She
consults
Ífa: |
Quick with new hope Great Mórimi sought out
A priest of Ífap. 37
By the bad spirits. To her gift she whispered,
And laid it on Okpéllè; and the priest
Seizing the charm of Ífa said: "Okpéllè,
To you the woe of Mórimi is known;
You only can reveal its secret cause,
Its unknown cure!" Then he laid down the charm
And Óffun Kánran stood before them. The face
Of Ífa's priest was troubled, and he said: |
Who tells
her to
sacrifice
her
daughter. |
"Mórimi, this is the message of my lord
Ífa: a son, nay many sons, you long for.
You have a daughter, and your husband's love
Was yours. The Gods would give you many sons,
But in your path stands Éshu, the Undoer,
Whose shrine calls out for blood, for sacrifice:
Adétoún." Without hope Mórimi
Went forth, and loathing of the ways of the Gods
Possessed her—while indignation fed her love
Of her one child. . . . |
| The months passed by: Moons came, |
And in the smiles of happier wives she read
A mockery; Moons faded from the sky,
And grief and her Adétoún remained
Companions of her hours. At last she cried:
"But sons l asked for; I will go again
p. 38
And pray for sons and my Adétoún.
The last word is not yet. Olókun's tide
Has ebbed: will it not flow again?" |
| Yet hope |
She
consults
Ífa again. |
Went not with Mórimi to the dark court
Of Ífa's priest; and when a torch disclosed
The self-same bode of sorrow in the dusk—
To her drear home Great Mórimi fled back
In terror of the deed which love commanded,
And love condemned. . . . Silently in the night |
Édi advises
her to act
on Ífa's
message. |
Came Édi, the Perverter, the smooth of tongue,
Who with his guileful reasoning compels
To conscious sin: "The forms of messengers
Reveal the thoughts of Ífa, and the ears
Of Ífa, the God-Messenger, have heard
The far-off, thundrous voice. Would you hold back?
Is not the birth of Nations the first law
Arámfè gave? Can any wife withstand
His will, or maid stern Ógun's call?
p. 39
Seized Mórimi but still she answered; "Will Gods
Not give? Is the grim World a morning market
Where they drive bargains with the folk they made?
Are babes as bangles which Obálufon
Fashions to barter?" But Édi answered her:
"But once Arámfè spoke to Odudúwa,
And with what heavy hearts the Gods went forth
From Heaven's valleys to the blackness! Now thrice,
Then Édi, the Perverter, hid his form
In darkness; and with the dawn a young girl lay |
The death
of Adétoún. |
On the Undoer Éshu's altar—while
The lazy blue of early morning smoke
Crept up the pass between the hills. |
Next
Footnotes
p. 35
1 See Note VI on Mórimi's sacrifice.
p. 36
1 See Note XI on Peregún ’Gbo.
2 See Note XII on the divination of Ífa.
p. 38
1 Ógun kills unmarried girls of marriageable age.
p. 39
1 According to the legend, Mórimi consulted Ífa three times before acting on his advice.