How Ijapa got his Shell

One day, Ijapa heard some men talking. “Did you hear?” one man said. “The town of Idaha has lots of food! Their market is full of yams, fruits, and groundnuts!”

“We should go there to buy food,” said another man.

Ijapa’s ears perked up. “Idaha? Food? Hmm…”

But then he thought, “Walk to another town? Every day? That sounds like too much work!”

But Ijapa’s tummy kept rumbling. Rumble rumble rumble!

“Okay okay!” he said. “I’ll go to Idaha. But I won’t work. I’ll just ask for food. People will feel sorry for me!”

So Ijapa walked through a big forest. He saw palm trees with nuts on the ground. “Hmm, someone could sell these,” he thought. “But not me. Too much work!”

On the way, Ijapa passed by a big, beautiful palace. “Wow!” he said. “That’s where the Oba (king) lives. They must eat yummy food every day! If only I could live in a palace…”

He dreamed about it for a moment, then kept walking.

Finally, Ijapa reached Idaha Market. It was so busy! People were laughing, selling, buying.

Then he smelled something wonderful. Sniff sniff…

“Mmmmm! Roasted groundnuts!” Ijapa loved groundnuts more than anything!

He saw a woman roasting groundnuts. Her name was Iya-Elepa. She had a big pot and was stirring the nuts. They looked golden and crunchy!

Ijapa went to Iya-Elepa’s stall. He tried to be very sweet.

“Dear lady,” he said in his nicest voice, “your groundnuts smell so good! You must be the best cook in the whole world! Can I have some, please?”

But Iya-Elepa knew about Ijapa. She knew he was lazy and always tricked people.

“No, no, no!” she said, shaking her spoon at him. “If you want groundnuts, you pay for them! Go away, lazy tortoise!”

Everyone laughed. Ijapa felt very embarrassed. His face turned red!

Ijapa walked away, feeling angry. “That mean lady!” he muttered. “I WILL eat her groundnuts. And I won’t pay!”

Then he had an idea. A tricky idea.

Ijapa was good at two things: being lazy AND playing the drum. He could sing and drum so well that people couldn’t stop dancing!

“Ha ha!” he laughed. “I’ll use my drum to get those groundnuts!”

Ijapa went to find his friend Okete the Giant Rat. Okete loved to dig tunnels.

“Okete!” said Ijapa. “If you dig a tunnel for me, I’ll give you a whole sack of palm nuts!”

Okete’s eyes lit up. “Palm nuts? Yum! Deal!”

So Okete dug a tunnel all the way from the forest to right under Iya-Elepa’s stall. It was the perfect hiding spot!

The next market day, Ijapa hid in the tunnel with his drum. Right under Iya-Elepa’s stall!

Up above, Iya-Elepa was roasting her groundnuts. They smelled SO good. Ijapa’s mouth watered.

When she had roasted a big pile, Ijapa started to play his drum and sing:

🥁 DRUM DRUM DRUM!
“Yummy groundnut lady, dance dance dance!
Your nuts go CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACK!
Dance away, dance away,
I’ll watch your stall while you play!”

The music was magical! Iya-Elepa started to tap her feet. Then she started to sway. Then she put down her spoon and DANCED!

Soon everyone was dancing. They danced away from the market, down the road, past the palace. They couldn’t stop!

When the market was empty, Ijapa popped out of his tunnel.

“He he he!” he giggled. He grabbed all the groundnuts and ran back into the tunnel.

He ate and ate until his tummy was full. “Delicious!” he said. “This is even better than working!”

When the people stopped dancing, they came back to the market.

“Hey! Where are my groundnuts?” cried Iya-Elepa.

“Someone stole from us!” everyone shouted.

They decided to tell the Oba, the king. The Oba said, “Don’t worry! Next market day, I’ll send my strongest hunters to catch the thief!”

The next market day, the hunters stood guard with their big sticks and sharp eyes.

“No thief will get past us!” they said.

But Ijapa was in his tunnel again. He started to play his drum. Dum dum DUM!

The hunters heard the music. They started to tap their feet. They started to sway. Then they dropped their sticks and DANCED away!

Ijapa stole even more food this time. He was getting greedy!

The Oba was very angry. “This is magic!” he said. “We need someone very special to catch this thief.”

A one-legged magic man named Osanyin Elesekan came to help.

“I will catch this thief,” he said. “He won’t trick me!”

Osanyin hid near the tunnel with a hot, sharp spike. His friends hid with big clubs.

Next market day, Ijapa played his drum again. Everyone danced away. But Osanyin didn’t dance (he only had one leg!).

When Ijapa came out of the tunnel, OUCH! Osanyin poked him with the hot spike! Then the servants hit him with clubs.

“Ow ow ow!” cried Ijapa. His back hurt so much!

They dragged Ijapa to the palace. He was sore and sorry.

“You are a very naughty tortoise!” said the Oba. “You stole food and tricked my people!”

Ijapa cried. “Please forgive me! I’ll never be lazy again!”

But then Ijapa had another idea. “Oba, sir,” he said, “my drumming is so good, it can even make YOU dance!”

“Nonsense!” laughed the Oba. “No music can make ME dance!”

“Let me try!” said Ijapa. He got his drum and started to play.

Dum dum diddy dum!

The Oba started to tap his foot. Then he started to sway. Then he stood up and DANCED right out of the palace! His crown fell off!

All his helpers danced too. They danced all the way to the edge of town!

When they came back, the Oba was out of breath but laughing.

“You were right, Ijapa! Your music IS magic!” he said. “I promised a reward to anyone who could make me dance. Here is some money and gifts.”

But the Oba also said, “You must leave this town and never come back. No more stealing!”

Ijapa went home, but his back still hurt from all the beating. “If only I had something hard to protect my back,” he thought.

He used the money to buy a big, hard shell. He put it on his back, and it stuck!

“Perfect!” he said. “Now nobody can hurt me!”

And that’s how Ijapa the tortoise got his hard shell.

He learned that being lazy and tricking people only leads to trouble.

Now, whenever Ijapa is scared, he hides inside his shell. And whenever you see a tortoise with a hard shell, remember the story of Ijapa and his magic drum!

THE END 🌟

🐢 🥁 🌰