Eyamba I. of Calabar was a very powerful king. He
fought and conquered all the surrounding countries, killing all the old
men and women, but the able-bodied men and girls he caught and brought
back as slaves, and they worked on the farms until they died.
This king had two hundred wives, but none of them
had borne a son to him. His subjects, seeing that he was becoming an
old man, begged him to marry one of the spider's daughters, as they
always had plenty of children. But when the king saw the spider's
daughter he did not like her, as she was ugly, and the people said it
was because her mother had had so many children at the same time.
However, in order to please his people he married the ugly girl, and
placed her among his other wives, but they all complained because she
was so ugly, and said she could not live with them. The king,
therefore, built her a separate house for herself, where she was given
food and drink the same as the other wives. Every one jeered at her on
account of her ugliness; but she was not really ugly, but beautiful, as
she was born with two skins, and at her birth her mother was made to
promise that she should never remove the ugly skin until a certain time
arrived save only during the night, and that she must put it on again
before dawn.
Now the king's head wife knew this, and was very fearful
lest the king should find it out and fall in love with the spider's
daughter; so she went to a Ju Ju man and offered him two hundred rods
to make a potion that would make the king forget altogether that the
spider's daughter was his wife. This the Ju Ju man finally consented to
do, after much haggling over the price, for three hundred and fifty
rods; and he made up some "medicine," which the head wife mixed with
the king's food. For some months this had the effect of making the king
forget the spider's daughter, and he used to pass quite close to her
without recognising her in any way.
When four months had elapsed and
the king had not once sent for Adiaha (for that was the name of the
spider's daughter), she began to get tired, and went back to her
parents. Her father, the spider, then took her to another Ju Ju man,
who, by making spells and casting lots, very soon discovered that it
was the king's head wife who had made the Ju Ju and had enchanted the
king so that he would not look at Adiaha. He therefore told the spider
that Adiaha should give the king some medicine which he would prepare,
which would make the king remember her.
He prepared the medicine, for
which the spider had to pay a large sum of money; and that very day
Adiaha made a small dish of food, into which she had placed the
medicine, and presented it to the king. Directly he had eaten the dish
his eyes were opened and he recognised his wife, and told her to come
to him that very evening. So in the afternoon, being very joyful, she
went down to the river and washed, and when she returned she put on her
best cloth and went to the king's palace.
Directly it was dark and all the lights were out
she pulled off her ugly skin, and the king saw how beautiful she was,
and was very pleased with her; but when the cock crowed Adiaha pulled
on her ugly skin again, and went back to her own house.
This she did for four nights running, always taking
the ugly skin off in the dark, and leaving before daylight in the
morning. In course of time, to the great surprise of all the people,
and particularly of the king's two hundred wives, she gave birth to a
son; but what surprised them most of all was that only one son was
born, whereas her mother had always had a great many children at a
time, generally about fifty.
The king's head wife became more jealous than ever
when Adiaha had a son; so she went again to the Ju Ju man, and by
giving him a large present induced him to give her some medicine which
would make the king sick and forget his son. And the medicine would
then make the king go to the Ju Ju man, who would tell him that it was
his son who had made him sick, as he wanted to reign instead of his
father. The Ju Ju man would also tell the king that if he wanted to
recover he must throw his son away into the water.
And the king, when he had taken the medicine, went
to the Ju Ju man, who told him everything as had been arranged with the
head wife. But at first the king did not want to destroy his son. Then
his chief subjects begged him to throw his son away, and said that
perhaps in a year's time he might get another son. So the king at last
agreed, and threw his son into the river, at which the mother grieved
and cried bitterly.
Then the head wife went again to the Ju Ju man and
got more medicine, which made the king forget Adiaha for three years,
during which time she was in mourning for her son. She then returned to
her father, and he got some more medicine from his Ju Ju man, which
Adiaha gave to the king. And the king knew her and called her to him
again, and she lived with him as before. Now the Ju Ju who had helped
Adiaha's father, the spider, was a Water Ju Ju, and he was ready when
the king threw his son into the water, and saved his life and took him
home and kept him alive. And the boy grew up very strong.
After a time Adiaha gave birth to a daughter, and
her the jealous wife also persuaded the king to throw away. It took a
longer time to persuade him, but at last he agreed, and threw his
daughter into the water too, and forgot Adiaha again. But the Water Ju
Ju was ready again, and when he had saved the little girl, he thought
the time had arrived to punish the action of the jealous wife; so he
went about amongst the head young men and persuaded them to hold a
wrestling match in the market-place every week.
This was done, and the
Water Ju Ju told the king's son, who had become very strong, and was
very like to his father in appearance, that he should go and wrestle,
and that no one would be able to stand up before him. It was then
arranged that there should be a grand wrestling match, to which all the
strongest men in the country were invited, and the king promised to
attend with his head wife.
On the day of the match the Water Ju Ju told the
king's son that he need not be in the least afraid, and that his Ju Ju
was so powerful, that even the strongest and best wrestlers in the
country would not be able to stand up against him for even a few
minutes. All the people of the country came to see the great contest,
to the winner of which the king had promised to present prizes of cloth
and money, and all the strongest men came.
When they saw the king's
son, whom nobody knew, they laughed and said, "Who is this small boy?
He can have no chance against us." But when they came to wrestle, they
very soon found that they were no match for him. The boy was very
strong indeed, beautifully made and good to look upon, and all the
people were surprised to see how like he was to the king.
After wrestling for the greater part of the day the
king's son was declared the winner, having thrown every one who had
stood up against him; in fact, some of his opponents had been badly
hurt, and had their arms or ribs broken owing to the tremendous
strength of the boy. After the match was over the king presented him
with cloth and money, and invited him to dine with him in the evening.
The boy gladly accepted his father's invitation; and after he had had a
good wash in the river, put on his cloth and went up to the palace,
where he found the head chiefs of the country and some of the king's
most favoured wives.
They then sat down to their meal, and the king had
his own son, whom he did not know, sitting next to him. On the other
side of the boy sat the jealous wife, who had been the cause of all the
trouble. All through the dinner this woman did her best to make
friends with the boy, with whom she had fallen violently in love on
account of his beautiful appearance, his strength, and his being the
best wrestler in the country.
The woman thought to herself, "I will
have this boy as my husband, as my husband is now an old man and will
surely soon die." The boy, however, who was as wise as he was strong,
was quite aware of everything the jealous woman had done, and although
he pretended to be very flattered at the advances of the king's head
wife, he did not respond very readily, and went home as soon as he
could.
When he returned to the Water Ju Ju's house he told him everything that had happened, and the Water Ju Ju said—"As you are now in high favour with the king, you
must go to him tomorrow and beg a favour from him. The favour you will
ask is that all the country shall be called together, and that a
certain case shall be tried, and that when the case is finished, the
man or woman who is found to be in the wrong shall be killed by the
Egbos before all the people."
So the following morning the boy went to the king,
who readily granted his request, and at once sent all round the country
appointing a day for all the people to come in and hear the case
tried. Then the boy went back to the Water Ju Ju, who told him to go to
his mother and tell her who he was, and that when the day of the trial
arrived, she was to take off her ugly skin and appear in all her
beauty, for the time had come when she need no longer wear it. This the
son did.
When the day of trial arrived, Adiaha sat in a
corner of the square, and nobody recognised the beautiful stranger as
the spider's daughter. Her son then sat down next to her, and brought
his sister with him. Immediately his mother saw her she said— "This must be my daughter, whom I have long mourned as dead," and embraced her most affectionately.
The king and his head wife then arrived and sat on
their stones in the middle of the square, all the people saluting them
with the usual greetings. The king then addressed the people, and said
that he had called them together to hear a strong palaver at the
request of the young man who had been the victor of the wrestling, and
who had promised that if the case went against him he would offer up
his life to the Egbo.
The king also said that if, on the other hand,
the case was decided in the boy's favour, then the other party would be
killed, even though it were himself or one of his wives; whoever it
was would have to take his or her place on the killing-stone and have
their heads cut off by the Egbos. To this all the people agreed, and
said they would like to hear what the young man had to say. The young
man then walked round the square, and bowed to the king and the people,
and asked the question, "Am I not worthy to be the son of any chief in
the country?" And all the people answered "Yes!"
The boy then brought his sister out into the
middle, leading her by the hand. She was a beautiful girl and well
made. When every one had looked at her he said, "Is not my sister
worthy to be any chief's daughter?" And the people replied that she was
worthy of being any one's daughter, even the king's. Then he called
his mother Adiaha, and she came out, looking very beautiful with her
best cloth and beads on, and all the people cheered, as they had never
seen a finer woman.
The boy then asked them, "Is this woman worthy of
being the king's wife?" And a shout went up from every one present that
she would be a proper wife for the king, and looked as if she would be
the mother of plenty of fine healthy sons.
Then the boy pointed out the jealous woman who was
sitting next to the king, and told the people his story, how that his
mother, who had two skins, was the spider's daughter; how she had
married the king, and how the head wife was jealous and had made a bad
Ju Ju for the king, which made him forget his wife; how she had
persuaded the king to throw himself and his sister into the river,
which, as they all knew, had been done, but the Water Ju Ju had saved
both of them, and had brought them up.
Then the boy said: "I leave the king and all of you
people to judge my case. If I have done wrong, let me be killed on the
stone by the Egbos; if, on the other hand, the woman has done evil,
then let the Egbos deal with her as you may decide."
When the king knew that the wrestler was his son he
was very glad, and told the Egbos to take the jealous woman away, and
punish her in accordance with their laws. The Egbos decided that the
woman was a witch; so they took her into the forest and tied her up to a
stake, and gave her two hundred lashes with a whip made from
hippopotamus hide, and then burnt her alive, so that she should not
make any more trouble, and her ashes were thrown into the river. The
king then embraced his wife and daughter, and told all the people that
she, Adiaha, was his proper wife, and would be the queen for the
future.
When the palaver was over, Adiaha was dressed in
fine clothes and beads, and carried back in state to the palace by the
king's servants.That night the king gave a big feast to all his
subjects, and told them how glad he was to get back his beautiful wife
whom he had never known properly before, also his son who was stronger
than all men, and his fine daughter. The feast continued for a hundred
and sixty-six days; and the king made a law that if any woman was found
out getting medicine against her husband, she should be killed at
once.
Then the king built three new compounds, and placed many slaves
in them, both men and women. One compound he gave to his wife, another
to his son, and the third he gave to his daughter. They all lived
together quite happily for some years until the king died, when his son
came to the throne and ruled in his stead.
*SOURCE ~ https://www.worldoftales.com/African_folktales/Nigerian_folktale_3.html
