Why the Ajao Remained Unburied
A very short aetiological tale in which the birds and the rats each disown a dead bat because he lacks their distinguishing feature, so he is left without relatives and without a funeral.
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A very short aetiological tale in which the birds and the rats each disown a dead bat because he lacks their distinguishing feature, so he is left without relatives and without a funeral.
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 shortest story for dis section, e reach about two hundred words, and na one of di ones wey dry pass. Di ajao, wey Ellis explain as "one kind flying-fox, or big bat" , die wit sickness and nobody care for am. Di neighbours call di birds make dem bury am, but di birds reject am because e no get feathers; dem call di rats, and di rats reject am because e no get tail. Since e no get family, dem leave am make e no get burial. Na A. B. Ellis record am for English for 1894 .
Ellis link am directly to one proverb inside im own collection, wey make am one of di few documented examples inside dis collection where dem print story and òwe together as pair by di same collector.
Di pesin wey tell Ellis di story start am say: "My alo na of di ajao" .
Di ajao lay down for im house dey sick well well, and nobody dey to take care of am. Di ajao die.
Di neighbours talk say: di ajao don die; we must call im relatives make dem come do di burial ceremony, and bury am. Den dem go call di birds, tell dem say: una relative don die.
Di birds come, and when dem see say na ajao die, dem talk say:
Dis one no be our family member. All our family dey wear feathers, and una see say ajao no get any. E no belong to us.
And dem comot.
Di neighbours reason di matter together. Dem talk say: di birds dey right. Ajao no get feathers, and e no belong to bird family. E must be from rat family. Den dem go call di rats, tell dem say: una relative don die.
Di rats come, but when dem see say na ajao die, dem self reject am. Dem talk say:
Dis one no be our family member. Everybody wey dey our family get tail, and una see say ajao no get.
And dem comot.
Na so ajao, since e no get family, remain without burial.
Ellis put footnote for di story say "See Proverb 179" , and im proverb 179 talk say:
Dem no give di Yorùbá. Ellis print im proverb collection for English translation.
Dem no provide am for source (na only English translation dem take record di text).
The ajao (flying-fox) is neither rat nor bird .
Translator: A. B. Ellis
Notes. Dis collection record di pairing instead of di Yorùbá, because Ellis no provide di Yorùbá. Wetin di pairing bring out na one relationship wey dis collection document in general terms for yoruba-owe-proverbs and owe-proverbs-about-proverbs-metalanguage: proverb na many times di small remaining part of one story, and na di story be wetin listener suppose know. Anybody wey don hear dis àlọ́ dey hear di whole burial matter inside five words. owe-tortoise-ijapa-trickster note di same relationship from di other side, where Owomoyela proverb notes keep small-small pieces of stories wey for don lost.
Di way di story work na test of definition wey dem apply two times, and dem arrange di story in a way dat di two results correct. Di birds dey right: ajao no get feathers. Di rats dey right: ajao no get tail. Neither of di groups lie, dem no show say any of dem wicked, and di neighbours wey call dem reason di matter well wit good mind, even agree say "di birds dey right" before dem try di rats. Everybody for dis story behave well, but corpse still remain for ground.
Na wetin make am dry pass normal sadness be dat. No villain dey wey pesin go blame for wetin happen, and no point dey where different choice for bring different result. Di story show say di problem dey inside di category system itself: creature wey fall between two kinds no get claim for any of dem, and na pesin wey get claim dem dey need for burial.
Dis collection note as analysis say di story dey specifically about burial, and say di choice no be by mistake. Yorùbá burial duty dey follow family line, and na people wey get di dead dey make dem ancestor; owe-death-mortality-ancestors gather di proverb material, and di bigger explanation dey inside di section about di dead. To remain without burial no be just say nobody cry for you, but na to dey outside di process wey pesin dey take turn to something after death. Di problem of ajao no be say e dey lonely. Na say nobody dey wey get business wit am.
If pesin read am against di compound structure wey dem treat for owe-family-lineage-compound, di story na statement about how plenty things depend on pesin to get family wey go claim am. Di two co-wives stories for dis section, alo-the-palm-oil-seller-and-the-goblin and alo-the-poor-woman-and-the-aranran-bird, both depend on di duties wey bind people together inside household, duties wey tight reach say to reject gift na war matter. Dis story show di other side of dat system: di pesin wey no household claim no dey get anything at all, even grave self.
Another reading dey available, wey dem mark as analysis. Di pesin wey tell Ellis di story start am by noting say di ajao lay down sick "and nobody dey to take care of am," wey show say di abandonment start before di death, no be after. Di burial scene den confirm wetin don already dey ground. For dat reading, di story no really dey about classification like dat, but about di fact say some creatures dey live and die without connection, and say di community dey only discover dis one when dem need pesin to send message to.
Dis compiler no find any Yorùbá-language version, no second collection, and no variant of dis story. Di record wey dem check no talk anything about am.
Di story of bat wey dey between two kinds na story type wey dey popular worldwide, especially for di Aesopic tradition where bat run from two sides inside war between birds and beasts, and both sides come reject am. Dis compiler notice di resemblance but no claim say connection dey between dem: di Yorùbá story no get war, no running away, and no fault from di bat side, and di main topic na burial, wey di Aesopic versions no get.
Na evening story, wey dem treat for yoruba-alo. Song no dey inside. With this kind length, the story na one single move wey dem deliver two times, and e go function for session as short piece between longer ones, or as the kind story wey dey set up proverb instead of the other way round.
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