In a village called Godogo in Igode Area in Aluju Agba, there was scarcity of rats. These served as meat for the villagers. As a result, the king made a law that every rat killed must be shown to the king. Also, this would be shared among the people and the person who killed the rat would be rewarded.
On a fateful day, Baba Gbapo killed a rat. His honesty made him inform the king about his success. When the king heard about this news, he was very pleased and sent his servant to Baba Gbapo. “ Go and authenticate the claim made by Baba Gbapo on the killing of the rat. Ensure that he has not eaten it’’ said the king and the servant replied, ‘’may your highness live long!’’ and he went away.
Baba Gbapo left for his normal work in the farm. He left his wife and Gbapo, his son at home. He gave his wife the following instruction “wife, watch over our child and especially the roasted rat.’’ Mama Gbapo replied, ‘’ my husband , you need not worry about them.’’ When Mama Gbapo went to have her bath, Ademoyeke, the neighbor to Mama Gbapo, entered the house. She ate part of the rat and hid the remaining. She ignored Gbapo who was lying on the ground and she hurriedly left the room.
When Baba Gbapo came back and wanted to present the roasted rat to the king, it was no where to be found. ‘’Mama Gbapo, come here quickly’’ said Baba Gbapo angrily.’’ Where is the rat I told you to watch? ’’ Mama Gbapo checked for it and noticed it was missing. ‘’I did not leave this house at all’’ answered Mama Gbapo confused.
The news of the missing rat got to the king. Baba and Mama Gbapo were invited to the palace.They were not happy because they knew the consequence. After several days of unfruitful search for the missing rat, a decree was passed. Mama Gbapo was to be killed since she was in charge of looking after the rat.
Ademoyeke thought her secret was covered. At that time, Mama Gbapo’ s baby started singing a song
Ademoyeke, the wife of Odomila
Came here to fetch fire.
The fire is very bright,
and the rat is very big.
She cut into her mouth
and tie the rest into her cloth.
The baby kept on singing the song but nobody paid attention to him. An old man who stood beside the baby listened carefully and interpreted the song to a logical conclusion. He hurried straight to the king and told him his findings. The baby kept on singing the song aloud and the villagers then paid closer attention to what the baby was saying. They got to know that Ademoyeke was the person that stole the rat. She was dragged to the palace by the angry villagers. At the palace, she was tortured and pressured into confessing her cruel act to the villagers. She confessed as being the person who stole the rat. She was punished by death through the sword. Mama Gbapo and Baba Gbapo were set free and rewarded for being honest.
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