Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria

by Elphinstone Dayrell

His wife then went on from one hare’s house to another, but each time her husband went on in front of her and deceived her in the same way, until at last she got tired and turned back to go home. The hare then ran quickly home, and jumped into bed, and when his wife appeared he said, “So you have returned. You are a foolish woman, and you can go or stay as you please, I do not care.” But his wife said that she was satisfied that her husband had spoken the truth, as all the hares she had seen had had their tails cut off, so she had resolved to turn back.

The next day the hare called all his company together, and told them that he had nearly lost his life the previous day on account of his long tail, as he had sat down on an ant heap with his tail down one of the holes, and some animal inside had caught hold of it and tried to pull him inside to kill him, but to save his life he had cut his tail off with a knife, and he strongly advised them to do the same. To this they all agreed, and cut their long tails off in order to escape from any enemy who might try to catch them by the tail, and ever since the hares have had no tails, as when the men-hares went home they made their wives and children follow their example, telling them that it was done for their good by the war ju-ju to prevent them from dying in battle. On account of the hare’s wife lighting the lamp to look at her husband’s tail and thus spoiling his war ju-ju, it has been a custom ever since that when men are going to fight they will never trust their wives with their war ju-ju, and they will not sleep with them or eat any food which they have cooked with their hands until the fighting is over.

Told by Ennenni, an Okuni woman.—[26.7.10.]

XXVII.—How a cruel Inkum Chief was Poisoned by his Slaves, and How
his Son Hanged Himself on account of the Expenses of his Brother’s
Funeral.

At Inkum in the olden days there dwelt a chief called Erim. He was very wealthy, having many slaves, both male and female, and a large farm. He was known throughout the country as a cruel man and a hard master. Most of Chief Erim’s wealth was made by selling camwood and the large yams grown on his farm. The chief made a rule that each woman slave should bring him at the end of every seven days twelve balls or cakes of camwood. If any of them failed to do so, he tied them up to a tree and they were given fifty lashes on the back with a heavy whip made of twisted skin. They were also made to pay the value of the number of balls of camwood which they had failed to make. This meant that all the women slaves had to work very hard indeed, and they could get no help from their husbands in any way, as at first cock-crow all the men were sent off to the farm to work, and were not allowed to return until the evening. Very frequently the men slaves were severely flogged by order of the chief, if he were not satisfied with the amount of work done on the farm, or if they annoyed him in any way. In consequence of his cruel treatment of them, all his slaves hated Chief Erim, and although they were much in fear of their master they often planned to kill him.

Now Chief Erim had only two wives; one was an Okuni woman, by whom he had a son called Odoggha Eyu, and the other was a native of Inkum, whose son’s name was Oga Erim. The chief was very fond of both his sons, and never allowed them to do any work on the farm. He gave them plenty of food and good cloths, and they grew into strong young men. There was one thing, however, that vexed Chief Erim, and that was that Odoggha Eyu was his eldest son, and he knew that when he died Odoggha Eyu would return to Okuni, which was his mother’s birthplace. The chief therefore made up his mind that his youngest son, Oga Erim, should inherit his property, and for several years taught him how to rule the people with a strong hand and to punish them severely if they did not work, as that was the way he had become rich.

When the two sons had grown up, the slaves made a plan to kill Chief Erim, whom they hated so much. The head slave waited until the day came for the women to bring their camwood to be counted, and then told his wife to keep back three balls of camwood, so that if the chief flogged her, he would be able to give a good reason to the other slaves why they should kill their master. When all the women slaves had brought their camwood, the chief told the head slave to count the cakes as usual. He did so, and told Chief Erim that his wife had only brought nine cakes of camwood instead of twelve, as she had been very busy in the house and had had a lot of other work to do. The head slave also said that ever since he had been married his wife had always brought the right number of cakes, and as this was the first time she had failed to do so he begged the chief not to punish her. But Chief Erim was angry, and said that the head slave’s wife ought to know better and should set a good example to the other slaves. He then had her tied up to a tree, and she was given fifty lashes, the blood running down her back on to the ground, the woman becoming unconscious from the pain. She was then released and water having been thrown over her she was carried to her house, where she was placed on the sleeping-mat.

The next day the woman was made to pay for the three missing cakes of camwood, and the chief told the other women slaves that the punishment the woman had received should be a warning to them and make them work harder.

The head slave washed the wounds on his wife’s back, and put some mashed-up leaves on the sore places to stop the bleeding and heal the cuts. When he saw what a terrible flogging his wife had received, his heart was full of rage against Chief Erim, so that very night he went to every slave, and they all agreed to kill their master. The head slave then went to a clever poisoner who lived not far away, and bought two powerful ju-jus; one would give the person against whom the ju-ju was made the “dry cough” (consumption), and the other would give him paralysis. He then hid the ju-jus, as they had decided to wait some time after the woman had been flogged before they gave the poison to the chief, so that no suspicion should be attached to them of having poisoned their master. All the slaves went about their work as usual until the time arrived for the new yams to be dug, at which season it was customary for the people to give presents to their chiefs. The head slave then went into the bush and made a calabash of strong tombo. He then called Chief Erim’s name, and having put the two ju-jus into the tombo, told the ju-ju to kill Chief Erim and not to harm anyone else. Having bought twenty-five yams and one cock, he took them, together with the calabash of tombo, and gave them to Chief Erim as his present. The chief thanked him for his dash, and told his small boy to pour out the tombo. The first glass was given to the head slave, who had brought the tombo, and he threw it on the ground, asking Ossorwor (God) to bless Chief Erim with plenty of wealth and long life. The “pourer-out” drank the second glass, and Chief Erim drank the next, the tombo was then passed round until it was finished, but the head slave poured the last glass, which had the remains of the poison in it, on the ground in front of the ju-ju, which was in the middle of the compound; this he did when the Chief Erim’s back was turned so that he could not see.

About a month afterwards the ju-ju began to work, and Chief Erim felt sick; he coughed all day, and one side became useless so that he could not walk. He wanted to go to the ju-ju man to ask him what was the cause of his sickness, but being unable to move about he sent for his head slave and told him to go to the ju-ju man and tell him to come to his house so that he could consult him.