Ese Ofun-Oyeku

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We call this Odu also Ofun-Tena,
which means Odu does press the Road,
impresses and imprints, which means in turn
that Ofun casts, Ofun makes divination.
"Ofun, decked out with quite impressive cloths,
that make him look like a big mountain's back"
cast for the Elder Female Worshipper,
to be exactly on the day
that she was living both
in poverty and pain.
She took her hoe, went out
to gather roots and lettuce.
But was she going to the good,
the right, the very best of places?
"Oh yes, you are!" was the reply, "but make
a sacrifice of pigeons, and a cutlass,
and twenty six large bags of cowrie money.
She listened, made the sacrifice allright,
and trotted off towards her farm,
with trust and confidence, for isn't
the sacrifice what helps?
Not making offers has never helped a soul.
What would you say?
Ain't that the truth, my friend?
Arriving at the place
where she would gather firewood,
she saw a dried-out trunk,
the remnants of a tree.
"Oh, well, that is good news!
I'll dig it out and take it!
It's good for a large fire," the Elder Women said.
Straining her muscles she did pull the trunk
out from the crusty earth, and ha!,
what was beneath it? She took a closer look
and saw a deep, dark hole,
completely filled with money.
Old Female Worshipper began to shovel money
and totally forgot what she'd set out to do.
It didn't matter though: from that day onwards
she was a rich, a very wealthy person.
She danced and sang and praised
the group of Babalawo's
that earlier that day
had said: "Ofun, well-dressed;
light comes on top of dark;
the far side of the mountain",
they were the one who cast
for our protagonist,
who went out to get firewood
but found her wealth instead,
went home a wealthy woman,
immeasurably rich.
She sang: "It's from Ofun
that I gathered my riches,
the hole was underneath
a tree trunk: no one knew!
I didn't know it either,
but yet I found the treasure
in Ofun's splendid house,
and took it home with me.
The journey was much shorter
than I might have expected.
This shorter journey, though,
brought unexpected wealth.
My trip was shorter, better,
I did not loose but gain."
Now he who knows the way
to cast the chain of Ifa,
he does not know the road
to Ofa town as well.
And he who knows the road
to Ofa can't cast Ifa,
so just make up your mind
whichever of the two
you will set course for: Ifa,
or Ofa. One of those.
Empty is full where treasure can be found,
go to the hole, the mountain.
Be smart enough to choose,
for no: you can't do both.
Only for those who don't
care where their trip will finish,
it must be said that each
and every road will do.
But if you have a goal
(also called destination)
the finish is what matters:
so wisely choose the road
that takes you there. That's all.