Oyekun Juani

Awó Foré lived in the land of Oyare Lekun and was indifferent to everything that happened around him, even to Elegba. Fed up with being abandoned, Elegba left that place and went to the land of Badagua Ifá, where he was always looked after and lacked nothing.

This made Obatalá sad. One day he went out with his agogó and sang about what burdened him. Orunmila saw him, embraced him and, hearing the sorrows of Awó Foré, proposed: “Let us visit him.” He prepared an akukó, seven aunko and an osadie, and assured Obatalá that they would come out victorious, since Elegba had never eaten aunko or akukó.

Before Awó Foré they offered greatness for his land, on the condition that aunko and akukó never be lacking there. He answered by paying homage with moforibale.

From there they set out singing toward the land of Badagua Ifá. The aroma of that food, unknown and delicious, reached Elegba and drew him. Orunmila held him back along the way, and Elegba, happy, kept breathing in the smell. When they arrived in the land of Awó Foré, Elegba spoke thus: “I will stay in your land so that you may become great.” From this comes the custom of giving a male goat to Elegba before seven days have passed.

A slave, worn out by mistreatment and labor, escaped toward the wilds and lived as a runaway. He walked until he was exhausted, lay down under a tree and slept. A small noise woke him at dawn: beside him there was a puppy. From then on they were companions. They moved from place to place hiding from people, who treated them badly, and they hunted as a pair, always dividing the prey. They had happy days and sad ones.

One afternoon a heavy downpour fell, and the two, who had gone days without a bite to eat, looked for shelter in a cave. There the dog sniffed, dug, and uncovered some bones that stank. The runaway saw that they were human bones, and when the rain stopped he asked the dog to leave. They walked a little, and the dog sniffed again and growled. “What is wrong, dog?” the man said. Among the undergrowth, a short distance away, a woman appeared carrying a jar on her head. The runaway smiled, advanced in silence and, when he reached her, seized her by the neck and covered her mouth. He overpowered her by force, and the dog completed the crime by killing her.

They went on their way without realizing that they were near a village. Suddenly men armed with machetes appeared and attacked the runaway, who begged for mercy with shouts. In the confusion the dog escaped into the thick brush. Some days passed. On a night with a dim moon, the dog howled at the absence of his friend.

Some time later, some men approached the animal, and the runaway was with them. When he saw the dog, he exclaimed: “My friend!” The dog ran in circles around him, wagging its tail. The man tried to stroke its head, but at each caress the dog growled. “My friend does not recognize me,” he said quietly. Happy to have found him again, he wanted to keep him close; and when he had him at his side, the dog threw itself on him and bit him until he was torn apart and dead. Then it ran into the thick brush, maddened, and disappeared.

This runaway represents the mayombero who cruelly used the prenda of Zarabanda, assisted by an animal: the prenda dog, which learned to kill people beside its master. That prenda is judía and needs food of eyé (blood) from time to time; if it does not receive it, it takes the blood by itself.

Yoko Yadi was a son of Shangó, who sheltered him. He married and had two sons. When a daughter was born afterward who did not look like him, he began to suspect his wife. The suspicion grew and, after many fights, he took the boys and left the woman alone with the girl.

She went through many hardships and consulted Orunmila. He saw this Ifá and told her that her sorrows would be rewarded if she heeded the word of Ifá and followed its instructions. In the consultation Eshu appeared on her side. Ifá said that Eshu would act as the girl's father and would give her the good luck she deserved for being a good daughter.

The woman found a job in the palace and took the girl along. The king was far from his own children, grew attached to the little girl and treated her with such affection that she seemed to be his daughter.

Eshu let a rumor spread that the king was very ill. The princes learned of it and hurried back, but the guards did not recognize them and held them until it was clear who they were. When the eldest, the heir to the throne, was released, he saw a very beautiful young woman on a balcony of the palace. He was captivated, settled in the palace and married her.

Meanwhile, Yoko Yadi's sons found out how he had treated their mother and left him. He began to suffer want and trouble, the result of his earlier bad conduct. Old, worn out and poor, he returned to his town full of regret. He found no one there and went through it looking for his family. He could hardly see and walked with a cane. One day he fell into a swamp, and some old and young people identified him as the princess's father and took him to the palace. She sent him away with these words: “You are not my father. Whoever plants a seedling and looks after it, waters it and feeds the soil until it grows, has a right to it; whoever did nothing has nothing to claim. Think of me whatever you like.”

The old man left and not long afterward died of grief, paying for what he had done.