Olúrónbí and the Ìrókò
The tale of a woman who promises her first child to the spirit of the ìrókò tree in exchange for fertility, cannot pay, and is turned into a bird until her husband carves a wooden child to deceive the tree.
Di person wey collect am
Di source wey dem check no name any collector.
How dem dey perform am
Evening telling, treated in `yoruba-alo`; the musical setting of Omolaye's recordings, in compound duple metre on a hemitonic pentatonic scale with staff notation, is described in his article. Note that this song is in solo-and-chorus form rather than strict call-and-response: Omolaye classifies it as the antiphonal type where the lead raises the song and the chorus answers, as against the call-and-response type used in the three Ìjàpá tales he prints.
Di tale for short
This is the tale of Olúrónbí, a wood-carver's wife who joins the women of her village in begging the spirit of the ìrókò tree for children, and who promises, alone among them, her first child. The child is born and is the most beautiful of all, and she cannot give it up. It is among the best-known Yorùbá tales still in circulation, surviving as a children's song independent of the narrative. Two versions are set out here, and they differ in a way worth reading closely: an English narrative recorded by M. I. Ogumefu in 1929 that ends with the child recovered, and a Yorùbá song text published in a peer-reviewed article in 2023 from a named informant, where the tale ends with the child lost.
Di tale
In a certain village no children had been born for many years, and the people were greatly distressed. At last all the women of the village went together into the forest, to the magic tree, the ìrókò, and implored the spirit of the tree to help them. The Ìrókò-man asked what gifts they would bring if he consented to help them, and the women eagerly promised him corn, yams, fruit, goats and sheep. But Olúrónbí, the young wife of a wood-carver, promised to bring her first child. In due course children came to the village, and the most beautiful of all was the one born to Olúrónbí. She and her husband so greatly loved their child that they could not consent to give it up to the Ìrókò-man. The other women took their promised gifts of corn, yams, fruit, goats and sheep; but Olúrónbí took nothing to propitiate the tree. Alas, one day as Olúrónbí passed through the forest, the Ìrókò-man seized her and changed her into a small brown bird, which sat on the branches of the tree and plaintively sang: Original The Yorùbá is not given. Ogumefu prints the song in English only. Literal gloss Not available; Yorùbá text not provided in source. Idiomatic English (as printed) Translator: M. I. Ogumefu > One promised a sheep, > One promised a goat, > One promised fruit, > But Oluronbi promised her child. When the wood-carver heard the bird's song, he realised what had happened, and tried to find some means of regaining his wife. After thinking for many days, he began to carve a large wooden doll, like a real child in size and appearance, and with a small gold chain round its neck. Covering it with a beautiful native cloth, he laid it at the foot of the tree. The Ìrókò-man thought this was Olúrónbí's child, so he transformed the little bird once more into a woman and snatched up the child into the branches. Olúrónbí joyfully returned home, and was careful never to stray into the forest again.
Di song
Original
Solo: Oníkálukú n jèjé ewúré, ewúré, ewúré, Oníkálukú n jèjé àgùntàn, àgùntàn bòlòjò Olúrónbí n jèjé omo rè, omo rè Apónbíepo Olúrónbí oo Chorus: Janin - janin, Ìrókò janin-janin Solo: Olúrónbí oo Chorus: Janin - janin, Ìrókò janin-janin
Word-for-word gloss
- Oníkálukú each-person n jèjé is vowing ewúré a-goat
- àgùntàn bòlòjò a-sheep, well-fed
- Olúrónbí n jèjé omo rè Olúrónbí is vowing her child, Apónbíepo the-one-red-as-palm-oil (the child's name)
- Janin-janin an ideophone; Omolaye renders it "mighty-mighty"
- Ìrókò the ìrókò tree
Idiomatic English
Translator: Bamidele Omolaye Solo: Each person vows a goat! goat! goat! Each person vows sheep, a well-fed sheep, Olúrónbí vows her child, her child Apónbíepo Olúrónbí oo Chorus: Mighty-mighty Ìrókò tree, mighty mighty Solo: Olúrónbí oo Chorus: Mighty-mighty Ìrókò tree, mighty mighty
Di source wey dem check no name any collector.
Di different versions
Beyond the two above, the tale appears in the inventory of `yorubatales.com` as "Olurombi", and a children's book by Lady Kofo Ademola, Olurombi, is recorded in that site's bibliography (Mudhut Books / Malthouse Press / Gilspar, 1994). Neither has been consulted by this compiler and no text is drawn from either.