Ijapa Tiroko

Ijapa Tiroko
Ijapa Tiroko: Hero of Yoruba Folktales

Friday 8 April 2011

How an intelligent wife saved her boastful husband - Akinola Olawale S

Once upon a time, there was a poor man whose name was Alade. He lived in a village called ‘Akinweyin’ and he used to boast to his wife of his invincible power that has distinguished him as a powerful man among his peers. No day would ever pass that this poor man would not tell his wife about the war he has fought and all the brave men he has killed and how he had changed to different animals to overcome insurmountable opponents.
During that time, inter-village trade was one of the means of amassing wealth as people used to buy goods and go to the neighbouring villages to sell. It was indeed profitable that if anyone could make a trip, he/she would ultimately become one of the richest in the community but it was a hazardous trip. Whoever ventures into this journey would encounter scores of armed robbers who are ready to snatch his wares and if he did not cooperate with them, he might lose his life during the process. The fear of being killed by armed robbers scared the villagers because only brave men could think of embarking on the journey.
One day, Alade’s wife, Ajoke called her husband and told him, “My husband, since bravery and magical power are needed to embark on the journey and come back safely and with your magical command, why don’t you embark on this trip so that we can become wealthy”. The man, after listening to his wife rejected the offer but his wife kept on begging him which later yielded good result.
The following day, he informed his wife that he was ready to embark on the journey to prove his magical powers and he told his wife to accompany him so that she would witness how he would kill any armed robber who crosses his path. The wife consented and they left after Alade had made preparations for the trip.
When they approached a tick and dark forest, they heard some noises and five heavy armed robbers suddenly appeared before them and they were shivering. The wife who had expected her husband to use his power to conquer their assailants saw her husband trembling with anxiety. The wife smartly said, “Today will mark the end of these robbers because I can see my husband has begun to shake which signals first phase of our victory. Shake, my husband shake, continue to shake because that was how you shivered last month and killed twenty men. My husband, don’t hesitate to shake, you shook four days ago and you murdered thirty”. Fear gripped the armed robbers when they heard what the woman said because they thought that she was saying the truth and they robbers ran away. That was how a brilliant saved her proud husband from untimely death.



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