XVI.—How Oghabi poisoned his friend Okpa and family, or why a host
should always eat first from the food which he gives to his guests.
Oghabi and Okpa both lived at Inkum. They had always been great friends since they were boys, and when they grew up they made farms in the same place and used to feed together. As they became richer they bought slaves and canoes and lived in separate houses, each man having one wife. At last Oghabi became tired of the farming work and told his friend that he was going to be a hunter. He said that by his hunting he hoped to grow richer, as he intended to go from town to town and sell the meat of the animals he killed while Okpa could be looking after the farm.
For some time all went well with Oghabi, and he made a lot of money by selling his dried meat, but one day he went into the forest with two of his slaves and met with misfortune. He had hunted all day, and killed several buck, and when the evening came he skinned the animals, and having cut them in half placed the meat over the fire to dry in the smoke. He then went to sleep with the two slaves.
During the night a large python came and took one of Oghabi’s legs in his mouth and swallowed it up to the thigh.
Okhabi woke up in great fear and yelled for help, he tried to stand up but could not do so, as his leg was down the snake’s throat. He then called for his hunting knife which one of the slaves gave him, the other slave called Odo snatched a burning stick from the fire and ran off to call Okpa to come and help. But before Okpa arrived Oghabi had cut the snake’s mouth and body right down with his hunting knife and released his leg. The leg was so swollen and inflamed that he could not walk. Okpa arrived shortly afterwards with his wife and together with the help of the slaves they carried Oghabi and the meat he had killed back to his house. Okpa then went home with his wife, but the next morning he went to enquire after his friend, and having stayed a short time he went home again. Later in the day Okpa’s wife came to see Oghabi and had a conversation with his wife. She said she thought there must be something wrong about what had happened the night before as it was not usual for a snake to try and swallow a man, she therefore advised Oghabi’s wife to consult a ju-ju man upon the matter. After she had gone home Oghabi’s wife told her husband what Okpa’s wife had said, and Oghabi agreed and sent off for the ju-ju man at once. When the man came he consulted his skull and then said: “It was your best friend who sent the snake to kill you but I will not mention his name unless you promise to revenge yourself upon him.” As Oghabi only had one good friend he did not want to promise what the ju-ju man asked, but his wife, who had great faith in the ju-ju man, at last persuaded him to pass his word. The ju-ju man then said, “It was your friend Okpa who sent the big snake to swallow you as he is envious of your being a hunter and making more money than him.” Oghabi would not believe this at first, but his wife convinced him after much argument that what the ju-ju man had said was true. From that day Oghabi grew to hate his friend, and when he recovered from the injuries he had received from the snake he began to plot as to how he should revenge himself upon Okpa and his wife. At last he decided to poison them as he did not wish to kill them openly with a matchet. Having got some strong poison from the ju-ju man he told his wife to prepare palm oil chop for Okpa and his family. While she was getting the food ready Oghabi went out and made some tombo, and when he returned he divided the tombo into two calabashes, one large and one small. Into the large calabash he placed some of the poison, and the remainder he put in the palm oil chop. He then got ready and went with his wife to Okpa’s house taking the two calabashes of tombo and the palm oil chop with him. When they arrived Okpa received them gladly and ordered food to be prepared at once. When the food was ready Okpa and his wife sat down and eat it and drank the tombo from the small calabash. Oghabi then told Okpa and his wife that they could eat the food which they had brought for them, and when they had finished they could drink the tombo in the big calabash. Okpa and his wife then called their children together and sat down and eat the poisoned food and drank the tombo, but Okpa’s youngest son would not eat or drink anything.
When they had finished Oghabi said he should go home but Okpa begged him to stay. Oghabi, however, refused and started off home with his wife. When they had reached half way and were sitting down to rest, Okpa’s youngest son came running up to them and implored them to return with him and help his father as they were all very ill and in great pain. Oghabi said, “run back home at once and tell your father that I will come directly I have been home, and will bring some medicine which will make them vomit and they will then get well.”
But Oghabi never went back to Okpa’s house until the next morning, when he found they were all dead except Okpa’s youngest son who was crying. Oghabi was very glad at what he saw, and the boy noticed that Oghabi did not cry, so he went and reported everything to the chief.
The chief sent for Oghabi and his wife and called the chiefs of the town together to hold palaver. The boy told them how Oghabi had brought food for his people the previous night and that he was the only one who had not eaten any, and all the others had died soon after Oghabi left the house. He also told the chief that Oghabi and his wife had not eaten any of the food, and that when he saw his friend and all his family were dead that he had not cried. The chief then asked Oghabi whether he had tasted the food he brought for Okpa, and Oghabi replied that he had done so and that his wife had cooked and eaten some of the food. As there was no one besides the boy to give evidence the chief said he could not treat Oghabi as a poisoner. He therefore took him to his ju-ju and made him swear that he had not killed Okpa, and that if he had the ju-ju should kill him. Oghabi’s wife swore also.
The chief then sent word all round the towns that as Okpa and his family had been poisoned, for the future whenever anyone gave another person tombo, foo-foo, palm oil chop, or anything else to eat or drink, they must first partake of it themselves, to show that it was not poisoned.
Told by Abassi of Inkum.—[20.6.10.]
Author’s Note.
It is a universal custom throughout the district that when food or drink is brought for strangers the provider of the food should first taste it, to show that it is not poisoned.
In connection with the above it may be of interest to note the formalities which are invariably observed whenever tombo is brought for people to drink, even when there are only a few present.
The “pourer out” (Ka-ammum (Ingor) pour drink) takes the demijon or calabash of tombo in his right hand and places it on his knee, then he takes a glass or small calabash in his left hand and having poured a little tombo into the glass he presents it to the chief or the head man present, who makes a little speech asking God (Ossor wor) to be good to them to prevent their children from dying, and to give them good yam crops, etc. He then throws the tombo on the ground. Having handed the glass back, it is filled and given to the chief’s small boy, who stands behind him, to drink. The “pourer out” then pours out a glass and drinks it himself. After that the next glass is given to the chief who throws it on the ground as a libation to the dead ancestors, then the glass will be filled again, and the chief drinks it.
The tombo is then poured out glass after glass and handed round until there is only one glass left in the calabash and that is drunk by the chief’s small boy who drank the first glass, he leaves a little in the bottom of the glass and gives it to the chief who throws the contents on the ground to propitiate the evil spirits.
The reason that the glass is presented with the left hand of the “pourer out” is, that formerly the natives were afraid of being seized by the hand, when they held out the tombo, by some man who would seize them on behalf of a third person who owed him a debt, and if they held the glass out in their right hand and were caught by it they could not get at their knives which are worn on their right side, to protect themselves. On all other occasions things are given and taken with the right hand as the left hand is looked upon as “unclean” for certain reasons, and it is considered in consequence an insult to offer or take anything with the left hand. Natives eat their food with their right hands only.—[E.D., 20.6.10.]