IV.—How Elili of Inkum died, and was Brought Back to Life Again.
Elili and Aikor were both Inkum women, the wives of Chief Nyip. They each had a female child by him.
Elili was the head wife and looked after the house, and for several years everything went well, until at last Elili became sick, and, after a short illness, died, and was buried.
Her daughter Oga was quite young when her mother died; her breasts were only just beginning to get round, and she had not been circumcised.
On Elili’s death Aikor took charge of the house, and cooked all the food. When it was time to hand the food round, Aikor always gave her daughter Nagor the best food, and only gave a very small portion to Oga, as she was a very jealous woman, and disliked Elili and her daughter.
This went on for some time, until one day Oga took the food which was not sufficient for her to her mother’s grave, and sat there crying and calling for her mother until the evening came, when she went home. The next day she went again and wept on the grave, until at last the grave opened, and she could see the top of her mother’s head. Oga continued to cry until sunset, and then she had to go home.
The following day, as soon as it was light, Oga started off again for the grave, and cried more, and by sundown her mother’s head and shoulders had appeared.
The day after, by constant crying, she induced her mother to come out as far as her waist, and, after a few more days of persistent weeping, she got her mother out altogether.
As it was dusk at the time, Oga led her mother to the back of the house, and hid her in a small room which was used only for storing yams and baskets. There she remained undiscovered for three days, and then Oga went to her father and said, “If you will give me a good present, I will show you my mother alive.”
Her father then gave her a piece of cloth, and Oga took him to the room where Elili was hiding, and said, “Here is my mother, who I have got alive again out of the grave.”
Chief Nyip was delighted to get his favourite wife back again, and they lived together as they had done before.
Very soon after the return of Elili from the grave, Aikor died, leaving her daughter Nagor in the charge of Elili and Oga. Elili then began to revenge herself upon Nagor for the way Oga had been treated. Nagor was made to do all the hard work of the house, and was also half starved.
This caused Nagor to go and cry on her mother’s grave. After crying bitterly for three days, her mother began to come out of the grave, and on the fourth day, when Aikor’s head and shoulders were showing above the ground, Nagor was so anxious to get her mother out altogether that she caught hold of her head and pulled with all her might, with the result that she pulled her mother’s head off her shoulders. Nagor then took the head and placed it in the same room where Oga had put her mother Elili.
She then called her father to come, but when he saw his dead wife’s head, he was very angry with Nagor, and told her to go and bury it again in the grave. Instead of doing as she was told, Nagor threw her mother’s head amongst the young palm oil trees. This caused them to bear fruit which resembled a woman’s head in shape and size, and even at the present time the young palm trees have bunches of fruit which look like a woman’s head with the plaits of hair all round.
Told by Abassi of Inkum.—[E.D., 27.5.10.]