Otrupon Meyi

Ekun, the tiger, and Ogbo, the wildcat, were born of the same parents. Ogbo had a terrible dream and went to Orunmila, who told him to pray over his head with a guinea hen because of his brother: Ekun was planning to kill him and eat him. He also warned him to keep away from serving other people's heads, however close the family tie, and to stay alert. He made the sacrifice. Ekun went to Orunmila too — so he could kill his brother — and was asked for a goat for Eshú; but on the way home he thought the goat's meat was tastier than that of weak Ogbo, and he refused to sacrifice.

So Ekun tied up a goat «to serve his head», rubbed his body with oil to look like he was dying, and sent the leopard to convince Ogbo that only he could save him by serving his head. Ogbo remembered Orunmila's advice, but he did not know how to refuse his brother. When he arrived, he found all the animals grieving in an atmosphere of sadness; but when he looked Ekun straight in the eye, he understood at once that he was faking.

So he suggested that another animal sacrifice the goat and that he would use the cut head to rub Ekun's, as tradition required. They agreed, and the hyena handed him the head. While he prayed with it in his hands, Ogbo danced with steady steps backwards, singing the praises of Orunmila. When he had gained enough distance, he rubbed his own head with the goat's skull — and escaped. Ekun, furious, accused the animals of allowing him to get away and ate several of them. So Ogbo survived because of the sacrifice he made, and Ekun's plans failed because of the one he refused to make.

Egherun, the most beautiful bird in heaven, turned down every suitable suitor. Ugun, the vulture — the ugliest one —, decided to force her with blackmail: he put fresh palm fruit at the side of the road and hid to watch. Egherun, who could not resist the temptation of that fruit, took all she could — and Ugun came out to accuse her of theft, a crime that carried the death penalty. She offered to pay any sum; he refused everything: the only payment was for her to marry him. Egherun, who could not live with the shame of a trial before the elders, accepted and went to his house.

After nights without sleep, she went to Orunmila, who told her to sacrifice two roosters: one, cut open down the middle, she herself was to leave at the crossroads and then hide and watch it. Ugun had gone out looking for food for his bride; passing the crossroads he saw the sacrificed rooster and — everyone knows the vulture cannot control himself in front of dead meat — he flew down and ate his fill, gathering the leftovers to take home.

Then Egherun came out of her hiding place and accused him of theft. Ugun argued that a man cannot be accused of stealing from his wife; she answered that this only counted inside the home, and that she had not made that sacrifice for him: he had stolen. Seeing how hopeless his position was, Ugun asked how he could pay for his offense. He only had to cancel the marriage he had forced on her and to announce publicly that she was no longer his wife. He did it, and Egherun went back home for good. That is where the saying comes from: «nobody knew when Egherun married the vulture, nor when she left him». When this sign comes out, a marriage imposed by force does not last, if the sacrifice is made.

A hunter had a secret pact with the Elders of the Night: they provided him with game on the condition that he drained the blood of every animal he killed. His wife, anxious to know why he came home with bloodless animals, decided to follow him into the forest in secret. On the previous trip, the Elders had warned the hunter that whoever followed him had to stop; he told his wife, and she pretended to have nothing to do with it.

On the next hunt she followed him. When the hunter finished and went to meet with the Elders of the Night, they drained the blood of the animals into a clay pot and asked him whether, going against their instructions, he had come with a spy. He denied it. They pushed aside the leaves the wife had covered herself with and ordered her to come out. The hunter begged them to forgive her; they answered that there is no forgiveness in the world of witchcraft.

The Elders told the woman that, since she was so curious about the blood of her husband's game, she would pay the price: they made her drink all the drained blood. She fell gravely ill, and the hunter no longer had time to hunt, because the beings of the night had turned their backs on him. Later he went to make peace with them and paid the fine they set; then they agreed to change the punishment, declaring that from then on she would only see blood once a month — which is the menstruation that all women have to this day. In the divination the man is told: there is a woman stronger than you planning to damage your work; with a goat to Eshú, her plans will be exposed.