Otrupon Yeku

A king who ruled a rich region went to see Orunmila to learn what his son’s life would be like. In the consultation this odu of Ifá came out. Orunmila told him to bring the boy so that an ebbó could be done for him, because otherwise the king and his son would go through great difficulties.

The king, sure of how powerful he was, asked what difficulties someone like him could have, and he left Orunmila’s house without doing anything.

Time passed. One day the son left the castle and began to walk through the city. In the yard of a house he saw a beautiful cherry tree full of fruit. At the back of the yard a man was busy with his work. The boy went in without asking anyone’s permission and climbed the tree to pick the fruit. When he wanted to come down, he could not move; when he wanted to speak, he could not do that either.

He stayed like that for a long time. The king noticed that his son was missing and sent one of his servants to look for him. The servant passed by that yard, saw the boy high in the tree, and also went in without permission to bring him down. When he reached the foot of the tree, he became paralyzed just like the boy.

A long time later, worried, the king went out to look for them himself. As he passed near the yard he saw his son above and his servant below. Intrigued, he went over, and this time he did ask the man at the back for permission to come in.

Once inside, the king took a chair and sat down. He called his servant, who answered that he could not move, neither he nor the boy, and that he did not know why. Then the king called the owner of the yard, who came over and asked what he wanted. The king asked that his son be allowed to come down from the tree. The man answered that the boy had entered and climbed the tree without permission, and that to come down and go home he had to pay certain dues: part of the king’s lands and properties.

The king agreed. The man spoke some magic words and gave the boy back his speech and his movement. The boy came down and ran to his father. Right away the king asked why the servant still could not walk. The man answered that nothing had been paid for him yet. The king wanted to know what it would be, and the man said a single word: lands.

The king agreed to that too. The man repeated the magic words, and the servant instantly recovered his movement and went to the king and his son.

Seeing the two of them beside him, the king thanked the man and got ready to leave with them. Then, to his surprise, he could not stand up. He asked the owner of the yard again why he could not get to his feet. The answer was direct: “You asked me permission to enter the yard, but not to sit in my chair, and so you must pay a due.” The king asked what it was, and the man said that to leave the chair he had to hand over his crown. He had no choice but to give it.

In this way the king lost his lands and his crown for not listening to Orunmila’s advice. Because of his son he fell into the hands of a great ozainista, and the owner of the yard, who was an ozainista living in that town, became rich.

Awó Beyekún, a son of Shangó, lived in Boribalara with Gueyere, his wife, a woman of great beauty whose prayers and suyeres were lovely. He loved her madly, but it bothered him that she stopped in front of the mirror.

Meanwhile, Omó Legun had consecrated his son Awó Asheri Bawa in Ifá. He and Oyá had a daughter whom nobody looked at, because her appearance was ordinary, and the young woman complained that she had no luck in love. This worried her father very much.

Awó Asheri Bawa went with her to see Omó Legun and asked for his help. Omó Legun answered that she had to be presented to Osain; he handed over sticks and herbs for the trip and ordered them to sing as they walked, so that Osain would hear them from afar.

Osain heard them and wanted to know who was calling him. With the mirror in his hand he made out the girl's shadow and judged that she was ugly and without fortune. He decided to make her beautiful, although he lacked something that Shangó had offered him and that he had refused, saying he did not need it; Shangó had given it to Orunmila. He said he would look for a solution.

When the father arrived with the young woman, Osain received them gladly and learned the reason for the visit. He explained that first they had to go to Ifá, so that Orunmila would consult and give him that thing he lacked to prepare the young woman's inshé. He also asked that the girl be presented to her mother, Oyá: during Ifá's ceremony, Oyá had to eat beside Orunmila. The way to Orunmila's house also had to be made singing.

They put everything in a bag, except the paint. Ifá heard them approach and asked what they wanted. Awó Asheri Bawa answered that he was bringing his daughter to be consulted. Orunmila did the consultation and Otrupon Yeku came out. He was glad that Oyá was present, because she had to eat beside Orunmila and the great secret; besides, the young woman would receive what she lacked: the paint, the eyebrow pencil and the lipstick.

Awó Asheri Bawa performed the ceremony with Ifá, for Orunmila and for Oyá. Then the great secret of Oyá indicated that, to complete the arrangement for the daughter, they must go back to Osain.

This time Osain prepared an inshé for her and bathed her with a preparation of herbs. While bathing her he asked Oyá to wash her face, and he began to paint her with his eyes closed. When he finished, he placed a mirror before her: she saw herself stunningly beautiful. Oyá and Awó Asheri Bawa were overjoyed to see her like that, and so was she. Osain asked her to take a walk through the town.

She returned to her land and everyone admired her: she became the most attractive person in the place. Awó Beyekún, who was passing by, was captivated when he saw her, and she by him. The young woman accepted his courtship on one condition: that he come to visit her, because she had to consult with her secret. He hesitated, but love won out and he promised to come the next day.

The young woman prepared her inshé and offered him a chicken. On seeing her, Awó Beyekún was surprised and was captivated even more. She told him she knew he had a wife, but that if he wanted to be with her he had to come to her side; she would leave behind her father and her family to go wherever he decided. He asked for time. She, already deeply in love, begged him to find another place, in another land, to go to. He answered that this was not possible, but he remembered a pretty house very nearby; he showed it to her and from that moment they lived as a couple. She was a woman of vices, and he became so bound that he neglected his home completely.

One day, sitting at the entrance of the woods, he heard a voice advising him: he must shake himself off, offer a rooster to Shangó and consult his Ifá. He did not heed it; he remained enslaved, and whenever he visited his house he always found something to reproach Gueyere for.

Gueyere understood what was happening and decided to go to Ifá. Oyekun Batuto came out for her, and Orunmila told her what to do: an ebbó that she had to apply to her face. Orunmila prepared it and, thanks to that, Awó Beyekún stayed with her again.

The people of Imale planted peanuts and lived from that, with nothing to spare. But over the years everyone's situation got worse: they no longer honored Orishaoko or Shangó, who protected that trade and whom they had worshipped in earlier times.

The two orishas agreed to teach those careless people a lesson. From then on, when the time came to gather the peanuts, lightning fell on the field and ruined everything. At other times the plant did not thrive or the harvest was small. Things grew worse every day; some people fell sick and some died.

That being so, they went to consult Orunmila. On seeing this Ifá, he told them to make a cleansing ebbó. They also had to beg forgiveness of Orishaoko and Shangó and give them food, seeking above all the favor of Shangó. The farmers and their families did all of it: they offered food and fruit to the two orishas. They were forgiven, that year's harvest surpassed all the earlier ones and the town came out of its distress.