How Leopard Got His Spots: Two Stories
Two competing aetiologies of the leopard's markings printed consecutively by one collector, one in which Akiti the hunter's arrows leave dark marks on an invulnerable leopard, and one in which a bathing woman throws her soapy loofah at him.
Two different explanation about wetin make leopard get mark for body, na im M. I. Ogumefu print one after di other for 1929, and e introduce di second one as "another story" . For di first one, leopard chop one juju root wey make am no fit get wound, and di poison arrow wey Akiti di hunter shoot am come leave dark mark for anywhere e hit without wounding am. For di second one, leopard wey dey waka round bathroom hut collect sponge wey soap dey inside for face, and na so e body come mark till today.
Dem put di two together because say dem follow each other for one collection na di main thing wey make sense. alo-why-the-tortoise-shell-is-marked explain di same point well well wit Parkinson three story about where shell come from: di tradition allow different stories wey dey drag meaning wit each other, and person wey dey collect story fit print two without trying to make dem agree.
Di first story
One time, leopard colour be like lion own, and e no get any dark mark for body . But Akiti, di hunter wey get name, dey pursue am, and leopard dey fear say e fit kill am.
To prevent this one, e chop di root of one juju plant, wey make am say any weapon wey di hunter use no fit wound am .
Small time after, Akiti see am as e dey pass inside thick bush for forest, and even though e shoot im poison arrows, di leopard escape .
But anywhere each arrow hit am, dark mark come appear there . And now, even though hunters still dey pursue am, na once in a while dem dey catch am, but im body don cover wit mark of di arrows, so as e dey waka inside trees, e body come resemble where sun and shade mix together.
Di second story
According to another story, leopard body dark well well before .
One day, e dey waka up and down for one fine compound, wen e come see one small hut wey one woman dey take bath inside . Di leopard waka round and round di hut, dey wait for chance make e jump enter di hut catch wetin e wan chop, because e dey hungry.
But as e pass di entrance of di hut, di woman see am, and as fear catch am, she shout, come stone am wit her bath sponge wey soap full inside .
Dem no put di Yorùbá. Na only English Ogumefu take print this couplet .
Dem no provide any Yorùbá text for di source to explain.
She flung it at him and he fled, But to this day the Leopard still Is flecked with soap from foot to head!
Translator: M. I. Ogumefu
No Yorùbá remain and nothing dey reconstructed. Na one of only two verse passage wey Ogumefu print anywhere for di material wey dem use for this section, and na English rhyme verse: "fled" wit "head," wey be translator or adapter rhyme, no be evidence of di Yorùbá. Whether e translate chorus wey dem sing, and if na so wetin di Yorùbá be, person no fit know. Di talk for preface say di songs for this stories "cannot here be given in full" apply here, and alo-ogumefu-1929-as-a-source explain di problem.
Wetin di two story do differently
Di first story na hunter tale and di second one na house joke, and dem disagree for almost everything.
Di colour wey leopard get originally. E resemble lion colour without any dark mark for di first one; e body dark well well for di second one. Di two no fit be true together, and Ogumefu no even try to make dem agree.
Wetin di marks be. Na places wey arrow strike body wey weapon no fit enter for di first one; na soap for di second one.
Wetin di leopard be. For di first one, na animal wey dem dey hunt wey take sensible step escape, and di story dey im side: dem "rarely caught" am, and di last picture na praise, as im markings dey make am look "exactly like the mingling of the sun and shadow" inside trees. For di second one, na animal wey wan chop person dey round hut wey woman dey bath, and sponge wey she throw drive am comot make am look like mumu.
Where di marks come from according to moral meaning. Di first one make dem be record of survival, proof of every arrow wey fail. Di second one make dem be record of shame.
Di corpus note for analysis say di pairing give leopard di two character wey tradition get for am, di strong forest animal wey person no fit kill and di greedy disturbance for compound, and say na di same two-way treatment owe-tortoise-ijapa-trickster document for Ìjàpá for inside proverb record. None of di two na di correct leopard.
Di last point for di first story dey important to look on im own, because na di only explanation for this section wey explain mark as camouflage to hide. Arrows wey no kill am leave pattern wey come make am hard to see now, so di failed attempt to kill am na wetin dey protect am from di next one. Dat idea fine pass wetin di story itself even need, and dem state am for just one clause.
Akiti di hunter
Akiti appear here as "the renowned hunter," wey dem call im name without introduction, wey show say na person wey dem expect di audience to know already. Ogumefu collection get separate story about am for pp. 3-5 , and this compiler never read am, so e no talk anything more about di character.
E presence dey important to write down because human main characters wey dem give name scarce well well for inside di material wey this section fit find. alo-the-hunter-and-the-ape-with-sixteen-tails talk about di only other hunter story wey dey, from another collector, wey di hunter no get name. Di corpus note say hunter cycle fit dey inside di Yorùbá-language collections wey e no fit get, and e no claim pass dat.
Di hunter as character for Yorùbá oral literature dey well treated for yoruba-ijala, as hunters' chant be genre on im own wit im own performers.
Variants
This two na di variant pair on dem own, and this compiler no find any third explanation. Dem no find any Yorùbá-language version of any of di two, and none of dem get second collector.
Performance context
Evening telling, wey dem treat for yoruba-alo. Di two of dem short. Di second one end with rhymed couplet, wey suppose be di part wey people go remember pass for performance and na im likely be di part wey dem fit sing or chant take close am, even though di source no talk so.
Di decision wey Ogumefu take print dem one after di other, with "according to another story" as di join, fit show how she take receive dem or e fit be editorial arrangement. Di corpus record di arrangement and e no deduce any performance practice from am.