The Head Who Borrowed a Body
A tale from a country where the inhabitants are heads without bodies, in which one Head borrows a body, arms and legs to win a bride, and loses her when he returns them on the way home.
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A tale from a country where the inhabitants are heads without bodies, in which one Head borrows a body, arms and legs to win a bride, and loses her when he returns them on the way home.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Dis na di tori of one Head from one country where di pipo get head but dem no get body, wey secretly comot to see di world, borrow body from one old woman, borrow hand from one young man wey dey sleep, and borrow leg from one fisherman, win bride for dance, and lose her for road as dem dey go home wen e return all di borrowed parts. M. I. Ogumefu record am for English in 1929 .
Na di second half of di best-documented variant pair for inside dis section. Ellis record di same type of tori 35 years earlier with different frame and ending wey dark pass, as alo-adun-and-the-borrowed-body . Dem compare di two below.
One country dey where di pipo get head but dem no get body . Di Heads dey waka by jumping for ground, but dem no dey ever go far.
One of di Heads want see di world, so e comot secretly one morning .
Wen e don waka reach some distance, e see one old woman wey dey look comot from di door of her small house, and e ask weda she fit lend am body . Di woman gree and lend am di body of her slave.
Later, e reach where one young man dey sleep under tree, and e ask am weda e fit please lend am two hands, since e be like say e no dey use dem . Di young man gree, and di Head thank am and continue im journey.
Later still, e reach river bank where fishermen sit down dey sing and dey mend dia cone-shaped net . Di Head ask weda any of dem fit lend am two legs, since all of dem sit down and no dey waka. One of di fishermen gree, and di Head thank am and continue im journey.
But now e don get legs, hands and body, and so e appear like any normal man .
For evening, e reach one town and see young girls wey dey dance while di pipo wey dey watch throw money give di ones wey dem like . Di Head throw all im money give one of di dancers, and di girl admire im handsome body so tey she gree to marry am and go live with am for im own country.
Di next day, dem start dia journey. But wen dem reach di river bank, di stranger pull im legs and give dem back to di fisherman. Later dem reach di young man, wey still dey sleep under di tree, and di Head give am back im hands. Finally dem reach di small house, where di old woman stand dey watch, and na here di stranger give back di body.
Wen di bride see say her husband na just ordinary Head, fear catch her well well, and she run comot with all her power.
Now wey di Head no get body, hand or leg again, e no fit catch up with her, and na so e lose her forever.
Di way di thing work na say di deception dey scatter itself in reverse order, and di structure of di tori be like palindrome wey di audience fit feel say dey come. Body, hands, legs as e dey go; legs, hands, body as e dey come back. Each borrowing na small scene with di person wey lend am, and each return dey revisit di same lender for di exact opposite position. Dem no thief anything and nothing spoil: di Head just keep im word to three pipo, and as e keep am, e cost am im wife.
Wetin special, and wetin make dis version different from Ellis own, na say di Head no get evil mind. E ask politely, thank each person wey lend am thing, and return everything. Di reason wey e even give show say e get consideration in a funny way: e ask di sleeping young man for im hands "as he did not appear to be using them," and e ask di fishermen wey sit down for legs since "they were all sitting and not walking." Di tori present am as creature wey want see di world, go see am, and pipo like am.
Di corpus note as analysis say di joke and di warning dey point different directions here, and di two of dem na real. Di joke dey on di Head, wey no ever think say marriage go require am to keep di body. Di warning na for di bride, and dem deliver am clearly: she "so much admired his handsome form" and gree on top dat ground, inside one evening, after she don rush give di man wey throw all im money give her. Di fine form wey she admire na borrowed body and e must return am. owe-beauty-ugliness-appearance collect proverb material on appearance and weda person fit trust am, and owe-marriage-husbands-wives collect di material on how to choose.
Say di borrowed body include "the body of her slave" na something wey make sense to note instead of to just pass am. Di old woman lend person, and di tori no talk anything about am. owe-slavery-freedom-bondage treat di institution as e appear for inside di proverb record.
Dis tori and Ellis own Adun na di same tale-type wey different collectors record for 1894 and 1929, and to put dem side by side na di closest thing wey dis section do to show transmission.
Wetin remain di same. Suitor wey dem assemble from borrowed parts; woman wey im appearance win; journey wey dem reclaim di parts one by one as dem dey go; di woman discovery of wetin she actually marry.
Wetin different.
| Ellis 1894 | Ogumefu 1929 | |
|---|---|---|
| Point of view | Di woman own | Di Head own |
| Di suitor nature | Sinister, no explanation | Curious creature from country of Heads |
| How dem get di parts | Borrowed, no scene show am | Three scenes, each with polite request |
| Where dem take back di parts | For road wey dey go im house, na di owners take am | For road wey dey go home, na di Head return am himself |
| Di woman situation after | Captive inside di Head house | Free, dey run, dem no catch her |
| How she escape | Plan from babaláwo, akara inside Ìjàpá alarm horn | Her own legs |
| Ìjàpá | Dey present, as di Head watchman | Absent |
| Di woman name | Adun | Dem no name am |
| Tone | Horror with comic escape | Comedy with warning inside am |
Di corpus present di two and e no treat any of dem say na im be di correct version. As two collectors wey work on dia own, wey thirty-five years dey between dia work, record dis kind special plot device, e show clear evidence say di suitor wey borrow body parts na real and widespread Yorùbá tale-type. Di difference for tone and how di story end dey show anoda thing, wey be say people fit use dis type of story for different purpose: Ellis own na about woman wey trap and need help to comot, while Ogumefu own na about marriage wey dem do based on fake appearance and wey scatter dat same moment wey dem collect di appearance back.
Dis idea of person wey gather different parts take form im body still appear for dis section for di third way, for alo-the-feast-in-the-sky, where Ìjàpá make wings from feathers wey e collect one from each bird, and dem strip am comot one by one as di visitors dey comot. Di corpus note dis resemblance as story image wey dey repeat for Yorùbá, instead of to say e be connection between di stories.
Apart from Ellis version, dis compiler no see any oda collection of dis story, and no Yorùbá-language text dey. Di record wey dem check no talk anything about regional variation or any song.
Na for evening dem dey tell am, as dem explain for yoruba-alo. Dem no record any song, and since Ogumefu talk say im comot songs (alo-ogumefu-1929-as-a-source), di fact say song no dey here no mean say di story no get song at all. Wetin di story give person wey dey tell am na pattern wey dey repeat, three borrowing and three return, each one na short scene for place wey get name, wey be di kind shape wey narrator fit make long or make short as e like.
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