A Bird Steals Iyawos Baby
There was a man who had two wives. The senior wife was called the Iyale while the junior wife was called the Iyawo. The senior wife, the Iyale was very mean to the Iyawo. She made life very hard for the Iyawo such that the Iyawo never had enough food to feed her children or nice clothes to wear. The nicer the Iyawo was, the meaner the Iyale became.
One day, the junior wife, the Iyawo needed to get some firewood. Since the Iyale would not help her watch her baby she had to take her baby into the forest with her. She placed her baby under a tall tree while she went to gather some wood.
She finished gathering her firewood and returned to get her baby but the baby was gone. ?Yey!? she cried. ?Ta lo gbo mo mi o?, ?Who took my baby?? she screamed. She ran back and forth looking for her baby, crying and yelling but couldn?t find her baby anywhere.
Then she looked up, and she saw a bird perched high up in the tree, holding her baby in its clutches. ?You bird up in tree, give me back my baby? she called to the bird. The bird threw down a bundle and the Iyawo quickly ran to get it. But it was not her baby. It was a bag of coral beads.
She once again appealed to the bird ?I want my baby, what will I do with coral beads? Please give me back my baby!?. The bird sang to her saying that corals are worth more than her baby but the Iyawo would not hear of this. She insisted on her baby.
The bird threw down another bundle and the Iyawo ran to get it. But again, it was not her baby, it was a bag of gold. She cried to the bird ?I want my baby, what will I do with gold? Please give me back my baby!?
This scene was repeated again with the bird throwing down precious stones, but the Iyawo refused to take these in place of her baby.
Finally, the bird flew down and placed the baby on the ground. ?Here?s your baby. And as you have proven not to be a greedy person, you can have all that I have offered you?. Now the Iyawo had not only her baby, but also the bag of corals, the bag of gold and the precious stones.
When the Iyale saw her come home with all these items, she demanded to know how the Iyawo had come into possession of such expensive goods. The Iyawo told her story and the Iyale decided to get her own goods too since she could not be satisfied with sharing these with the Iyawo. She needed to have more than the Iyawo did.
The following morning, the mean senior wife, the Iyale, took her baby into the forest and laid the baby under the same tall tree from which the Iyawo?s baby had been taken. Then she went away to make as if she was gathering firewood. When she got back, her baby was gone.
She looked up and saw her baby in the clutches of the bird perched high up on the tree. ?Give me corals, gold and precious stones. And give me back my baby?, she called to the bird?. The bird threw down a bundle. The Iyale eagerly ran towards this bundle, but instead of coral beads or gold or precious stones, she found stones.
?You stupid bird, give me corals, gold and precious stones. And give me back my baby? she called to the bird again. This time the bird threw down a bag of rubbish. The Iyale screamed at the bird demanding corals, gold and precious stones. But this time, the bird threw down a bag containing the bones of the Iyale?s baby.