XXVII.—How a cruel Inkum Chief was Poisoned by his Slaves, and How
his Son Hanged Himself on account of the Expenses of his Brother’s
Funeral.
At Inkum in the olden days there dwelt a chief called Erim. He was very wealthy, having many slaves, both male and female, and a large farm. He was known throughout the country as a cruel man and a hard master. Most of Chief Erim’s wealth was made by selling camwood and the large yams grown on his farm. The chief made a rule that each woman slave should bring him at the end of every seven days twelve balls or cakes of camwood. If any of them failed to do so, he tied them up to a tree and they were given fifty lashes on the back with a heavy whip made of twisted skin. They were also made to pay the value of the number of balls of camwood which they had failed to make. This meant that all the women slaves had to work very hard indeed, and they could get no help from their husbands in any way, as at first cock-crow all the men were sent off to the farm to work, and were not allowed to return until the evening. Very frequently the men slaves were severely flogged by order of the chief, if he were not satisfied with the amount of work done on the farm, or if they annoyed him in any way. In consequence of his cruel treatment of them, all his slaves hated Chief Erim, and although they were much in fear of their master they often planned to kill him.
Now Chief Erim had only two wives; one was an Okuni woman, by whom he had a son called Odoggha Eyu, and the other was a native of Inkum, whose son’s name was Oga Erim. The chief was very fond of both his sons, and never allowed them to do any work on the farm. He gave them plenty of food and good cloths, and they grew into strong young men. There was one thing, however, that vexed Chief Erim, and that was that Odoggha Eyu was his eldest son, and he knew that when he died Odoggha Eyu would return to Okuni, which was his mother’s birthplace. The chief therefore made up his mind that his youngest son, Oga Erim, should inherit his property, and for several years taught him how to rule the people with a strong hand and to punish them severely if they did not work, as that was the way he had become rich.
When the two sons had grown up, the slaves made a plan to kill Chief Erim, whom they hated so much. The head slave waited until the day came for the women to bring their camwood to be counted, and then told his wife to keep back three balls of camwood, so that if the chief flogged her, he would be able to give a good reason to the other slaves why they should kill their master. When all the women slaves had brought their camwood, the chief told the head slave to count the cakes as usual. He did so, and told Chief Erim that his wife had only brought nine cakes of camwood instead of twelve, as she had been very busy in the house and had had a lot of other work to do. The head slave also said that ever since he had been married his wife had always brought the right number of cakes, and as this was the first time she had failed to do so he begged the chief not to punish her. But Chief Erim was angry, and said that the head slave’s wife ought to know better and should set a good example to the other slaves. He then had her tied up to a tree, and she was given fifty lashes, the blood running down her back on to the ground, the woman becoming unconscious from the pain. She was then released and water having been thrown over her she was carried to her house, where she was placed on the sleeping-mat.
The next day the woman was made to pay for the three missing cakes of camwood, and the chief told the other women slaves that the punishment the woman had received should be a warning to them and make them work harder.
The head slave washed the wounds on his wife’s back, and put some mashed-up leaves on the sore places to stop the bleeding and heal the cuts. When he saw what a terrible flogging his wife had received, his heart was full of rage against Chief Erim, so that very night he went to every slave, and they all agreed to kill their master. The head slave then went to a clever poisoner who lived not far away, and bought two powerful ju-jus; one would give the person against whom the ju-ju was made the “dry cough” (consumption), and the other would give him paralysis. He then hid the ju-jus, as they had decided to wait some time after the woman had been flogged before they gave the poison to the chief, so that no suspicion should be attached to them of having poisoned their master. All the slaves went about their work as usual until the time arrived for the new yams to be dug, at which season it was customary for the people to give presents to their chiefs. The head slave then went into the bush and made a calabash of strong tombo. He then called Chief Erim’s name, and having put the two ju-jus into the tombo, told the ju-ju to kill Chief Erim and not to harm anyone else. Having bought twenty-five yams and one cock, he took them, together with the calabash of tombo, and gave them to Chief Erim as his present. The chief thanked him for his dash, and told his small boy to pour out the tombo. The first glass was given to the head slave, who had brought the tombo, and he threw it on the ground, asking Ossorwor (God) to bless Chief Erim with plenty of wealth and long life. The “pourer-out” drank the second glass, and Chief Erim drank the next, the tombo was then passed round until it was finished, but the head slave poured the last glass, which had the remains of the poison in it, on the ground in front of the ju-ju, which was in the middle of the compound; this he did when the Chief Erim’s back was turned so that he could not see.
About a month afterwards the ju-ju began to work, and Chief Erim felt sick; he coughed all day, and one side became useless so that he could not walk. He wanted to go to the ju-ju man to ask him what was the cause of his sickness, but being unable to move about he sent for his head slave and told him to go to the ju-ju man and tell him to come to his house so that he could consult him.
When the head slave came, he said to Chief Erim, “I have been your slave ever since I was a small boy. Surely you can trust me. Let me go and consult the ju-ju man on your behalf, and he will tell me what you should do in order to get well again. You have only to give me your loin-cloth, and then when he has seen it he will know what is the matter with you after he has cast lots.”
Chief Erim agreed to this, and told his head slave to take two boxes of rods and some fowls as a present to the ju-ju man. The head slave kept the fowls and rods for himself, and did not go near the ju-ju man, but the next day he went to his master and said that he had consulted the ju-ju man, who had said that the chief’s life was in danger, and that he had been poisoned by his Okuni wife, who wanted her son to inherit her husband’s property. If Chief Erim wanted to get better, he should at once send the wife and her son to Okuni, as they were both witches, and that in three months’ time he would be quite well again. The ju-ju man also said that if it had not been for the small ju-ju in the middle of Chief Erim’s compound, who had been fighting the witches for him, he would have been dead long before. The chief should therefore make a sacrifice of a white cock and a goat to the ju-ju for his help.
Chief Erim then told his wife to go back to Okuni and take her son with her. He also told the head slave to sacrifice the white cock and the goat to the ju-ju. This was done, but instead of getting better, chief Erim died in less than a month, and his son Oga Erim inherited his father’s property.
When the chiefs of Inkum heard of the disease which Chief Erim had died from, they made an order that the body should be buried in a deep grave in the bush, that the funeral should not be kept as usual, and that no one was to mourn for the dead chief, as the sickness he had died from was a very dangerous one, and if anyone cried for him they would get the disease. The chief’s body was therefore buried without any of the customary funeral rites, which saved Oga Erim a large amount of money.
It did not take the slaves long to realize that they were very little better off for the death of their late master, as Oga Erim carried on much in the same way as his father had. The first woman slave who failed to bring her twelve cakes of camwood was given forty lashes instead of fifty, but Oga Erim said that he was young yet, but that as he got older he would be much more severe and punish the people far more cruelly than his father had ever done, as he intended to be very wealthy, and they would have to work much harder than they had done during his father’s lifetime unless they wished to be badly punished.
One day when he was vexed with a slave, he tied him up to a tree and led the driver ants to him, so that he died in great agony. After a time things became so bad that the slaves decided that they must kill Oga Erim, but they did not like to do so at once, as they thought that the Inkum people might suspect them, in which case they would be tortured in many different ways, so they resolved to wait two years before they revenged themselves upon their cruel master.
As the time went on Oga Erim became harder on his people, and some of the slaves were flogged and tortured almost every day; he seemed to take great delight in their sufferings, and spent much time in devising new forms of torture.
When Chief Erim had been dead two years, the head slave called all the other slaves together, and said that the time had arrived when Oga Erim must die, as he did not think that they would be suspected if they were careful. The slaves then discussed the best way to kill Oga Erim. One of them said, “Let us make him blind in both eyes,” but the others would not agree, and said he should be killed at once, as if he were only blind he would know what was going on and would still be able to punish them. At last it was decided to poison Oga Erim, so the slaves brought a very strong poison made from the horns of a ram and some of the hair from the mane cut into small pieces. They then called Oga Erim’s name and told the ju-ju to kill him and not to harm anyone else. The poison was then placed in Oga Erim’s food and a few hours after he had eaten it he began to vomit and spit blood; so when the sun was going down he called for the head slave and asked him to get him some medicine to cure him. The slave advised his master to leave the compound and go to his farm-house until he got well, as he thought that someone must have put a ju-ju in the ground where he was lying, which caused him to be sick. As Oga Erim was unable to walk, the head slave ordered four slaves to carry their master to his farm. In the middle of the night Oga Erim died in great pain, and one of the slaves at once ran off and told the head slave what had happened. He told all the slaves to be quiet and not to tell anyone until he gave them permission, as the head slave knew that directly Odoggha Eyu heard of his brother’s death he would at once come to Inkum to keep the funeral and take all the goods which were formerly his father’s. The head slave then went to the body of Oga Erim and got the keys of the houses where all the rods and other valuables were kept. When he got back to the town, he opened the store where all the rods were, and having called all the slaves together, he divided the rods amongst them all, and then locked the door again. He then went to the house where Oga Erim kept his walking-sticks, brass pans, pots and other expensive articles, and having opened the door, divided these things up and locked the door. After this the head slave divided up the cows, goats, sheep, pigs and fowls between them all, but he left five cows in the compound so that the funeral might be properly kept. He then told some of the slaves to carry their master’s body to the town, but before this was done he warned all the slaves to be very careful not to keep any of their dead master’s property in their own houses, as they might be accused of stealing, so he advised them all to send their things to their different friends’ houses where they could be kept for them without anyone knowing. A messenger was then sent to Odoggha Eyu to tell him that his brother was dead. The chiefs were also informed, and many people came to mourn, the women throwing themselves on the ground weeping.
When Odoggha Eyu heard that his brother Oga was dead, he called his company together to go with him to Inkum, and remembering how wealthy his father had been, he hired many slaves to carry the property back to Okuni. He also borrowed a large number of rods to provide a big feast at the funeral and to give his friends and the slaves he brought with him plenty to eat and drink.
When Odoggha Eyu arrived at Inkum, he asked the head slave to hand the keys of his brother’s house to him, so that he could satisfy himself that everything was in order. But the head slave told him that it was the custom for him to bury the dead body first, and that after the feast the keys would be handed over; he also added that everything in the house was as his brother Oga had left it, and that all the doors were locked. Odaggha Eyu then bought five slaves, promising to pay for them after the funeral; these slaves he killed and placed in the grave with his brother. The five cows which remained in the compound were also killed, and their heads were put in the grave. The bodies of the cows were given to the people to eat. Many men and women came to the funeral, as it was known that Oga Erim was rich, and Odoggha Eyu provided food and drink for them all, and the feasting, dancing and singing was continued for five days and nights. The grave was then filled in and beaten down, and the outside was polished. The head slave then handed the keys to Odoggha Eyu, who went first of all to the house where his father always kept his rods; when he opened the door and went inside there were no rods to be seen. Odoggha Eyu stood there silent for some time, wondering what had become of all his father’s wealth and how he could manage to pay all the debts he had incurred on account of the funeral expenses. At last he asked the head slave what had become of all the rods which his father formerly possessed, and whether his brother had spent them all. The slave replied that he had received nothing himself, but suggested that the spirit of his late father had taken all the rods away.
After this Odoggha Eyu sent to the house where the brass pans, jugs, plates and other valuables used to be kept, and opened the door, only to find that it was as empty as the other house. Then he threw the keys down on the ground in despair and went away. He told his company what had happened, and advised them to go home at once, as he was unable to provide any more food and drink for them. Then the owners of the five slaves who had been killed went to him and demanded payment, and the other people to whom he owed money worried him all day, until at last he resolved to kill himself rather than go home in shame and debt. Odoggha Eyu then asked where his father was buried, and when he was shown the place he went back to the house and sat down, waiting until it became dark. That night he got a rope and hanged himself on the branch of a tree overhanging his father’s grave. His debtors, who were looking everywhere for him, could not find him, and thought he must have run away, but two days later his dead body was discovered hanging to the tree.
Ever since that time it has been a custom, whenever a person is absent when a sick relative dies and wishes to bury him, he first of all finds out how much property there is before he buys things for the funeral, so as to be quite certain that there will be enough to pay for all the expenses of the burial. If a man was poor, very few people would attend the funeral, but if he were rich many people would come. Hence the saying, “A small ju-ju has a small sacrifice, and a big ju-ju has a big sacrifice.”
Told by Abassi of Inkum.—[1.8.7.]