18. Ijapa (Tortoise) and Aja (Dog)

A long time ago, the world was very different. Humans and animals had much in common, lived side by side, spoke the same language and generally behaved the same way. Some animals, like the Ijapa (tortoise) possessed remarkable physical and mental capabilities.
At that time a tortoise, Ijapa, and a dog, Aja, lived in the same town called Teregun, in a faraway land.

It happened that there was very great famine; food was scare, and it made no difference whether one had money or not. Everyone, young and old, was so affected by the famine that it came to a point where each being had to fend for himself or herself. No one knew how anyone else managed to eat. People and animals were losing weight fast, becoming lean and haggard; children were dying. Ijapa himself looked a sight. He was as thin as a rake; he had sunken eyes and hollowed cheeks.

The town had experienced similar famine in the past – when Ijapa had been living there at the time. It had ravaged the land. The decision taken in the animal kingdom to combat it did not help matters; it was disastrous and led to a huge loss of lives. Ijapa, who was one of the lucky ones to have survived the famine at that time, believed that he would do so this time around.

“All I’ve to do is to think carefully and deeply about how to combat it, especially now that I’m back in Teregun with my family.” he said to himself. Very soon his thoughts on the matters started to centre round a friend of his – a dog, Aja.

In the animal kingdom the only creature who seemed unaffected by the famine was Aja – and glaringly so. He was getting fatter, his body was glowing all over, and his body hair getting longer. Aja’s wife and children seemed unaffected by the famine as well. They looked robust, thick around the chest, and in excellent health.

Aja and Ijapa were friends and neighbours, so Ijapa was very much aware of these changes in Aja and was flabbergasted.

“How come that Aja and his family are looking so good when nobody else is” Ijapa wondered, amazed. “Surely they must be up to something. Aja must have found a way of feeding his family. I must ask him to show me the way!”

However, Ijapa knew that getting the information out of Aja was not going to be easy; he suspected that if Aja had wanted him to know about his change of circumstances he would have done so. After all, were they not friends? It was obviously a secret, and Aja thought Ijapa could not be trusted with such a secret.

Aja had indeed heard about an incident in the past in this same town involving Ijapa and another dog, which had ended in a near disaster. It was at the time of the famine when all the animals were offering their mothers (aged ones to begin with) for food.

The dog had refused to join in, and by stroke of luck had met a woman with special powers – the Sky Goddess – who had arranged for his mother to be hidden in the sky where life, it was said, was incredibly prosperous. The dog had been allowed to come there to be fed by his mother anytime he wanted – his reward for being of creature was, for doing the right thing. Ijapa had discovered where the dog’s mother was hidden and had leaked his secret.

Ijapa’s suspicion about that dog had been aroused in the same way as now. It had started off with the dog looking the same way as this one – unaffected by the famine, and glaringly so. He too was getting fatter, his body glowing all over, and his body hair getting longer.
Early one morning, Ijapa went to Aja’s house to ask his friend point blank what his secret was. Ijapa threw himself at Aja’s feet, sobbing:

“Aja, you’re getting fatter, whilst all of us are getting lean and haggard. We’re friends. Please help me. My family and I are in a very bad way; we’re starving to death” he pleaded.

“I don’t know what to do anymore. I find it difficult to sleep at night thinking about the whole thing. My wife is ill, and I’m afraid she’ll die. It’s obvious you’re getting your food from somewhere. Please take me there so that I too can find a little food to give my family or show me the way. May God bless you forever!” he continued, weeping by now.

When Aja heard Ijapa’s pleas, he felt sorry for him, but he knew the kind of being Ijapa was – that he could not be trusted with secrets. Aja pondered over what Ijapa had just said.

“I’m sorry for you and your family, Ijapa. I wish I could help you, but I know you very well, and I know what you’re like. You know how to sweet talk someone when you want something from them. Once you get what you want you become something else”.

Aja answered not even bothering to deny that he was getting food from somewhere. “I don’t want any trouble, and you can get one into trouble. If I showed you the way, I’d live to regret it”.

Ijapa swore several times by everything dear to him, including his wife and children, that he was a changed man.

“Please Aja, I’m not like that anymore. My wife and children are the most important thing to me. I know that now, and this is why I came back here – to seek them out after being estranged from them.

Yannibo wouldn’t have taken me back after all this time or remained with me if she thinks I’m still the same” Ijapa said, and then went on to tell Aja about how he and Yannibo had become estranged because she had not been happy with the way Ijapa was, and how he had begged her to take him back – to leave her parents’ home at Ẹyin-Igbẹti, just outside Teregun, and come back to live with him in Teregun.

“If you knew how I was before – if you knew what my faults were – you’ll realize that the question of whether I could be trusted with secrets or not should be the least of your concern. My faults were far worse than that. I was not only very lazy, and therefore unable to provide for my family, I was also full of mischief and pranks, and was for ever getting into trouble for misdeeds. I can’t begin to tell you how many escapades I’ve been involved in – how many problems and embarrassments I’ve caused myself and my family”.

Ijapa started to recount some of these escapades to Aja, who was not unaware of what Ijapa had been capable of. He listened attentively to him, thinking that perhaps Ijapa had changed to be talking in this way – in this remorseful way. By the time Ijapa had finished talking Aja was convinced that he had indeed changed.

“It was after my last two escapades in Makeke – the first involving three princesses, and the second, a young woman called Kerebuje all of whom I tried to trick into marrying me that, ashamed and disgraced, I took stock of my situation. ‘What do you want these women for?’ I asked myself. ‘You already have a wife – and children for that matter’. That was when I realized that nothing else mattered to me except my family, and that I had better go back to Yannibo, and make amends. Luckily, I still had some money left – ill-gotten gains I’m ashamed to admit – because I doubt Yannibo would have taken me back otherwise. The idea was to go back to my farming and provide for the family…”

Ijapa went on to explain how he had made money out of a young boy called Rere, whom he had entrapped in a drum and commanded to sing to his command, to entertain others, especially well-placed individuals, including titled men such as chiefs. That was when he had been living in another town.

“Alas, I had not been back in Teregun with Yannibo and the children for long when the famine broke out. I feel bad for my family whom I’ve dragged away from the home of Yannibo’s parents, and this is all the more reason why I must make sure they don’t suffer in the face of the famine. There’s famine in Ẹyin-Igbẹti where Yannibo’s parents live as well, so I can’t expect Yannibo and the children to rely on her parents this time. To make matters worse, Yannibo is ill, as I’ve already said.

“So, you see, if Yannibo can believe that I’m a changed man – changed from all those awful ways I’ve been describing to you, you should have no problem in believing that I’ve changed as well.”

“All right” Aja relented after a while, against his better judgment. He felt sorry for Ijapa after everything the latter had told him.

“Come early tomorrow morning, and I’ll take you along with me to a farm. I’ll explain to you how things work when we get there…” Aja told Ijapa, naming the time that he should come.

Ijapa jumped up for joy and thanked Aja profusely. He left for home in anticipation of the following day. Very early the next morning Ijapa got to Aja’s house – well before the fixed time – and woke him up.

“Hurry up! Let’s go!”

“I know that the earlier we set off the better, so as not to be seen, but this is still too early, Ijapa” Aja insisted, put off by Ijapa’s over-enthusiasm, and beginning to regret asking Ijapa to come along with him to the farm.

“Ah! You sleep too much, Aja!” Ijapa answered, envious that Aja could sleep that easily whilst he, Ijapa, had been spending many sleepless nights worrying about the famine.

“Since you’ve woken me up, and I can’t go back to sleep, I’ll get dressed, and we’ll go” Aja said, putting on his trousers.

They both set off soon after, Aja leading the way, out of town and to another town. When they got there Ijapa was shocked to silence. He looked around and could not believe it. The farm was so stretched out with no end in view, and there were huge yams ready for plucking.

Ijapa slumped to the ground. He gazed around in wonder feasting his eyes on the yams and was suddenly consumed by greed. He had not even dug up a single yam, and yet his head was filled with thoughts of how to benefit fully from all of them!

“What! Here we are, dying of hunger in our town, whilst one single person owns a farm as big as this! This is Godsend…Half of this farm is going to belong to me – in fact more than half if the owner is not careful!”

Aja, who had already dug up one yam, which was now in his mouth, guessed what was going on in Ijapa’s head. He decided that it was time to explain to Ijapa how things worked at the farm – how he had been operating successfully. He beckoned to him.

“You must dig only one yam each time we come here, like I’ve done. We’ll come every day and do the same thing. You see how far this farm is to where we live? It’s very far, and if we were to take more than one yam each time, we won’t be able to walk fast. What’s more, we’ll get caught by the farm owner”, Aja advised, and intercepting an expression of surprise on Ijapa’s face, he added quickly:

“If we’re not greedy we’ll benefit from this as long as we want, and not perish from the famine”. Aja glared at Ijapa, as if to dare him to say otherwise.

Ijapa switch his mind back to the present. He had been consumed with wicked thoughts on someone else’s farm and had had to gather his thoughts together once Aja started speaking.

“Take only one yam at a visit with all these mature yams all over the place? Is this a kind of joke?” he wondered.

As Aja continued to glare at him, Ijapa was temporarily at a loss as to what to say or do, so he quickly dug up one huge yam, and he and Aja left for Teregun. When they got there, they went their separate ways.

“This is wonderful!” Yannibo said to Ijapa over their meal of ẹbẹ (pottage yam), which the whole family was enjoying thoroughly. It was deeply satisfying; it revived them all. Ijapa had lied to her about where he got the yam – that the farm-owner was Aja’s friend.

The following morning Aja and Ijapa went to the farm again.

“Thank you, Aja” Ijapa started to say on the way. “I promise you that I’d never defy your instructions. One huge yam a day is enough for my household”. Deep down Ijapa was thinking “You must be joking. How can I be going to this faraway farm every day? All I’ve to do is to find a way round it!”

After a while an idea struck him.

“God has given me a head, a back, two hands and two feet! I can carry six yams at a time! Of course, I’ll have to take some strong strings along to tie the yams. If I dig six huge ones at a go, they’ll last for about a week, and I can rest at home, and not have to go back until the following week. This will be better than struggling to the farm everyday. I just have to know the way very well. I’ll go with Aja once or twice more, and that’s it. Aja can go his own way, and I’ll go mine”.

Aja was not aware of Ijapa’s intentions as the two of them got to the farm the next day, dug one huge yam each, and left for home. On the third day, Ijapa got ready to go, taking a roll of strong string along with him.

“What do you want to do with that?” Aja asked.

“I want to use it to tie the yam to by back, so that I can walk more quickly than before, and not delay you” Ijapa lied.

“Good gracious! You’ve changed indeed! You’re more thoughtful and considerate!” Aja said, unsuspectingly.

When they got to the farm, they started digging up yams. Long after Aja had dug up one sizeable one for himself, he noticed that Ijapa was still digging away.

“What on earth are you doing…?” asked Aja, alarmed when he realized that Ijapa had not stopped at one yam. “You can’t possibly carry all those. Just take one and let’s go. Hurry up!” Aja ordered.
“Let me be frank with you, Aja. I can’t be coming to this farm every day. I can’t compare myself to you. You can move fast.

“From now on I’m coming here once a week, and this is why I’ve dug up six sizeable yams. I’m still within our weekly allowance and have not gone against your wishes. So, wait for me to tie them all together, and we’ll go” Ijapa answered:

“I just have to find a way of carrying them all somehow – perhaps not on different parts of my body like I thought…I’d better just tie the six yams together with some string and tie them to my back” he told himself.

Aja could not believe Ijapa’s trick – pretending to bring the string along to tie just one yam! Aja, should have known better than to believe Ijapa. The creature had not changed one bit!

“What nonsense, Ijapa! “How can you carry six yams at one go. That’s pure greed, and you’re asking for trouble. You’re letting go of a good thing. Besides, you want to get me into trouble. If you’re caught by the farm-owner I’ll be implicated. I’ll be in trouble with the Ọba (ruler) here and in our town, and you know that thieves are always severely punished – or even put to death, depending on the circumstances. Take only one yam, and let’s get away quickly. It’s risky hanging around here.”

In those days the Ọba was involved in the day-to-day lives of his people. Matters concerning both humans and animals were also brought before the Ọba. People looked to him to resolve matters for them, no matter how small and inconsequential. He was known to be ready to find solutions to problems that baffled his people – to mysteries of any kind. The Ọba also decided on punishments for transgressions.

Ijapa ignored Aja and started to tie the yams together. He was beginning to feel uncomfortable about the whole thing, and yet he could not let go of five yams. He finished tying the six yams together, struggled to tie them to his back, and then started to walk, but he could hardly move.

“Why don’t you just take one yam home as you did yesterday and leave the rest. We’ll come back tomorrow” Aja advised him.

“I can’t do that. We may have visitors at home today” Ijapa lied.

“Why don’t you help me? After all you’re carrying only one yam”.

Aja could not believe his ears – that Ijapa could ask him such a question – and decided to move on, thinking “What audacity!” By now it was dusk, and sooner or later the farm-owner was bound to appear.

“It looks as if I’ll just have to leave you” Aja said, giving up. If you’re caught, you don’t know me, and I don’t know you. Goodbye!”

“Wait!” Ijapa called out in alarm. “You can’t just leave me here alone?”

“Why not? You know the way home. I’ve done my bit. I’ve brought you here to help you find a way of feeding your family. The rest is up to you!”

Ijapa had dug up more than one yam, out of pure greed, and he could not carry them all.

“But we’ve been coming here together” he pleaded with Aja. “Isn’t it right that we should leave together?”

“Nonsense” Aja replied. “Goodbye, Ijapa!”

“Please help me to carry some of my yams” Ijapa continued to plead, and he started to sing in desperation, afraid of being caught alone. It was quite common to burst into song at that time when one was overwhelmed by different kind of emotions. Some people even believed that singing could bring about a change of circumstances, a reversal of fortune. Ijapa sang, as follows:

Aja duro ran mi l’eru o (Aja wait and lend me a hand with my load) Fenrenku fen
Aja duro ran mi l’eru o Fenrenku fen
B’oo duro ran mi leru o (If you don’t wait to lend me a hand with my load) Fenrenkun fen
Ma kigbe o oloko a gbo (I’ll shout and the farm-owner will hear me) Fenrenkun fen
A gbo o a gbe wa de o (He’ll hear me and arrest us) Fenrenkun fen
A gbe wa de a gba wa nisu (He’ll arrest us and take his yams from us) Fenrenkun fen
A ja duro ran mi leru o Fenrenkun fen
A ja duro ran mi leru o Fenrenkun fen

“I should’ve known better than to let my friendship with Ijapa blind me to the kind of creature In the song Ijapa asked Aja to wait and lend him a hand, and threatened that if Aja did not, he (Ijapa) would alert the farm-owner, who would only bring Aja back, arrest them and take their yams from them. Aja was shocked by the words of Ijapa’s song, by his threats – by the fact that he was ready to betray him – but ignored them.

he is – to his faults”. Weighed down by these thoughts, Aja hastened along. “I’d better get away from here fast – before Ijapa is caught. However, Aja knew that it was not just a matter of Ijapa being caught – and his being caught was inevitable.

“Ijapa is bound to implicate me when he’s caught. Hasn’t he said as much in his song?” Aja thought. “I’d better hurry home and find a way of outwitting him”.

Aja continued to make haste, putting as much distance as he could between him and the farm, despite Ijapa’s plea for help, his song ‘Aja, duro ran mi l’eru…’ droning on until it gradually died away.

“Hide this yam in the bush quickly” Aja instructed his wife later, pointing to a nearby bush where nobody would see the yam. This done he instructed her further:

“Make a fire in the coal pot, rub my body thoroughly with palm-oil, and bring me two raw eggs”.

Aja’s wife did as she was told, without saying one word. She was wondering what was going on but knew instinctively that her husband must have reasons for his strange requests. It was after he had settled down in front of the fire, his body rubbed all over with palm-oil, and the two eggs within his reach that Aja spoke.

“Ijapa wants to get me into trouble, but I’ve to outwit him”. He then went on to recount what had happened, and what he, Aja, planned to do.

“Cover me up with plenty of cloths and tell anyone who comes here that I’m ill – that I’ve been laid up for at least a week or two and have not stepped out of this house since then. I’m positive the Ọba is going to send his messenger to look for me.

“In fact, why don’t you sit near the front door, so that when the messenger comes and asks for me, I’ll be able to hear him, and I’ll put these two raw eggs inside both cheeks. You’d be surprised at the wonders they’d perform!”

In the meantime, Ijapa was weighed down by the yams at his back; moving quickly on was a real struggle, and the strain on him was visible – he was sweating profusely, his eyes bulging, his nose flaring.

Not surprisingly the farm-owner (Oloko) did appear with a cutlass in his hand. He had heard Ijapa’s singing on approaching his farm and knew without doubt that Ijapa had gone to dig up yams from there. He grabbed Ijapa by the neck.

“I’ve caught you. You’re going to see the end of your work as an accomplished thief today!”.

The Oloko untied all the yams from Ijapa’s back and pushed him forward violently. Ijapa started to shake uncontrollably. The farm-owner dealt him several blows, knocking him to the ground.

“Please, please I beg you. Go easy with me! It’s not how it looks. I can explain” Ijapa pleaded, wailing. “It’s Aja who brought me here. We’re from another town. Aja asked me to come along to help him dig up some yams and carry them back for him. I had no idea until we got here that he had come to steal the yams. He’s the master thief not I – the real culprit, and you should be tracking him down.

“Why don’t you send for him?” Ijapa added, giving the exact description of Aja’s house in Teregun.

Oloko struck Ijapa hard twice – in the face and in the nose.

“I don’t believe you, and I’m not going to send for Aja. Instead I’m going to take you to the Ọba, and you’ll suffer on the way there. You’ll suffer not only from the weight of the yams which I’m going to put on your head, but also from the shame of passers-by, including children calling you a thief, and seeing you flogged by me any time you stop to rest or misbehave in any way”.

Oloko proceeded to tie the yams firmly together.

“Now, carry your load on your head, and let’s go to the palace” he commanded, dragging Ijapa by the neck. Ijapa struggled to lift up the load, and in the end the farm-owner lifted it up himself and put it on Ijapa’s head. Ijapa had to hold on to it as he walked.

“Move!” Oloko commanded.

Ijapa’s neck sank under the weight of the yams, and he felt an excruciating pain on his neck. After a short distance he stopped to rest, but the farm-owner struck him with his whip, and any time he tried to do so again Oloko would whip him; Ijapa was not allowed to stop and rest; he continued to proclaim his innocence on the way to the palace, crying, sweating, talking away, under the weight of the yams.

“No, it’s not I. It’s Aja. Aja brought me here. I’m not a thief!”

Very soon Ijapa and Oloko attracted the attention of passers-by who were not too surprised by what was going on. Ijapa was notorious for this type of behaviour. The passers-by gathered around talking in hushed tones, urging on Oloko, and joining the procession.

“Don’t let him go. He is a thief. You’re caught today, Ijapa!”

“So, it’s you who’s been stealing from my farm” some other farm-owners joined in.  “You’re in trouble”.

Children started to join the procession as well, clapping and chanting “Thief! Thief!” and some of them threw stones at Ijapa whenever he tried to proclaim his innocence. He suddenly remembered the treatment he received after he had been caught stealing Iya- Ẹẹpa (a roasted groundnut seller)’s groundnuts at a market, years before. It was much worse than now of course. There was hardly any inch of his body that was not badly bruised then…

Oloko and Ijapa got to the palace of the Ọba of that town, followed by a lot of people, and were taken immediately before the Ọba.

“Kabiyesi!” Oloko spoke first. “Someone has been digging up my yams for a long time. I didn’t know who it was until I caught Ijapa today with these yams. He’s a thief and a liar”.

“I’m innocent, Kabiyesi!” Ijapa started to say. “I’m no thief. I’ve never been to this farm before until today, and I went there with my friend, Aja, from our town. Aja had asked me to come and help him dig up some yams from the farm and carry them back for him”.
“Where’s Aja, then?” the Ọba wanted to know.

“Aha! After we finished digging, we suddenly heard movements in the bush, and Aja started to behave in a shifty manner; he was nervous, anxious – and was in a terrible hurry to get away. He quickly grabbed one yam in his mouth, and dashed off, leaving me to follow with the rest of the yams. That was when I realized that the farm belonged to someone else. Aja must have thought that what we heard in the bush was the farm-owner arriving at his farm. I knew that there was no way I could get away from the farm without being caught, so the idea came to me to sing this song loudly:

Aja duro ran mi l’eru o (Aja wait and lend me a hand with my load) Fenrenku fen
Aja duro ran mi l’eru o Fenrenku fen
B’oo duro ran mi leru o (If you don’t wait to lend me a hand with my load) Fenrenkun fen
Ma kigbe o oloko a gbo (I’ll shout and the farm-owner will hear me) Fenrenkun fen
A gbo o a gbe wa de o (He’ll hear me and arrest us) Fenrenkun fen
A gbe wa de a gba wa nisu (He’ll arrest us and take his yams from us) Fenrenkun fen
A ja duro ran mi leru o Fenrenkun fen
A ja duro ran mi leru o Fenrenkun fen

“I wanted to alert Oloko as to the real culprit. I thought I’d be able to explain the situation to him and give him back his yams.

Unfortunately, Oloko did not believe me, and still doesn’t up till now”.

“I can’t judge this case unless Aja is brought forward to face his accuser. There are two sides to every story. What Ijapa has just told us is his own side of the story” the Ọba said. “I’ve to send for Aja immediately; I’ve to send a spokesman to the Ọba of Teregun, Ijapa’s town”.

The Ọba weighed up the matter, decided that he had to send someone well-trusted, summoned his Ọtunba (titled man), and recounted the whole episode to him.

“Go to the Ọba of Teregun, Ijapa’s town with twelve policemen, tell him the whole story, and ask his permission to go and bring Aja before me. I can’t judge this case unless Aja is brought here. Tie Ijapa down in the meantime. Take a seat, Oloko” the Ọba said.

When the Ọtunba and the policemen arrived at Teregun, the Ọba received them very warmly.

“It saddens my heart to hear that Ijapa and Aja went to steal yams from a farm-owner in your town, this morning, and I’m greatly disappointed in the two of them” the Ọba lamented, when the Ọtunba recounted the whole incident to him.

“This is what we’re going to do” he continued. “Some of my messengers will go with you to Aja’s house to arrest him, and hand him over to you, so that you can then take him back with you to stand trial at your Ọba’s palace. If he’s guilty of the crime he’s accused of, let your Ọba deal with him as he deems fit.”

When the messengers of Ọba of Teregun arrived at Aja’s house together with the Ọtunba and his men, they met Aja’s wife near the front door.

“Kabiyesi has authorized us to arrest Aja, and hand him over to the Ọtunba here, who’ll take him to the Ọba of their town, to face some charges” the spokesman for the messengers informed her, indicating the Ọtunba.

“Unfortunately, that won’t be possible” Aja’s wife replied bursting into tears.

“Why not? Is he dead?” asked the spokesman, unable to come up with any other reason why any being should refuse an Ọba’s order.
“Haa! No! He’s been seriously ill for about a week or two, and it’s only today that he’s beginning to look himself again. Come in and see for yourselves.”

“We understand that he went to a farm to steal yams this morning. So how can he be ill?” the spokesman replied, astonished.

“What! Who’s been spreading this malicious gossip? It’s a lie. Come in and see for yourselves”.

Aja heard this conversation between his wife and the messengers’ spokesman, and quickly put the two eggs into his mouth – one in his left cheek, the other in his right cheek. He then covered himself up completely, shivering uncontrollably, his teeth chattering; he was gasping for breath, groaning.

This was how they found him when Aja’s wife led them to where Aja was, in front of the fire. Aja looked ghastly – as if he was on the point of death. Everybody looked at each other, and there was a murmur ringing through the room. They were all at a loss, wondering what would happen next. Then the spokesman conferred with the other messengers.

“He does look very ill. What do we do?” he finally asked.

“You’ve got to carry out your Ọba’s wishes. So, whether Aja likes it or not he has to come with us to our town to face charges…” the Ọtunba offered.

The spokesman weighed up the matter, and seeing him waver, the Ọtunba continued:

“We understand how you feel about Aja leaving the house, but it’s probably better he comes with us, so that our Ọba will see Aja’s appalling condition with his own eyes – even if he were to die there, God forbid!”

“Get up, Aja! You’ve to go to the Ọba’s palace, at the town where you went to steal yams this morning. You’ve to face charges!” the spokesman ordered Aja.

Aja looked puzzled.

“Do you deny stealing the yams then?  Ijapa is at our palace right now, tied up – before our Ọba – because of the yams he claims you’ve stolen. Get dressed, and let’s go. The Ọba is waiting for us” the Ọtunba ordered.

Aja got up very slowly with the help of his wife, shivering uncontrollably, his eyes watering incessantly. His wife could not control how she felt either, as she put a wrapper round him, and he was led away. She was weeping.

Aja made as if to speak, but instead gently broke the egg in his right cheek with his gum and spat the contents out.

“Oh! He’s vomiting! He’s vomiting” they all shouted, and it did look as if Aja had just vomited.

“Sit him down and let him rest for a while” someone suggested.

“Didn’t I tell you that he’s been like this since a week or two” Aja’s wife told them and burst into tears. Just as she was crying, Aja’s children, who had been elsewhere in the house, heard her, and came to join in as well.

“He’s going to die. Please God, help us. Don’t let him die!” they wailed, throwing themselves on the ground.

Everybody there felt sorry for Aja – the messengers from the Ọba of Aja’s town, and the Ọtunba and his men from the Ọba of the farm-owner’s town.

“This is too much. This man is really ill. We’d better go back and tell my Ọba that Ijapa has accused Aja falsely – that he just wants to get Aja into trouble. How could a man as ill as this, vomiting like this have gone to a farm this morning to steal. Ijapa is a liar and a thief” the Ọtunba said.

“I’m going to let Aja go free. Go back and tell our Ọba what’s happened here today. I’ll tell him that Aja has no part in this morning’s theft. I’m the Ọtunba. He’ll believe me because he trusts me”.

Listening to all that was being said Aja relaxed.

“Thank God. I’m not going to be taken anywhere. My trick has worked. I’ve got out of this one. I must be more careful in future in trusting another being – in helping another being.”

The Ọtunba and his men from the farm-owner’s town were about to take their leave when the spokesman for the messengers from the Ọba of Aja’s town halted them. He suddenly realized that they were not in a position to take the same decision the Ọtunba had taken, on behalf of their Ọba. After all they were just the Ọba’s messengers; none of them was an Ọtunba Ọtunba.“I’m sorry I can’t let you do this. We’ve been expressly instructed by our Ọba to arrest Aja, and hand him over to you to take to your Ọba to face charges. Besides, Ijapa is there, and it’s only fair that he and Aja face the charges together before judgment is passed. This is our practice here, and I’m sure it’s yours as well” the spokesman said.

The Ọtunba hesitated, then thought very carefully about what the spokesman had just said.

“You’re right, you know. When our Ọba summoned me earlier on, he did say that he could not judge this case unless Aja was brought forward to face his accuser. Sooner or later this will have to happen…” he admitted, then turned to Aja. “I’m afraid you’ve got to go with us, Aja”.

Aja had no choice but to leave with the Ọtunba and his men. They set off immediately for the Oloko’s town.

The Ọba and his courtiers were shocked by the state Aja was in when he was brought to the palace. Aja looked as if he was dying, and certainly not how they would have expected a hardened thief to look. Ijapa, who had been brought before the Ọba, was equally surprised, and so was the Oloko.

“Kabiyesi!” the Ọtunba said. “We found Aja on the point of death, but we still decided to bring him to you as ordered. His wife informed us that he’d been laid up for one or two weeks, and had not left the house, and that she and the children had been taking care of him”.

The Ọba looked hard at Aja, then turned to Ijapa with an enquiry look.

“Are you sure that this is the same Aja who took you to a farm this morning to help him dig up some yams that he wanted you to carry for him, and who, you did not know until later, is a thief?” the Ọba asked.

“Yes, he certainly is, Kabiyesi! He was not ill this morning. He’s just pretending. He’s trying to trick us” Ijapa answered.

Ijapa moved closer to Aja, who was now shivering uncontrollably, his teeth chattering; he was gasping for breath and groaning.

“Why are you pretending?” Aja asked Ijapa, pushing him forward.
The Ọba turned to Aja.

“Speak!” he ordered.

Aja made as if to speak, then closed his gum on the egg in his left cheek, gave a heave, and its contents spurted out. Some people moved quickly out of the way, and started saying one after the other:

“He’s vomiting! He’s vomiting! This creature is really ill!”

“Ijapa, you’re a liar. You’ve made up the story from beginning to end”

“You’d better tell your own side of the story, Aja”

The Ọba looked at his courtiers, and they all nodded as if they shared the same thoughts. He then conferred with them for a few minutes, after which he cleared his throat.

“There’s no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Aja is very ill, and it’s very unlikely that someone in this condition would go and steal at anyone’s farm. We’ve heard that the theft took place this morning – the digging up of yams, but we’ve also heard that Aja have been ill for a week or two.

“I’ve therefore decided to let Aja go free, and hope that he gets better soon” the Ọba said. “Take him safely home” he ordered his messengers, turning in their direction. Then he turned to Oloko.

“You, Oloko, carry your yams away with you. My advice to you is that you should look for a way of preventing people stealing from your farm from now on.

“As for you, Ijapa, you’ll be flogged publicly as thieves deserve to be before you return to your town. I’m sure that when you get there you’ll be driven away and won’t be able to show your face there or in my town ever again. You’re lucky that you’re not going to lose your life”.

Oloko looked into the Ọba’s advice, and decided to set traps at all the foot path in his farm, so that any being that came to his farm to steal would be caught in the traps. This is why up till now farm-owners set traps in their farms.

Ijapa was flogged publicly and was deeply ashamed. When he got to his town, he and his family were driven far away, and could not show their faces in Teregun ever again, and at Oloko’s town.