Otrupon Yeku

Once a king of a rich region went to Orunmila's house in order to learn something about his son's life. Orunmila made osode for him, seeing this Odù of Ifá, and told the king to bring him his son to make ebbó, because otherwise the king would go through great trouble, and his son as well.

The king asked Orunmila what trouble they could possibly have, powerful as he was, and left Orunmila's house right after that.

One day the king's son left the castle and began walking about the city, seeing in the yard of a house a beautiful cherry tree loaded with fruit. In that yard, at the back, was a man going about his tasks. The boy went into the yard and climbed the tree to take the fruit, without asking permission; and when he tried to come down he could not, and when he tried to speak he could not either.

A long while passed like that, so the king, noticing his absence, sent one of his men to find him and bring him back. The servant passed by that yard and saw the boy up in the tree, and went in without asking permission to fetch him; on reaching the foot of the tree, he too was left paralyzed.

A long time passed in this state, which brought on the king's worry, and he decided to go and look for him himself. As the king passed near that yard, he saw his son in the tree and his servant under it, and headed into the yard, intrigued, asking permission from the man at the back to come in.

When the king went into the yard, he took a chair and sat down in it, calling his servant, who answered that he could not move, neither he nor the boy, for reasons unknown. Because of this, the king called the man in the yard, who came toward the king and asked what it was he wanted. The king told him that what he wanted was for his son to come down from the tree. The owner of the yard answered that his son had come into the yard and climbed the tree without permission, and so, in order to come down from the tree and go home, he would have to pay dues, which were to hand over part of his lands and property.

The king agreed, and right away that man, speaking some magic words, gave the boy back his speech and his movement, and he came down from the tree and ran to his father. After that, the king asked the man in the yard why the servant still could not walk, and the man answered that it was because the servant had not paid any dues yet. Then the king asked what dues he should pay for the servant, and the man answered: lands.

The king agreed to that too, and the man repeated those magic words, and the servant immediately got his movement back and went over to the king and his son.

Seeing his son and his servant at his side, the king thanked the man and prepared to leave with them. But what a shock the monarch got when he tried to stand up and could not. In that state he turned again to the man, asking why he was unable to stand. To which the man answered: «You asked my permission to come into the yard, but not to sit in my chair, and so you have to pay a due.» The king asked what that due was, and the man answered that to get up from the chair he would have to hand over his crown, and the king was forced to hand it over.

The king lost his lands and his crown for not listening to Orunmila's advice; falling into the hands of a great ozainista because of his son, and making rich the owner of the yard, who was an ozainista living in that town.

On this road, in the land of Boribalara, there lived an Awó Beyekún who was a son of Shangó, and he lived with a very beautiful woman called Gueyere. She was a woman who prayed very beautifully and made very beautiful suyeres, and Awó Beyekún was madly in love with her; but he did not like her standing in front of the mirror.

Omó Legun had a son, whom he had made Ifá, called Awó Asheri Bawa; and he had a daughter whom nobody looked at because she drew no attention, and she was his daughter with Oyá. Awó Asheri Bawa lived worried because his daughter was always complaining that she had no luck in love.

One day Awó Asheri Bawa went out with his daughter to the house of his father Omó Legun, so he would do something for her; and he told him he had to take her to the foot of Osain, and gave him sticks and herbs so he could reach where Osain was, going along the road singing so Osain would hear him: «Agogo ni legun, agogo ni le Osain ni guagua, agogo ni lekun, agogo ni le.»

Osain, hearing this, said: «Who is coming for me, calling me?» Osain, who had a mirror in his hand, saw the woman's shadow and said: «I have to change her; she is plain, she has no luck, I have to make her beautiful, but I am missing something that, when Shangó came, I told him I did not need, and he took it to Orunmila. Let me see what I can do.»

When Awó Asheri Bawa arrived with his daughter, Osain received them very happily. They explained what they had come for, but Osain told them: «We have to go to the foot of Ifá so Orunmila decides and gives him a thing I badly need to make her inshé.» Osain told him that he had to take his daughter to her mother Oyá, so that when Ifá was going to make the ceremony, Oyá would eat together with Orunmila; and that he should go along singing: «Evo evo nidira evo gulleguayo, evo evo toviseleso evo gulleguayo.»

They went along the road carrying everything except the paint, in a basket. Ifá, hearing them, said: «What have these people come for?» Awó Asheri Bawa said: «I have come for you to read my daughter.» Orunmila read her and Otrupon Yeku came up, and he said: «I am glad you came together with Oyá, because she has to be given food together with Orunmila and the great secret, and you have to be handed what is missing: the paint, the eyebrow pencil, the lipstick.»

Awó Asheri Bawa made the ceremony together with Ifá to Orunmila and to Oyá, and the great secret of Oyá told him that, to finally settle his daughter's situation, he had to go to the foot of Osain.

When they came to the foot of Osain, he took a fresh fish, passed it over her face, gave its blood to the inshé, took out its eyes and put them inside with a little of the scales; he bathed her with pomegranate, botón de oro, orozús, siempreviva, paraíso, párami leaves, honey and pumpkin juice. While Osain was bathing her, he called Oyá to wash her face, and Osain began to paint with his eyes closed. He finished and held a mirror in front of her, and she saw herself very beautiful; and Oyá and Awó Asheri Bawa saw their daughter so lovely that they were overjoyed. Osain told her: «You have to walk about the town.»

She went off to her land, and when everyone saw her, they were charmed, and she was the attraction of the whole town. Just then Awó Beyekún came along and saw this woman, so lovely, and he fell in love with her and she with him. She told him: «I accept you, but you have to come to my house so I can speak with my secret.» He thought it over, but he was so much in love with her that he said: «Yes, tomorrow I will go there.»

She got her inshé ready and gave it a chicken; and when Awó Beyekún arrived and saw her, he was struck and fell more in love with her. She told him: «I know you have your wife, but if you want something with me, you have to come here, and I will leave everything and go from my father's and my family's side to wherever you want.» Awó Beyekún said: «Give me time.» But she said: «Find another place for us to go, to another land.» He told her that was impossible, but that very close by there was a very beautiful house. He went out with her and showed it to her, and from then on they began living together. But she was a woman of vices, and he came to be so much in love with her that he had his own house abandoned.

One day he sat down at the edge of the scrub and heard a voice saying: «Shake yourself off, give a rooster to Shangó and be read with your Ifá.» He paid no attention, went on being a slave to her, and every time he went to his house he always found some fault with his wife Gueyere.

Awó Beyekún's wife realized what was going on and said: «I am going to Ifá to see what he tells me.» When she came to Ifá, Oyekun Batuto came up, and Ifá explained to her what she had to do. For the ebbó: cochineal, sweet-potato vine, pumpkin, cacao flower and a chicken. Orunmila made ebbó for her and told her to rub that on her face; and then Awó Beyekún stayed with her.

The people of the land of Imale made their living trading peanuts, since that was what they harvested there; it was enough to live on. But a time came when all the inhabitants of that land were doing very badly, because they no longer took care of Orishaoko or of Shangó, who were the patrons of that business and whom they used to worship.

At which those santos agreed and joined together to punish these people who were behaving so badly; and when the crop was growing, thunder fell on the peanut fields and all the plantings burned, and other times the crop did not grow or not enough could be gathered. And so the people were in worse condition every day, and some of them fell ill and others died.

Seeing themselves in such a bad state, they decided to go to Orunmila's house. When Orunmila saw this Ifá for them, he marked them ebbó with a cleansing, and to pray to Orishaoko and to Shangó, and to give them food, so they could hold on to Shangó above all. So the farmers did, for themselves and for their families, and they gave food and fruit to Shangó and to Orishaoko; they were forgiven, and that year's harvests were bigger than in the years before. And that is how all the people were able to come out of the great tight spot they were in.

To iban Eshu.