, and told him to be careful, in case on his return he found things different from how he had left them, since in his kingdom he had a great enemy who wanted his throne at any cost. He had to make ebbó and leave the youngest person in charge of the palace: that was the one who would stop his destruction.

The king did everything Orunmila told him. That young man, who was very quick to read people, was soon able to work out who was trying to destroy the king: he sent for them, and in front of the whole town he ordered their heads taken off, as a lesson for their betrayal.

Arikú was Obatalá's slave and his cook, and Orunmila told him to make ebbó because Obatalá was preparing a santo feast and he was responsible for preparing all the food: he had to make ebbó so everything would turn out well and he would not get into trouble with Obatalá. The ebbó was with a fifeshu rooster, two hens, two pigeons, jutía, fish and corn. But Arikú did not go back to Orunmila's house to have the ebbó made, because he thought Obatalá trusted him and that he was capable of preparing all that food without any need for an ebbó. Elegba, who was waiting for Arikú to make ebbó so he could eat rooster, got angry, and on the day of the feast, with his power, he turned Arikú's mind upside down: he grew careless and all the food came out badly made — some spicy, some tasteless, some far too sweet and some far too salty. The whole thing was a disaster, since the Saints did not eat. Obatalá was upset and had Arikú seized to be killed.

When Arikú learned of Obatalá's decision, he ran to Orunmila's house to have an ebbó made to save himself, and told him what had happened with the food — he could not explain how it had gone so wrong. Orunmila answered: «If the ebbó used to cost you 16, now it costs you sixteen ounces of gold, four roosters, four hens and four pigeons, so Obatalá does not kill you and forgives you». After making him the ebbó, he handed him an agogó to go out into the street and sing in the square: «Ayere yomile omo nile agogó, aikú omo niye agogó». People, seeing him, said: «We are going to kill you»; he went on singing and playing the agogó. Then Orunmila arrived and threw him a coin between his legs, and the people, seeing that, began to throw him coins, and so they gave him a great deal of money. When Obatalá arrived, they begged him to forgive him: Obatalá forgave him and gave him his freedom. To Iban Eshu. Note: in this Odù the person does not do the work out of a lack of faith and out of stinginess, and when they come back in a hurry they are charged double, because that is what Orunmila did. Here a promise is owed to Obatalá: pay it, so you get over your ailments.

There was a time when Oggunda Yeku fought for a living. He came to a road that split into three, and not knowing which to take, he took the aberikunló stick he was carrying, turned his back on the three roads and threw it: it flew through the air and landed on one of the three roads, and Oggunda Yeku took that road. He came to a town where you had to fight in order to live; he had not eaten for days, and the first thing he did was to look for a fight: he tore his opponent's arm off with the machete, and wounded the others, since there were three of them. The people saw the newcomer getting the upper hand, priding himself on being better than the man who taught him. There were two families in the town who had long been at odds over one family's land: one family sent for him to hire his services as a fighter — they would pay him well for the fighting and he would be sure of food. He, in need and ambitious at once, accepted. Once night fell, he went to sleep at the house of an old man who had a small business selling food, drink and beds: that old man was Oluo Popó.

A few days later, the enemies of the family who had hired him called him in to work for them, and he accepted: he now had obligations to both families, who did not know what he was doing — and on principle he betrayed the first. When he came back to Oluo Popó's shop, the old man told him this was not right — betraying people who had placed all their trust in him — and told him: «Go to Orunmila, so he can read Ifá for you and make you an ebbó». He went to Orunmila's house, and Orunmila marked him the ebbó and told him: «This ebbó is so that, when they find out about your betrayal, they do not kill you; but what you will not be able to avoid is the shame you will go through for having betrayed your own side, and your own children speaking ill of you». He made the ebbó and took it to Yanzan's house. He stayed three days without leaving the town; in those days, the first family called for his services, and when the fighting started Oggunda Yeku pulled out, and that family lost several of their members in the fight. They took him prisoner for the betrayal, and instead of killing him they beat him to shame him — since he was so defiant — and he had to leave the town battered and crippled in one leg. And the family he had been meant to defend put it about that he was a traitor, for having betrayed his own side out of ambition for food and money — as he had betrayed the one who gave him the art of fighting his way through life. Note: you cannot do favors, and even less do two things at the same time, because you will never feel happy and you will come off badly.