XIX.—Why the Mist rises from the Water.
Ogbaja of Ikom was the son of Chief ’Njum, and his mother was called Nara. Chief ’Njum was a poor man, but he had a farm and a few slaves to work for him. When Ogbaja grew up, he became a hunter, and being a good shot with his bow and arrows he nearly always succeeded in bringing back some meat, which he took to his father.
One year the season was so dry and the sun so hot that Chief ’Njum could not plant his yams in time, and when he did plant them it was too late, and there was a very bad crop in consequence.
When the food began to get scarce, Chief ’Njum told his son to go hunting every day to supply meat for everybody.
Ogbaja went out every morning with his bow and arrows, and generally returned in the evening just before it was dark, carrying the animals he had killed. He also used to bring some bush mangoes with him as well, as they were useful for making soup.
His father always sent Ogbaja to the chiefs every day with a small piece of meat and one mango for each, and after a time they got to know him quite well.
Just at that time there were eight wicked people who had been driven out of the town. Some of them were witches and others were poisoners, but one of them was a cripple, and could only scramble along on his hands and knees. These people were not allowed to make farms, so they were forced to live on the fruits and seeds which they found in the forest.
Ogbaja knew all about these men, and was afraid to meet them, so he always gathered mangoes at a time when he knew they would not be near the tree.
One day Ogbaja’s mother Nara said she wished to go with him to gather some fruit, but he told her that she could not go, as the witches were dangerous men and might kill her.
Nara, however, made up her mind to go, so she put ashes in Ogbaja’s bag which he always carried, and made holes in the bottom, so that she could follow him.
Ogbaja got up early in the morning, and took his bow and arrows with him to hunt; then as he went along he left a trail of ashes behind him, which Nara followed, and at last came to the mango tree, where she found Ogbaja picking up the fruit.
Her son said “Why do you come here? If you had waited at home, I would have brought you some fruit.” But his mother told him that she wanted to get the fruit herself, and commenced gathering the mangoes and eating some of the ripe ones.
Ogbaja said, “I cannot take you home, as I must go out hunting to get food. I will therefore leave you at the top of the tree, where you will be safe from the wicked men, but you must be careful to keep very quiet and not move when they come.” He then helped his mother up the tree, and left her sitting on a branch, telling her that he would return the same way after he had finished hunting, late in the afternoon, and take her home. He then went away.
At midday when the sun was high up, the witches came and started to pick up the mangoes, but they left the cripple underneath the tree.
When they had finished, they told him they were going to the stream to get water and would return to him later.
Nara was very frightened when she saw the witches, and kept quite quiet, but when she saw them go down to the stream she thought they had all gone, so she moved about in the branches and looked all round.
This movement soon attracted the attention of the cripple, who was lying on his back, and he looked up and saw Nara sitting on the branch.
Shortly afterwards the seven bad men returned with the water, and after he had taken a drink he told the others what he had seen in the tree. They looked up and saw Nara, so one of the witches climbed up the tree and threw her down. She was killed at once, and they cut the body up and divided it and took it home to eat. The cripple claimed the head for his share. As he was unable to walk, he crawled along the path on his hands and knees, rolling the head in front of him.
When Ogbaja returned to the mango tree after his hunting to take his mother home, he could not find her, but on looking about on the ground he saw the bloodstains where his mother’s body had been cut up, and at once knew that she must have been killed by the witches. He never gathered any fruit, but returned home empty-handed.
Ogbaja was far too frightened to go to the place where the bad men lived to look for his mother, so he went home, feeling very sad.
When he returned, Chief ’Njum asked him what had become of his mother, but Ogbaja’s heart was so full of grief that he could not answer. Then his friends Bojor and Osobia came and asked him why he grieved so much. So he told them what had happened, sobbing all the time.
His father, in the meantime, had sent to call another chief called Agborleku, who was a very wise man, to consult with him as to what was the best thing to be done.
When Agborleku arrived, Chief ’Njum told him what had happened to his wife. Then Chief Agborleku sat for a long time without speaking, considering what was the best way to get rid of these wicked men.
At last he told Chief ’Njum not to do anything for two months, as, by that time, the witches would think they were quite safe.
He was then to prepare a big feast and make plenty of strong tombo, half of which was to be made from the tombo drawn from the top of the tree and the other half from a tree which had been cut down. He was then to mix the two lots of tombo together. Cows would then be killed and goats, and all the people of the country, including the witches, would be invited to attend the feast which would be given in honour of the chief’s dead wife.
A certain house would be set aside for the witches to sleep in, and they were to be given plenty of tombo to drink, so that they would sleep well. When they were fast asleep, they would be covered up with dry palm leaves and then burnt to death.
Chief ’Njum agreed that this was a good plan, and commenced making preparations for the feast. When they were completed, a man was sent to the eight witches with a message from Chief ’Njum, that he would like the people who had been turned out of the town to take part in the big feast he was giving in honour of his dead wife.
When the man had gone, the cripple tried to persuade the other witches not to go to the feast, as he said that the people of the town would be certain to revenge themselves upon them for the death of Nara, but the witches did not agree with him, and said that it was impossible for Chief Njum to know that they had killed his wife, as no one had seen them do it, and they did not think he would ask them to a feast if he wished to harm them. They also said that they had not had a good feed for a long time, so, in spite of the entreaties of the cripple, they decided to go.
When the day of the feast arrived, the seven evil men carried the cripple to the town, and at once began to eat as much as they could, and drank large quantities of the strong tombo. But the cripple eat very little, and did not drink any of the tombo, as he was suspicious of the people.
Very soon, the seven witches were quite drunk, and lay down in the house which had been set apart for them, and went fast asleep. The cripple also lay down and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, but in reality he was wide-awake and very watchful.
When Ogbaja saw that all the witches had gone to sleep, he covered them all over, very softly, with dry palm leaves, and, having set fire to them, went out and fastened the door.
The seven men were burnt to death, as they were too drunk to escape, but the cripple managed to crawl into a large water-pot which was kept in the room for drinking-water, and the fire did not hurt him, as he only kept his mouth just out of the water.
When the house was burnt down, Ogbaja went inside to see that all the witches were dead, and counted the bodies, but could only find seven. He thought he must have made a mistake, so he counted them again out loud, one, two, three, up to seven, and the cripple called from his pot after him the numbers up to seven. Ogbaja could not understand this, so he counted the bodies again aloud, and again the cripple copied him. Ogbaja then called the people in with hoes, and they dug up the ground, but could not find the eighth body. Ogbaja then counted the bodies again, and the people listened carefully; the cripple answered as before, and they guessed from the direction the voice came from that the last of the witch-men must be in the water-pot, so they looked in and found the cripple. They dragged him out of the pot at once, and said, “As you do not seem to like to be killed with fire, we will kill you with the water-pot you took refuge in.” They then dragged the cripple down to the waterside, where they made a large fire, and put the water-pot into it. The cripple begged them not to put him in the fire, but no one answered him. When the pot was red-hot, it was taken out of the fire and placed over the cripple’s shoulders. He was then pushed into the river. The red-hot pot caused steam and mist to rise from the water, and it is still to be seen when the mornings are cold that mist rises from the river, and people say that this is caused by the red-hot pot which was placed over the shoulders of the wicked cripple when he was thrown into the water and the steam still continues to rise.
Told by Ewonkom, an Ikom woman.—[E.D., 23.6.10.]