Oloddumare hid the gourd of life for whoever found it. Every animal refused the ebbó; only man made it, and with Orunmila's two staffs he separated the fighting birds — and the gourd of life fell into his hands. That is why he is the king of creation.
Oloddumare created the world and all the animals, and told them: "whoever finds the gourd of life will be its owner; in it there are cloths, silver, women — and everyone who does good will do it for himself and for others". Then the animals came before Orunmila: Otura Meyi came up for all of them, and he marked ebbó for all of them. The fish refused it; one after another, none of them wanted to do it. Only man, who was the last one to look at himself, did the ebbó.
When he was done, Orunmila handed him two sticks and told him: "if you see fish, animals or snakes fighting, separate them". On his journey the man saw fish, buffalo and lions fighting along the road, and he did not separate them. Until he passed along a road and saw two birds fighting over a gourd tangled between their legs: he took the two sticks and threw them. The birds separated, the gourd fell to the ground, and the man picked it up — and saw that it was life.
That is how man found the strength and everything he needed to reach the igbodun, becoming more powerful than all the creatures — sometimes more than the orishas themselves, since he got hold of the secrets that calm them. And all the animals had to accept man as king and stay below him. That is why this Odù is called "father of life" — and that is why in this sign you cannot fail to make sacrifice.