Ese Otura-Meji

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I I

"Restles mouth, slippery mouth;
the evil brought about by mouth
is the worst kind of evil;
it is the mouth of Chatterbox
that eventually kills Chatterbox;
it is the mouths of those who idly chatter
that will kill those who idly chatter;
it is the restles mouth that kills
Chatterbox, Blabbermouth."
Those were the ones
who cast Ifa for Squirrel,
who built his home along the roadside.
They instructed Squirrel to be alert,
be very much alert about his incapability
to keep his tiny trap shut, about
his utter inability to keep a secret.
They told him not to tell anything,
whatever he knew, immediately to others.
Squirrel, of course, did not heed the advice.
A short time later Squirrel's wife
gave birth to twins, to ibeji,
which pleased Squirrel mightily.
He immediately announced:
"Now hear this, now hear this!
Squirrel has twins! His home
has become full of life. All those
that listen: come and see
Squirrel's twins."
When the people heard these words,
they stepped aside the path, opened
Squirrel's nest, and searched it.
While searching Squirrel's nest
they found his two children.
They took the young breed home,
put them on top of mashed yams,
and along with the soup Squirrel's children
slid down people's throats
to their stomachs. Yummie!
Ifa says that we should not shout
our good fortune from the rooftops,
nor should we tell any secrets, for silence
helps us to keep what is ours.
That is exactly what the Awo's said:
"Restles mouth, slippery mouth;
the evil brought about by mouth
is the worst kind of evil;
it is the mouth of Chatterbox
that eventually kills Chatterbox;
it is the mouths of those who idly chatter
that will kill those who idly chatter;
it is the restles mouth that kills
Chatterbox, Blabbermouth."


"Like water runs over the path,
so runs the path through the Eri-river"
cast for "Muslim with long gowns",
on the day that "Muslim with long gowns"
was endeavoring to follow the path
of the Immortals.
The instructed Muslim to make ebo.
Muslim listenen and made the ebo.
From that day on all went well and easy
for "Muslim with long gowns".
Ifa says this person should
lead a life of devotion, in order
to receive blessings.
The ebo is: 4 pigeons, 2 sets of
Muslim prayer-beads, 1 pot palm oil,
1 white plate, and an amount of cowries
to be set by the Awo.
all to Obatala.