IYAWO, IYALE AND THE BIRD

IYAWO, IYALE AND THE BIRD

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 was very mean to the Iyawo. She made life difficult for Iyawo such that the Iyawo never had enough food to feed her children or  provide nice clothes for them to wear. The nicer the Iyawo was, the meaner the Iyale became.

One day, Iyawo needed to get sme 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.And she began to sing:--

"Agbigbo gbomo mi ko mi o
, eiye igbo,
Alade ori igi
eiye igbo
"Agbigbo gbomo mi ko mi o
, eiye igbo,
“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 Iyawo would not hear of this. She insisted on her baby. And she began to sing:--
"Agbigbo gbomo mi ko mi o
, eiye igbo,
Alade ori igi
eiye igbo
"Agbigbo gbomo mi ko mi o
, eiye igbo,
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. She sang again.
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 Iyale saw her come home with all these items, she demanded to know how Iyawo had come into possession of such valuables. After Iyawo told her the story, Iyale decided to get her own goods too since she could not be satisfied with sharing these with  Iyawo. She needed to have more than the Iyawo did.
The following morning Iyale took her only child and carried it into the bush 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, the baby was gone. She looked up and saw her baby in the clutches
of the bird perched high up on the tree. She began to sing, as the young woman had done:--

“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 out again. This time the bird threw down a bag of gabbage.

Iyale became furious, she screamed at the bird demanding corals, gold and precious stones. Once more she got a bag from the bird containing the bones of her baby. Iyale was devastated, she realised she had been foolish and she wept back to community

Upon summon by the king, it was decided she should be shamed and banished