Oshe Lezo

The king’s unwanted son

There was once an aged king who longed for a son in order to increase his fortune, for all the kings of that time who had children saw their fortunes grow. But he had no luck, since his wife could not conceive because of her health. The king fell in love with a servant girl who became pregnant, and this made him happy, for he thought his fortune would grow. It did not happen, however, because the child was not the son of a queen. The king came to despise him once he realised this.

Forty-five days later, the child’s mother fell ill. A servant who knew everything about the king, and was his friend, took the child in and brought him to the castle. The king’s servants took charge of clothing and feeding him. The king died five years later, however, and shortly afterwards his wife died as well. A new king, a crueller one, took power and laid down the law that no child could remain in the castle. Eshu, who was in the castle, decided to leave with the child for the outskirts of the city, where the poor lived. There the child began to grow and to work as a slave, while Eshu, by then very old, understood that he would have to work all the time.

At his work he met a woman slave who took pity on him and sent him to the house of Orunmila. Orunmila advised him to make ebbo with an eya and changed his name to Oshe Leso. But he asked him not to reveal it to anyone until he saw a flame taller than himself. The young man grew proud and stopped greeting his father. The father went to Orunmila to have the young man read, and learned that he had already been there. Orunmila told him to take omiero of Obatalá and sprinkle it at the entrance of the town, and Eshu did so.

Three days later a war broke out in the wealthy part of the town and the houses began to burn. The flame drew closer and closer to the poor part of the town, and the people fled. Oshe Leso remembered what Orunmila had told him and ran towards the flame, shouting his own name. The flame drew back each time he came near. When at last the flame went out, he was left stunned.

Olofin called him and told him that from that day on he would be the fierce flame of the town, good or bad, rich or poor. But he was to obey the commands, not lose his mind, and deny nothing to anyone.

To Iban Eshu.

Why Olofin sacrifices animals

There was a time when the birds began to slander Olofin, saying that he was a murderer because he was always sacrificing animals. All the birds of prey gathered together — the hawk, the kestrel, the vulture, the caraira, the owl and others — and decided not to visit Olofin, because they claimed there were many killings at the door of his house, and that there was always blood there.

All the birds of prey went to the corner and brought sweets to Eshu, asking him to look through a hole to see what Olofin was doing. Eshu saw a pool of blood behind the door and went to the corner to report it to his friends, who went on slandering Olofin.

One morning Olofin became aware of the situation and decided to act. He took a basin with indigo water, bees’ honey, molasses, 7 rounds of tender corn and goat’s milk, and placed it behind the door, together with a cross of jiba wood and a piece of candle. Then he gave food to the door.

At that moment the dove was making her way to Olofin’s house, but all the birds of prey came out to meet her and warned her not to go, because Olofin was a murderer who killed animals in the middle of the doorway. They advised her to be careful, so that Eyele would not be killed.

The dove decided to go to Olofin’s house in spite of the warnings of her friends the hawks, the owls and even the vulture. When she arrived, her white feet were stained with blood, but she told Olofin that she had come to see him and had paid no attention to what the other birds said, because she knew it was not true.

Olofin then explained to the dove that he killed no one, and that if he sacrificed animals it was in order to save them all. He told her that, were he not to do it, all would be lost. He also promised her that, because her feet had been stained with blood, she would always have red feet and would live in his house never lacking food. Moreover, she would have children who would carry his messages wherever he needed them.

Olofin then sent the dove out with a basket full of the bodies of the animals sacrificed for the ebbo, and asked her to pass by where all the birds of prey were and to leave the rest at the corners. The dove did as Olofin asked and returned to Olofin’s house.

When the animals of the ebbo were ready to be eaten, an uproar broke out among the birds of prey, the reptiles and even Eshu, all of whom wanted to eat everything that was there. The dove, who was waiting for them all to finish eating, asked them who had given them that food. They answered that they had found it there and that it was very tasty, and so they had eaten it. The dove asked them why they had not eaten with her, and told them that she had her own. She also asked them what they thought of Olofin, and explained that he was not the murderer they said he was, and that the food they had eaten had been sent by him. She told them that in eating the ebbo they too were sacrificing animals, and so all the birds of prey understood why Olofin sacrifices animals.

The love of the tomeguina

There was once a family who kept and raised birds, and among all the birds they had there was a little hen bird who was the family’s favourite, and whom they cared for with great affection. One day, while the little bird was singing in her cage to the delight of her owners, she felt that someone was answering her song. Yet, knowing the voices of the birds of her own house, she realised that this bird was a stranger who had come passing through from other places.

The little bird went on singing and asked the other bird to come closer so that she could see him better. And so that strange bird came near her cage, and fell in love with her at once. For her part, the little bird also felt drawn to that unknown bird, and a great love arose between the two of them.

The little bird asked the other bird where he came from, and he answered that he came from a faraway country, but that he would return to fetch her. The little bird was made happy by the bird’s words, and waited eagerly for his return.

As the days passed and the other bird did not return, however, the little bird grew sadder and sadder. She stopped singing and stopped eating, and her state declined so far that her owners feared for her life. Try as they might to cure her, they did not know what ailed her.

But one day they heard the trill of a bird they had never heard before. The most surprising thing was not the trill itself, but the joy the little bird felt on hearing it. Weak as she was, she began to sing and to answer the trill of the other bird, who had come for her.

The little bird’s owners understood at once what was happening, and decided to set her free so that she could join the other bird and be happy at his side.

The person being read, however good their position may be, is not at ease in it; if it is a man, the woman he has is not the one he wants, and if it is a woman, the same happens to her; the male children must be watched over so that they do not turn effeminate, or the man being read is so himself, or he likes to live among effeminate men. The child of this sign is a cerebral person. The bird is the tomeguín.