Ìjàpá and the Singing Drum
A tortoise tale in which Ìjàpá rescues a drowning hunter's son on condition of enslaving him, hides him inside a drum that appears to sing by itself, and loses him when he drinks himself unconscious at a dance.
Dis na story about Ìjàpá di tortoise, one hunter pikin wey im name na Sigo wey fall enter inside gully wey flood full, and one drum wey dey sing. Ìjàpá pull Sigo komot on top condition say Sigo go become im slave, den e hide am inside one big drum and dey waka round di town dey show people wonder instrument wey dey sing im own words. E lose everything for di last performance bikos e no fit stop to dey chop and drink. Na English language A. B. Ellis take record dis story for 1894 , and di person wey compile dis work no know any Yorùbá original version of am.
For di call-and-response opening wey dey start every àlọ́, and how dem divide di genre enter àlọ́ àpamọ̀ and àlọ́ àpagbè, see yoruba-alo. Dis story get im own opening formula wey dem discuss for under, wey different from di Ààlọ́ o / Ààlọ̀ exchange.
How di storyteller dey open am
Ellis record say person wey dey tell story na akpalo (for modern orthography apàlọ̀, di person wey dey do di àlọ́), say professional storyteller wey dey travel na akpalo kpatita, say e dey use drum, and say e dey take shout open di story say "My alo is about so-and-so" . Every story inside im collection dey start like dat, and dis particular one open say:
My alo is something about a woman named Olu.
Na only English Ellis take print dis one and e no give any Yorùbá for di formula . Dis one na opening wey dey mention di subject instead of di tonal call-and-response pair wey dem treat for yoruba-alo, and di two no be option for each other: di Ààlọ́ o / Ààlọ̀ exchange dey show say story wan start, while dis line dey announce wetin di story talk about. Whether Ellis storytellers self use di call-and-response frame and e just no record am, person no fit know from im text, and di record keep quiet on top dat matter.
Di story
Olu get one pikin wey im name na Sigo, and Sigo decide say e wan become hunter. Im papa give am horse and im mama give am sheep, and dem tell am make e go hunt. E carry im bow and arrows, climb horse, ride enter bush, waka go far until e reach where animals dey stay.
Den everywhere dark and rain start to fall heavy-heavy, so tey di flood carry Sigo enter inside one deep gully. E no fit climb komot, and e stay there dey cry.
When di rain stop, Ìjàpá pass there, as e always dey find opportunity. Sigo stretch im neck go up reach di edge of di gully and call am. Ìjàpá bend down look am from di edge and ask wetin e dey do for down there. Sigo talk say, Flood wash me enter here.
Ìjàpá ask say, Wetin you go give me if I pull you komot? Sigo talk say, I go be your slave. Ìjàpá talk say, E dey alright.
E climb go down, carry Sigo komot, den tell am di plan: I dey go make one big drum, and I go put you inside am. When we reach any house and I start to play, make sure say you sing well. Sigo understand.
When e reach im town, Ìjàpá go meet di king and brag about how im drum take get fine sound. Di king command am say make e bring am come beat for im front. Ìjàpá talk say, E dey alright, send message make dem call whole town come di dance. Di king send word round di town, and when everybody don gather, e call di tortoise. Ìjàpá enter middle of di crowd, take stick hit di drum, and di drum begin sing.
Dem no give di Yorùbá. Na only English Ellis take print di song .
No Yorùbá text wey dey preserved inside source .
Idiomatic English Translator: A. B. Ellis
Sigo na Olu pikin; Ah! make una save me. Im mama give am sheep, tell am make e go hunt; Ah! make una save me. Im papa give am horse, tell am make e go hunt; Ah! make una save me. Make una listen to wetin I dey talk. E go where elephant dey stay; Ah! make una save me. Make una listen to wetin I dey talk. E go where buffalo dey hide; Ah! make una save me. Di flood of di rain wash am enter di pit; Ah! make una save me. Na so e take become Tortoise slave; Ah! make una save me.
No Yorùbá text remain for Ellis book for dis song, so di three-layer treatment wey di corpus normally dey require no fit dey here, and nothing suppose dey reconstructed. Wetin person fit bring out na one wordplay wey Ellis mark by imself for footnote: "There is perhaps some pun in this. Olu means a clapper, or anything to strike with, and ilu means a drum" . If dat reading correct, di first line of di song dey do double work, e dey call Sigo mama name and e dey call di drumstick wey dey hit di drum as di song dey go on. Na dis kind device di corpus dey document for all Yorùbá verbal art, where na only tone separate name and common noun, and na exactly wetin translation enter English dey destroy. Ellis mark im own reading say e no too sure as e use "perhaps," and dem reproduce am here with dat same uncertainty intact.
People cover mouth with hand bikos wonder catch dem. Di king tell am make e beat am again, and dem shout for di wonder wey dem see. After dat, Ìjàpá go home.
E no tey, di senior women for di compound where Sigo come from come tell Ìjàpá make e come beat im drum for one dance wey dem get. E say e very good, and e go. When e reach there, dem prepare Indian corn gruel (ọ̀kà, for Ellis spelling oka) and buy rum, come tell am make e play. E beat di drum and di drum sing dat same song again.
Den dem give Ìjàpá food, and e chop. Dem give am rum, and e drink, kon drunk, and sleep off.
As e dey sleep, dem carry im drum, loose di skin on top di drum, pull Sigo komot, kon cover di skin back exactly as e dey before.
When Ìjàpá wake up, e carry im drum and start to beat am. One crow begin cry inside am. E beat am harder and faster, and di crow cry dey loud go up. And e shout with all im power:
Why you no give di drum something make e chop when you dey chop? Why you no give di drum small rum when you dey drink?
E go house, loose di skin on top di drum, and see crow inside.
Wetin di story dey do
Di way di thing work na to change one thing put another, and dem arrange am so well dat di audience go see am coming before Ìjàpá go notice. Dem don establish di drum across two performances say na instrument wey dey talk true: e call Sigo name, im parents, di gifts, di flood, and how dem take enslave am. When dem cover di drum back with crow inside, di instrument still keep di way e look but e don lose wetin dey inside, and Ìjàpá continue to dey beat am for public before people, still dey expect say e go talk.
Di last cry wey e cry na both di joke and di judgement at di same time. As e dey beat am harder, e dey shout abuse di drum say dem no feed am and dem no give am rum. Wetin e talk about di cause correct, but every oda thing wrong: truly dem no feed di drum, because na im chop and drink di share wey be for di drum, and di thing wey dey inside wey need food na person wey e hold as slave. E spot im own longthroat but e mistake call am di drum complain, and na dat mistake be where di comedy dey.
Ellis notice dis pattern across im six tortoise tales and e talk am for one footnote for di last one:
In this tale, Tortoise's usual cunning fails him. It is to be noted that, whenever he is shown as being over-reached or unsuccessful, the want of success is due to greediness .
E mention dis tale as im first example, "where he eats and drinks till he falls asleep, so that Sigo is rescued from the drum" . Dat na wetin collector observe for 1894 from im own material, and e make sense to record am like dat: no be person wey smart pass am defeat tortoise but na im own appetite, wey be di regular thing across di cycle wey dem describe for yoruba-alo and wey dey show for di proverb record wey dem collect for owe-tortoise-ijapa-trickster.
Make una also note who defeat am. No be king, no be stronger animal, but na di women for di house wey Sigo belong to, wey give am plenty food and rum and open di drum while e dey sleep. Di way dem take rescue am na quiet house matter, and e work because dem give di trickster exactly wetin e want.
Variants
Di record wey dem check for dis file no keep any Yorùbá-language variant of dis story and no second version wey dem collect dey, so person no fit talk anything about how dem take tell am for oda places. Ellis publish am for 1894 from source wey e no name, and di corpus no get second proof to put beside am.
Dis style of singer wey hide inside container no be only dis story get am for West African narrative, but dis compiler never check any specific Yorùbá parallel and e no claim say any dey.
On this source
Ellis na British colonial military officer, and im book belong to colonial ethnographic literature pass wetin concern Yorùbá scholarship. Im introductory chapter rank di people wey e study into "stages of progress" and e take Yorùbá religion as evolutionary stage . Dat kind framing na product of di time e write am and dem no use am anywhere for dis corpus. Di story texts demsef na different matter: dem dey among di earliest published Yorùbá folktale narratives wey dey available, dem give dem in full length instead of summary, and Ellis footnotes keep linguistic detail (di wordplay on olu and ilu, di meaning of ekuru, di observation about greed) wey ordinary retelling for don lose. alo-ellis-1894-as-a-source explain how dis corpus take use am and where carefulness apply.
Di confidence level for dis file dem mark am as medium instead of high because di story only exist here as one English translation by colonial-era collector wey no name who tell am di story, e no give any Yorùbá text, and e work for time wey transcription standard never reach wetin later Yorùbá scholarship come establish.
Performance context
Na evening dem dey tell am to people of different ages, wey dem treat fully for yoruba-alo. Ellis add one detail wey belong specifically to im time: di professional travelling storyteller, di akpalo kpatita, hold drum . For story wey di whole plot depend on drum wey dey sing, storyteller wey hold drum for hand no be by mistake, and di performance and di story for use di same object. Ellis no talk say dem beat di drum during dis particular storytelling, and dis observation na di compiler own conclusion from how Ellis describe di storyteller equipment, and dem mark am as analysis instead of recorded fact.