How Olomuroro Made Children Thin

How Olomuroro Made Children Thin

Olómúroro was a greedy monster who preyed on little children. He was not a good looking creature but children did not seem scared of him because he sang so sweetly. He would approach the children with song and then take their food away.

Tojo was one of the little children that Olómúroro preyed upon. Toyo?s father was a farmer and his mother was a trader. Every morning as soon as the first cock crowed, Tojo?s father would leave for the farm. Tojo?s mother would make him some akara for breakfast and some fufu and egusi soup for lunch before leaving for the market where she sold produce from their farm.

Every morning, as Tojo got ready to eat his breakfast, Olómúroro would appear singing and Tojo would respond:

Olómúroro má a wolè
Téré nò nò jantakò

Olómúroro, welcome (watch your step)

Olómúroro would ask:
Ìyá re nkó?
Téré nò nò jantakò

Where is your mother?

Tojo would answer:
I`yá mi òrájà lo sójà
Téré nò nò jantakò

My mother the trader has gone to the market

Olómúroro would ask:
Bàbá re nkó?
Téré nò nò jantakò

Where is your father?

The boy, Tojo would answer:
Bàbá mi òlókò lo sókò
Téré nò nò jantakò

My father the farmer has gone to the farm

The song would continue with Olómúroro asking the boy where his food was and Tojo would show the creature where his mother kept his breakfast and lunch.

Olómúroro would then gobble up all of Tojo?s food leaving not even a tiny bit for Tojo to eat.

The days went by and Tojo got thinner and thinner. His parents noticed and they were worried. Tojo looked like he needed some more food so his mother increased the number of akara she made him for breakfast. She also gave him a bigger bowl of fufu and egusi for lunch, but still Tojo got thinner. The parents were baffled because everyday, they found Tojo?s breakfast and lunch bowls licked clean and yet Tojo was getting thinner. If Tojo got any thinner, he would become very sick.

By now, the parents suspected something else was eating Tojo?s food and they needed to put a stop to it. The following morning, Tojo?s mother put his food at the top of a high shelf where Tojo could not reach it and she went to the market as usual. Tojo?s father too picked his cutlass and hoe and set out for the farm. But this time, he turned back home to hide in a place where he could watch Tojo and the bowls at the top of the shelf.

Olómúroro arrived as usual and Tojo?s father watched the exchange between Olómúroro and Tojo.

This time when Olómúroro asked Tojo where his food was, he pointed to the top of the shelf. Olómúroro asked Tojo to step on a stool to get the bowls of food. But Tojo still could not reach the bowls. Olómúroro asked him to use a long stick to get the bowls so Tojo got a long stick and poked at the bowls. The bowls came clattering down and shattered on the floor.

As Olómúroro bent his head down to lick the food off the floor, Tojo?s father leapt out with his cutlass and killed Olómúroro. That was how hundreds of children who had been getting thin mysteriously started to grow and get chubby again.