XVI.--HOW OGHABI POISONED HIS FRIEND OKPA AND FAMILY, OR WHY A HOST
SHOULD ALWAYS EAT FIRST FROM THE FOOD WHICH HE GIVES TO HIS GUESTS.
Oghabi and Okpa both lived at Inkum. They had always been great friends
since they were boys, and when they grew up they made farms in the same
place and used to feed together. As they became richer they bought
slaves and canoes and lived in separate houses, each man having one
wife. At last Oghabi became tired of the farming work and told his
friend that he was going to be a hunter. He said that by his hunting he
hoped to grow richer, as he intended to go from town to town and sell
the meat of the animals he killed while Okpa could be looking after the
farm.
For some time all went well with Oghabi, and he made a lot of money by
selling his dried meat, but one day he went into the forest with two of
his slaves and met with misfortune. He had hunted all day, and killed
several buck, and when the evening came he skinned the animals, and
having cut them in half placed the meat over the fire to dry in the
smoke. He then went to sleep with the two slaves.
During the night a large python came and took one of Oghabi’s legs in
his mouth and swallowed it up to the thigh.
Okhabi woke up in great fear and yelled for help, he tried to stand up
but could not do so, as his leg was down the snake’s throat. He then
called for his hunting knife which one of the slaves gave him, the
other slave called Odo snatched a burning stick from the fire and ran
off to call Okpa to come and help. But before Okpa arrived Oghabi had
cut the snake’s mouth and body right down with his hunting knife and
released his leg. The leg was so swollen and inflamed that he could
not walk. Okpa arrived shortly afterwards with his wife and together
with the help of the slaves they carried Oghabi and the meat he had
killed back to his house. Okpa then went home with his wife, but the
next morning he went to enquire after his friend, and having stayed a
short time he went home again. Later in the day Okpa’s wife came to
see Oghabi and had a conversation with his wife. She said she thought
there must be something wrong about what had happened the night before
as it was not usual for a snake to try and swallow a man, she therefore
advised Oghabi’s wife to consult a ju-ju man upon the matter. After
she had gone home Oghabi’s wife told her husband what Okpa’s wife had
said, and Oghabi agreed and sent off for the ju-ju man at once. When
the man came he consulted his skull and then said: “It was your best
friend who sent the snake to kill you but I will not mention his name
unless you promise to revenge yourself upon him.” As Oghabi only had
one good friend he did not want to promise what the ju-ju man asked,
but his wife, who had great faith in the ju-ju man, at last persuaded
him to pass his word. The ju-ju man then said, “It was your friend Okpa
who sent the big snake to swallow you as he is envious of your being a
hunter and making more money than him.” Oghabi would not believe this
at first, but his wife convinced him after much argument that what the
ju-ju man had said was true. From that day Oghabi grew to hate his
friend, and when he recovered from the injuries he had received from
the snake he began to plot as to how he should revenge himself upon
Okpa and his wife. At last he decided to poison them as he did not wish
to kill them openly with a matchet. Having got some strong poison from
the ju-ju man he told his wife to prepare palm oil chop for Okpa and
his family. While she was getting the food ready Oghabi went out and
made some tombo, and when he returned he divided the tombo into two
calabashes, one large and one small. Into the large calabash he placed
some of the poison, and the remainder he put in the palm oil chop. He
then got ready and went with his wife to Okpa’s house taking the two
calabashes of tombo and the palm oil chop with him. When they arrived
Okpa received them gladly and ordered food to be prepared at once. When
the food was ready Okpa and his wife sat down and eat it and drank the
tombo from the small calabash. Oghabi then told Okpa and his wife that
they could eat the food which they had brought for them, and when they
had finished they could drink the tombo in the big calabash. Okpa and
his wife then called their children together and sat down and eat the
poisoned food and drank the tombo, but Okpa’s youngest son would not
eat or drink anything.
When they had finished Oghabi said he should go home but Okpa begged
him to stay. Oghabi, however, refused and started off home with his
wife. When they had reached half way and were sitting down to rest,
Okpa’s youngest son came running up to them and implored them to return
with him and help his father as they were all very ill and in great
pain. Oghabi said, “run back home at once and tell your father that I
will come directly I have been home, and will bring some medicine which
will make them vomit and they will then get well.”
But Oghabi never went back to Okpa’s house until the next morning, when
he found they were all dead except Okpa’s youngest son who was crying.
Oghabi was very glad at what he saw, and the boy noticed that Oghabi
did not cry, so he went and reported everything to the chief.
The chief sent for Oghabi and his wife and called the chiefs of the
town together to hold palaver. The boy told them how Oghabi had brought
food for his people the previous night and that he was the only one
who had not eaten any, and all the others had died soon after Oghabi
left the house. He also told the chief that Oghabi and his wife had
not eaten any of the food, and that when he saw his friend and all his
family were dead that he had not cried. The chief then asked Oghabi
whether he had tasted the food he brought for Okpa, and Oghabi replied
that he had done so and that his wife had cooked and eaten some of the
food. As there was no one besides the boy to give evidence the chief
said he could not treat Oghabi as a poisoner. He therefore took him to
his ju-ju and made him swear that he had not killed Okpa, and that if
he had the ju-ju should kill him. Oghabi’s wife swore also.
The chief then sent word all round the towns that as Okpa and his
family had been poisoned, for the future whenever anyone gave another
person tombo, foo-foo, palm oil chop, or anything else to eat or drink,
they must first partake of it themselves, to show that it was not
poisoned.