Otrupon Ogunda

Oshún felt curious about what Ashikulu was doing and began to watch. What she saw was none of her business, and the fright was so great that she lost consciousness and fell into the river. She sank to the bottom and was left tangled in the roots of the ashibata.

That day Orunmila did osode and received this Ifá. He followed the ebbó proper to this odu, took it to the river and threw it into the water.

As he did so he sensed a movement at the bottom. He put in the irofá and, little by little, pulled out the roots of the ashibata; in one of them Oshún was tangled. So she was saved, through Orunmila.

The warning is that whoever fails to fulfill what Oshún commands, dies.

Ikú lived in a place where she could not eat anything; although she searched and searched, food did not appear. Tired of that bad streak, she went to consult with Orunmila, who found for her the odu Otrupon Ogunda. Ifá asked her for an ebbó. When it was done, she had to leave that place and eat only fruit that was ripe.

Ikú obeyed and settled in a land whose inhabitants were all born with illnesses. She fed on them and lived satisfied, because food never ran short.

In that place lived a couple. The woman became pregnant and, on noticing it, decided to go see Orunmila to consult Ifá. He saw this odu for her and ordered an ebbó.

On leaving there she was convinced, but she had no money to pay for it. She asked her relatives for help, gathered what was needed by taking up a collection and came back to have the ebbó done. When the work was finished, Orunmila told her to take it to the cemetery and not to look back on the return. In addition, he charged Onibode to go with her, not to leave her alone and, when the baby was born, to defend it from Ikú.

A girl was born, Emule, and Onibode was already present to keep her from falling ill and to save her from death. However, the relatives found out what had become of the gathered money and began to complain. Elegba heard every word, took offense and withdrew. The mother grew anxious: “What will happen now to Emule and to me?”

At nightfall one day, a very high fever came over Emule. She was soaked in sweat, her body covered with sores, and she could not see. Her mother, looking at her, wept inconsolably. Then she recovered and went to call the whole family: it was time to ask heaven for help and to call Onibode. All of them made their pleas at the same time, and Onibode, after exclaiming “this is very good,” took the girl away with him.

With time, Emule was now a young abikú. When she thought, her head hurt, and her sight was short, although she could make out things very far away. When she was 16, Onibode said to her: “I am going to take you to where your mother lives, but first we will pass by Obatalá's house.” And so he took Emule, the girl who had been condemned to die, to her mother's home. Ikú could not devour her.

In one town lived a lame man and a blind man, so poor and needy that they were already dying of hunger.

One day the blind man suggested that, since they were going to die of hunger anyway, they had better do it in the countryside than in town. The lame man climbed onto the blind man’s shoulders and, with a stick, indicated the direction. In the bush they stumbled on a dead elephant. The lame man announced that they had found food, got down to the ground, took his knife and cut pieces of meat to roast.

A toad happened by, which the lame man caught and put on to roast as well. When everything was cooked, the lame man handed the toad to the blind man, telling him it was elephant meat. The blind man began to eat it and, as he bit into it, a spurt of the toad’s milk landed in his eyes and he recovered his sight. Then he saw what he was eating and shouted at the lame man that he was shameless: he was feasting on elephant while serving his friend toad. He seized the stick and gave him a hard blow. The lame man ran off in a panic, and from so much running his lameness was cured.