It is no secret that Ijapa, the tortoise, is a lazy animal. One year, a lack of rain meant that the farmers in his village didn’t grow enough food. And since Ijapa had refused to work, he had no money and no food to eat. So when he woke up one morning, feeling really hungry, he decided to go to his friends to beg for food. Again. (You see, this was something he did a lot whenever he ran out of food)

Now, this wasn’t the first time that Ijapa had asked his friends for food. So when he arrived at the house of Ewure, the Goat, just as the sun rose, Ewure knew exactly why Ijapa had come.

“Karo ore mi.” Ijapa greeted his friend. “Please can you give me some food? I’m very hungry.” he continued. “I knew that is why you’ve up so early. Sorry but I only have enough food for me and my family”. Ewure replied. “If only you had worked like everybody else, you wouldn’t have to beg now.” Ijapa didn’t like what Ewure said so he left angrily to visit his other two other friends, Ehoro, the rabbit, and Okere, the squirrel, hoping to be fed. But they also said no. “I’ve got a large family to feed”, one answered. “I didn’t gather enough nuts,” replied the other.

Hungry and disappointed, Ijapa went home. His tummy growling loudly the whole way. “I need to find food soon,” he thought to himself. Just then he remembered the neighbouring town was by a river and always had lots of food. So he decided to visit their weekly market to find food.

When he arrived at the market, Ijapa was amazed. The people were selling all kinds of food. As he watched the market people, his nose soon caught the smell of freshly roasted groundnuts. His favourite. An old woman was roasting them under the tree at the centre of the market. Ijapa’s mouth watered at the sight of this food and he decided then, that he wanted it all for himself. 

That evening, Ijapa asked Okete, the pouch rat, to dig a large hole under the tree where the old woman sat selling groundnuts. “I promise I’ll pay you soon”. He assured the rat. Okere agreed and he dug a large hole under the tree for Ijapa.

The next market day, before people arrived at the market, Ijapa crawled into the hole Okere made and hid, waiting for people to arrive. As soon as the market was full and Ijapa could smell the roasted groundnuts again, he started singing as loud as he could…

“Elepa yi, elepa yi – Pere pere peu (This groundnut seller, this groundnut seller,)

Elepa yi, elepa yi – Pere pere peu (This groundnut seller, this groundnut seller,)

O ba jo lo si Oyo-Ile – Pere pere peu (You should dance to Oyo-Ile)

O ba jo lo si Ofa Mojo – Pere pere peu (You should dance to Ofa Mojo)

Iba wo idi igba de o – Pere pere peu (I’ll watch your stall for you)

Epa peu, epa peu – Pere pere peu

Epa peu, epa peu – Pere pere peu”

As he sang, everyone in the market started dancing. Buyers and sellers alike; they danced and danced. They danced out of the market and far away leaving all their goods behind. Once the coast was clear, Ijapa climbed out from his hole and stole all the food. When everyone finally stopped dancing and went back to the market, they were shocked to see that all their goods had gone. 

The confused market people went to the palace to report the strange event to the king. “Kabiyesi o!” They greeted the King. “Kabiyesi, the strangest thing happened at the market today. We were at the market selling when we heard someone singing. The next thing we remember is coming back to an empty market. Someone had stolen all our goods!”  “That is strange. The king said. “Don’t worry, I will send my best warriors to protect you and your goods at the next market day” The king promised.

On the next market day, Ijapa arrived early again and hid himself in the hole. When he heard the bustling of the market and smelled the freshly roasted groundnuts, he started singing again,…

“Elepa yi, elepa yi – Pere pere peu (This groundnut seller, this groundnut seller,)

Elepa yi, elepa yi – Pere pere peu (This groundnut seller, this groundnut seller,)

O ba jo lo si Oyo-Ile – Pere pere peu (You should dance to Oyo-Ile)

O ba jo lo si Ofa Mojo – Pere pere peu (You should dance to Ofa Mojo)

Iba wo idi igba de o – Pere pere peu (I’ll watch your stall for you)

Epa peu, epa peu – Pere pere peu

Epa peu, epa peu – Pere pere peu”

Just as before, everybody started dancing, including the king’s warriors. They danced and danced until they were far away from the market. Once the coast was clear, Ijapa climbed out from his hole and stole all the goods again. 

When the market people and the warriors finally stopped dancing, they went back to the market, and found that all their goods had gone again.

Upset, the market people went back to the palace. “Kabiyesi o! It happened again! The singing started and everyone, even your warriors danced. We danced so much that no one saw the thief stealing our goods”. The king was really upset at this news. “The Chiefs and I will come to the next market and see what is happening for ourselves.”

On the next market day, Ijapa hid himself in the hole again before the market people and the king arrived. As soon as he smelled the roasted groundnuts, and heard the market noise, he started singing again,…

“Elepa yi, elepa yi – Pere pere peu (This groundnut seller, this groundnut seller,)

Elepa yi, elepa yi – Pere pere peu (This groundnut seller, this groundnut seller,)

O ba jo lo si Oyo-Ile – Pere pere peu (You should dance to Oyo-Ile)

O ba jo lo si Ofa Mojo – Pere pere peu (You should dance to Ofa Mojo)

Iba wo idi igba de o – Pere pere peu (I’ll watch your stall for you)

Epa peu, epa peu – Pere pere peu

Epa peu, epa peu – Pere pere peu”

As soon as the King and his Chiefs heard the song, they and all the people at the market started dancing. The king danced so much, he didn’t notice when his crown fell off. They danced and danced far away from the market. Once the coast was clear, Ijapa climbed out from his hole and stole all their goods again. 

When they finally stopped dancing and got back to the market, they found that all their goods had gone, again.

The king was embarrassed and angry “how can I stop a thief that I can’t even see?” Just then one of the chiefs said “we could send Osanyi, the one legged, wise man”. The other chiefs laughed “how is the disabled man going to catch a thief that neither the warriors or the king could catch?” 

But the king was determined to catch the thief so he sent for Osanyi. When he arrived at the palace, the king said, “Osanyi, I need your help to catch the mysterious thief that is upsetting my people”. “I will do my best to catch the thief Kabiyesi”, Osanyin promised. 

The market day came around again and Osanyin sat down on the other side of the tree with the ground seller and started a fire. He placed two metal rods in the fire and a chain by his side then he waited. Soon the market started buzzing and Ijapa started to sing. As usual, everyone started dancing. They all danced away from the market except for Osanyin who had prepared a potion to protect him from the effects of the song. 

When Ijapa thought the cost was clear, he crept out of his hole to start stealing the goods. Just then Osanyin struck Ijapa in the neck with the hot rods, to stop him from singing and tied the chains to his hands before dragging him to the palace.

“Kabiyesi o! As promised I have caught the market thief.” Osanyi announced as he arrived at the palace. Everyone at the palace grew excited. No one had really thought Osanyi would catch the thief. They were also very surprised to learn that the thief was Ijapa all along. “Ijapa how could you be so selfish?” The king asked the tortoise who was crying bitterly “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I won’t do it again. I promise”. But the chiefs and the market people present refused, “he must be punished!” They shouted.

The king thought for a moment and then he turned to Osanyin, “as a reward for saving the village from this troublesome creature, you may take him with you, he will be your slave forever”. 

And so it was that the lazy tortoise who refused to work, was now the slave of a one legged old man. As a slave Ijapa worked harder than he had ever worked in his life.

The end.

 

The Morale of the Story:
The story shows us why it’s not good to be lazy. Ijapa’s laziness led him to stealing and when he got caught, he was made to work hard as a slave. Probably even harder than if he had worked for himself if he wasn’t lazy.