Ofun Otrupon

The person loses their luck through greed

There was once a farmer who had some unknown palm trees on his land, growing along the riverbank and bearing an unknown fruit. It happened that whenever the river rose, no one could cross it because of the shortcuts. During one of the river’s floods, the king of the region arrived at the farm but could not cross the river. He then offered the farmer money to cut down one of the palms so that it would fall across the wide river, allowing him to continue on his way by walking over it. And so the farmer did.

Every time the river rose and people wished to cross, they had to pay the farmer money to fell a palm so they could get across. When the farmer had only two or three of those palms left, he dreamed that they held a value greater than what he earned each time he cut one down. The next day, the farmer went to see Orunmila, the awo of the town, who gave him this counsel: «To be happy in your life, you must stop cutting down those palms you cut and follow the path of Ifá.»

This path establishes that Ofun Batrupon does not work Ifá, for he devotes himself to other labors he believes more profitable, yet he lacks happiness. He must work Ifá in order to know happiness.

Another version of the previous patakí

This is a greedy and immoderate person who does not let it show, being exceedingly intelligent; and when they reach that level of unbridled greed, Olofin withdraws their luck. There once lived a man who knew how to work everything related to iron to perfection, for he was a great locksmith, but he did not like to work and seemed content with little; yet deep down he was a covetous person who did not let it show. He kept a smithy at the edge of town for shoeing horses.

Elegbá wished to help him and chided him, saying: «You are a fool. How can you make nothing but horseshoes? You could also make spears, grilles, doors, and so on, and earn more money that way. Few riders pass this way for you to shoe their horses.» He answered: «This is the trade I choose to work.» In the yard of the smithy there was an ateje tree, and in its shade the blacksmith placed an old chair for the riders to sit on while he shod their horses.

One day, Olofin decided to visit those lands to grant three graces to each of their inhabitants, and when Elegbá learned of it, he went straight to the smithy and told the blacksmith: «Olofin is coming, granting three graces. Be clever and ask for three good things so you no longer have to struggle in this smithy.» He answered: «I will think about what I am going to ask of Olofin.» Olofin arrived at the smithy, and Elegbá was already there. Olofin said to the blacksmith: «Ask me for three graces.» Then the blacksmith, after reflecting, said: «Grant me the grace that any boy who climbs this ateje tree cannot come down until I so order.» Olofin granted him the grace.

Elegbá, on hearing this request, put his hands on his head and rebuked him. Olofin said to the blacksmith: «Ask me for the second grace.» The blacksmith said: «I want everything that enters this yard to be unable to leave until I so order.» Olofin granted him this grace as well, and Elegbá again put his hands to his head and rebuked him again. What Elegbá did not know was that this man had already thought everything through in advance, along with the benefits these requests would bring him in time.

Olofin said to him: «Ask me for the third grace.» The man pretended to be thinking, and after a while he said: «I want you to grant me the grace that whoever sits in that chair cannot rise until I order it.» Olofin granted him this wish too. Elegbá rebuked him harshly, for he could not see the depth hidden in those requests, nor had he stopped to consider the cunning intelligence of that blacksmith.

Olofin, understanding the depth of the blacksmith’s requests, said to Elegbá: «Do not be upset. I have understood the reach of these requests, for he is ruled by a great greed he does not let show; and though to you he seems a fool, to me he seems a devil.»

Elegbá said to Olofin: «Truly, Baba, I do not understand what you base that judgment on, but if to you he is a devil, to me he is a foolish devil.»

Olofin answered him: «Before long you will begin to understand the reach of those petitions. I granted them because I never imagined one of my children would make such requests. But as I set no condition on the graces I might grant, I had to bestow them. To iban Eshu.»

A few days later, the king’s sons went out hunting, and one of the horses lost a shoe, so they made their way to the smithy. The head of the escort went into the smithy to have the horse shod, while the king’s sons ran off and climbed up the ateje tree.

The blacksmith, seeing the escort, realized who they were. He shod the horse with the utmost care and diligently collected the payment for his work. And when the head of the escort ordered the king’s sons to come down from the ateje tree, they did not obey; nor did he himself feel any wish to leave the yard of the smithy, and neither did any of the members of the escort.

Then the blacksmith ordered one of the escorts to go to the palace and inform the king of what was happening. When the king learned of the situation, he went to the smithy, and upon entering it he felt at ease and had no wish to leave. This vexed the king, who asked one of his escorts what was going on.

The escort replied: «Majesty, this place seems bewitched. None of those who enter want to leave, and your sons will not come down from the tree.» The king gave order after order, but no one obeyed him. Then, humiliated, he addressed the blacksmith: «Do something so that we may all leave this place and my sons come down from that wretched tree.» The blacksmith replied: «Try it yourself, since you are the king.»

Overwhelmed, the king sat down in the chair, and when he went to stand up, he could not rise. He then called the blacksmith and offered him riches and titles in exchange for freeing them all from that situation.

The blacksmith, after making certain that the king would keep his word, went to the ateje tree and ordered the boys to come down. They came down at once. And he ordered the soldiers to leave the smithy, and so they did.

He turned to the king and likewise ordered him to leave the smithy, and so he did. Elegbá, who had been watching it all, was astonished at how intelligent and covetous the blacksmith was, and went to the house of Olofin, who on seeing him arrive said:

«Elegbá, have you seen what your foolish-devil blacksmith accomplished with the three graces I granted at his request?» asked Olofin.

Elegbá replied: «Now I understand everything you told me.» Then Olofin said: «Since it is for his personal gain and for his hidden greed, to grow rich at the expense of others, from this moment I withdraw those three graces from him. To Iban Eshu.»

The path where Olokun eats duck

Yemayá said to Olokun: «I have a brood of animals you would enjoy eating.» And Olokun answered: «I too have a brood you would enjoy eating.» The animal Olokun kept in his pen was the akuko. In those days, Yemayá ate adie, and Olokun ate only ram and pig. Yemayá said to Olokun: «I will come for you so you can see my brood.»

The day came, and Yemayá took Olokun to her house, where she kept a brood of ducks, but they were not strong, and Olokun told her: «I eat only strong animals.» Then Yemayá began to weep, ashamed. Olokun said to her: «Come, let us take a walk.» And as they went out on their stroll, they met Elegbá, who, seeing that Yemayá was weeping, began to sing:

«Ofun Magua Lode Yauro Lona Olokun Newa Lodeo Aayuro Lona».

Then Yemayá and Olokun, bewildered, turned back. To their astonishment, they saw Yemayá’s ducks swimming majestically and beautifully on the lagoon. Olokun said to Yemayá: «What a beautiful sight.» Yemayá, taking a few ducks, gave them to Olokun to eat, for Elegbá had told him they were delicious.

As soon as Olokun finished eating, he invited Yemayá and Elegbá to his estate, where he kept a pen of rams, pigs, and roosters. There, Olokun offered them these animals to eat and asked which they had liked best. Yemayá and Elegbá answered that it was the akuko.

Then Olokun brought out two geese from his pen, which frightened Yemayá and Elegbá, who ran off, vomiting up the ram and the pig. In that state they arrived before Orunmila, who, seeing them, performed osorde and saw this Ifá, telling them they had eaten three things that were harming them. Orunmila prescribed for them the ebbo given above.

Yemayá and Elegbá went to Olokun’s pen and stole the animals needed for the ebbo, which they then had to cast into the sea in a basin.

The next day, Olokun, upon waking, saw that bundle in his waters and went to examine it. He saw that there were akuko and duck in it, and he ate them right there, well pleased. From then on, Olokun began feeding his akuko well, and, in secret from Yemayá, he also fed Yemayá’s ducks so that they would always be big and strong. Then he sent for Elegbá and told him:

«From this day forward, you must come every day to eat akuko with me and then take them to Yemayá, so that she, in exchange, sends me her big, strong ducks. To Iban Eshu.» Since then, Yemayá eats akuko and Olokun eats big, strong ducks.

Ofun Otrupon is the father of tongues

In times past, the whites and the Muslims lived in the same land and spoke the same language, regarding themselves as equals. But one day the Muslims told the whites that they had been sent to that land by the Ashe of the great Ala, who had given them the power of wisdom. The whites replied that they were the same as they were.

The Muslims decided to see Orunmila, who prescribed a rogation for them. After performing the rogation and giving the ounko and the akuko to Elegbá, they carried everything to a joro joro and set it on fire, and the smoke of the ebbo rose on high, acknowledging the Ashe of Ala.

The whites, who had not gone to Orunmila’s house, saw that smoke rising, offered their prayers, and there Elegbá appeared to them and asked: «Who made the ebbo?»

It reached Ade Mala Orun and Ala, who acknowledged both the Muslims and the whites, and they would receive the benefits of the Quran only when Ayala and the angel of death knocked at their doors. Each would have his Ashe according to his conduct.

Then Elegbá went to Orunmila’s house, and Orunmila said to him: «Let us separate them and transform their tongues.» Since Orunmila had changed their language, the whites and the Muslims, seeing that they could not understand each other, decided to separate in the material world; but in spirit they are one.

The trees of Orunmila

There was once a man who had a plot of land near the river, and along those banks grew many small palm trees bearing little nuts. When the river rose, no one could cross. One day a rich man wanted to cross and did not know how. He offered the man of the trees a great deal of money, and the river could then be crossed; and so it went every time the river rose, and the man earned much money. But when he had only two trees left, he dreamed one night that what he was felling for money held more value than he imagined. He dreamed that he should fell them no more and should try to learn what they contained, so that he might be happy. After inquiry, it was confirmed that what the man possessed was a treasure, for they were trees of the inkines of Orunmila.

Yemayá’s brood

Yemayá told Olokun that she had a brood of animals he would greatly enjoy eating. Olokun, in turn, told Yemayá that he too had a brood of animals she would greatly enjoy eating, and that animal was the rooster. At that time, Yemayá ate nothing but hens, and Olokun, for his part, ate nothing but ram and pig. One day, Yemayá went to Olokun’s house to invite him to see the brood she kept.

Olokun set out with Yemayá, and when they reached her house and he saw the brood Yemayá kept (a brood of ducks), Olokun saw that as the ducks walked and stepped, the males kept toppling onto the females. Olokun was greatly amused and told Yemayá that all those animals were sick and that he ate only fresh, strong blood. Yemayá, hearing what Olokun said, began to weep, shamed by his words; then he invited her to his house to see his own brood.

As they went out, they met Elegbá, who, seeing Yemayá weeping, began to sing:

«Ofun magua lodeo, ayauro lona, Olokun me malodeo, ayauro lona».

Olokun and Yemayá, hearing Elegbá’s song, became bewildered and turned along the path where Yemayá’s ducks were, and saw them all swimming beautifully. At which Olokun said: «What a lovely sight.» Elegbá then said to Olokun: «This is more delicious than what you eat,» and Yemayá gave Olokun a duck to eat, which he found delicious. Olokun, in turn, said to them: «Now come with me to my house to see my brood,» which consisted of rams, pigs, and roosters, and he gave them these animals to eat, asking which they liked best. Yemayá and Elegbá told him the rooster; then Olokun said: «I am going to give you something else to eat, to see whether you like it too,» and Olokun brought out two geese. Yemayá and Elegbá took fright at the sight of the geese and ran off, vomiting up what they had eaten: the ram and the pig.

Thus they arrived at Orunmila’s house, and he looked at them and saw this Ifá, telling them: «You have eaten three things, and two of them have harmed you, and therefore you must make ebó with a rooster, a duck, a basin of seawater, a piece of blue cloth and another of white, nine candles, and owo meyo.»

The next day, Olokun was astonished to see the things used in the ebbo floating on the sea. He was very pleased that the ebbo had worked. The following day he began feeding the roosters, and he also fed the ducks without Yemayá knowing, so that they would grow strong. Then he sent for Yemayá and Elegbá and told them that from that day on, Elegbá would have to come eat rooster and carry ducks to Yemayá every day.

Here the strength of the rooster and the duck was born.