Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria

by Elphinstone Dayrell

The alligators agreed to this, and told the iguana to bring his canoe and paddle the hare across the river. They then gave the hare presents of fish and yams, and said good-bye to him. The hare then got into the canoe and pushed off, and the iguana commenced to paddle him over.

When they had gone a little distance the father alligator went to the house where the hare had been, and when he looked in he found only his eldest son who had been painted, so he asked him where the other children were, and his son replied that the hare had eaten one of his brothers or sisters every night until he was the only one left. When the alligator heard this he was wild with rage, and went up the bank and called to the iguana to bring the hare back; but as he was deaf, the iguana took no notice. When the hare heard the alligator shouting and waving from the bank, he attracted the iguana’s attention and made him understand that the alligator was so pleased at the good work he had done that he wished the iguana to row faster, so he paddled harder than before.

Seeing that the canoe did not return, the alligator dived into the river and swam after the canoe, but before he could catch it the hare had jumped to the land and ran up the bank. The alligator then scrambled up the bank to where the hare was sitting, and asked him why he had killed and eaten his children, and told the hare he should kill him. The hare acknowledged that he had done wrong, but asked the alligator not to kill him at once, as his body was so small it would not be worth eating. He then advised the alligator to dig a pit and put sharp stakes, with their points upwards, in the bottom. The hare said, “If you do this, and then throw me up in the air as high as you can, so that my body will fall into the pit on the sharp stakes, then I shall die in great pain, and in three days’ time my body will be much swollen and will then be better worth eating.” The alligator thought this a good plan, and agreed to what the hare said, so he dug a pit and put the sharp sticks in the bottom. The alligator then threw the hare into the air as high as he could, and he fell into the pit, but was careful not to be caught on the sharp sticks. The hare then commenced to scream with pain, pretending to be in great agony. So the alligator said, “Now I have got you, you cunning hare!” and walked away to the river. The alligator then swam home and told his wife, who was mourning her children, of the revenge he had taken upon the hare.

The next morning he went to the pit to see if the hare had grown any larger, but when he looked in he found that the hare had disappeared. He then made enquiries from some other animals about the hare, and they told him that he was alive and they had seen him running home.

When the hare got home, he went to the parrot and told him what had happened to him, and warned the parrot that he should do his best to kill him for leaving him on the palm-tree to the danger of his life, unless for the future the parrot lived by the waterside, as that was where he got his food from. Then the parrot was frightened, and moved his house to the top of a high tree on the island. Ever since that time the parrots have made their nests on high trees on islands, and when they are flying high up in the air you can hear them laughing at the hare, saying, “We are out of your reach, you cannot harm us now.” And even at the present time you can see that the young alligators have stripes across their bodies, but the skin of the old ones, which is very rough, does not show the marks made by the hare, except on the tail part.

Told by Ennenni, an Okuni woman.—[28.6.10.]

XXIII.—Why Edidor killed Her Husband and Her Lover.

Edidor was a very pretty Okuni girl. She was a good dancer and singer, and won the love of plenty of young men, but although she liked to enjoy herself with them, she would not marry any of them. At last, however, she met a man called Ode, to whom she took a great fancy, and married him. Ode was a fine young man, and many women wanted him, but he would have nothing to do with them, and did not marry any other wives, as Edidor asked him to look upon her alone. Ode had three children by Edidor, the first-born being a boy, and the other two girls.

After a time Edidor got tired of Ode and ran away to one of the Inde towns, leaving her children with her husband. She went about from one man to another as she had done before she was married, and attended all the dances and plays until at last Ode heard where she was. He then took his three little children to his father-in-law, asking him to look after them for him, as he was going to Inde to try and get Edidor to return to him. The old man did not want Ode to get his daughter back, as he preferred her to walk about and go with different young men, as in that case he would receive numerous presents from them, whereas Ode, having paid his dowry, never gave him anything. He therefore sent a message secretly to Edidor informing her that her husband was going to look for her, and advising her to try and kill him, so that the children would become his property, as he knew his daughter would not want to look after them.

When Ode was ready he got into a small canoe and started down river for Inkum, but he had only gone a little distance when the canoe sank, and Ode swam to the shore. He looked upon the sinking of the canoe as a bad omen and a warning to him not to go that day.