Otrupon Di

A corn grower sold cooked corn; he was the only one who had corn and, besides, he owned a lot of money. He fell gravely ill. They told him to make an ebbó with four sacks of money, a rooster and a hen, but he refused: he said he preferred to spend eight sacks of money rather than give up four of corn. He got much worse.

His family, without his knowing, made the offering, and from then on the corn was shared among all the people. Everyone enjoyed good health; only the corn grower lacked it.

A hunter went to consult Orunmila. In the reading an Ifá appeared that required him to make ebbó if he wished to keep hunting.

The man practiced another religion and disregarded the instruction; he only wanted to make Orunmila look ridiculous. He went into the bush and came back with a splendid porcupine.

In town he began to proclaim that Orunmila had been wrong and, on top of that, was a fraud. His friends organized an enormous banquet in his honor.

As they were sitting down to eat, the chief, who detested Orunmila, wanted to lower him and had the invitation to the party delivered through the commissioner. Orunmila replied that, although the hunter had indeed taken the porcupine, none of the guests would be able to eat it, since the table would stay laid because of that man’s disobedience.

They gave it no importance. According to custom, whoever presided had to be the first to cut and serve himself. He did so and brought a bite to his mouth. As he chewed, he felt a fragment of the spear used to hunt the animal lodge in his palate: it had broken, and the tip had remained in the meat. Blood poured out, nothing could stop the hemorrhage, and the man died right there. The others, frightened, tasted nothing, and the table stayed laid.

When they heard of it, the children of Orunmila held their own party and went through the streets singing that the word of Orunmila never falls to the ground.

It is also told that the one who put the porcupine within the hunter’s reach, as a punishment for not obeying, was Eshuni.

Kintoshe was the daughter of Manduley and could not conceive. Her father called an Awó, who examined her and predicted a girl. The years passed without her becoming pregnant.

Some time later, that same Awó ran into her and wanted to know how her father was. She answered that she had had no news for a long time. The Awó then suggested consulting Orunmila to check whether Ifá upheld his first prediction. He prepared the okpele for Kintoshe and the same Ifá came out, by which Orunmila confirmed the prediction.

After this, the Awó began to love Kintoshe, and she loved him; so the pregnancy came. The Awó consulted again with the osode and verified that it would be a girl. The two went together to the father's house. Manduley, seeing them, asked in astonishment what was going on. The Awó answered that she was his daughter and also his wife, that she was expecting a girl and that this would bring joy to the three of them. Manduley threatened him: if he did not prove what he said, he would lose his head.

After nine months a girl was born, and the Awó's word was proven. For that reason Manduley left Orunmila in charge of his government and declared his granddaughter a princess. A closing formula in the old language ends the story.