_{*clears throat*}

I know you will peep in here  . Ok. Since you're here, read on!

Mbediọgụ, Mbe, Mbenwanịịga,  all these and other names are used to refer to the wisdom mascot in Igbo culture: the tortoise. Starting with the tortoise, let us narrate nigerian folklores as told us by our elders or as we read in books. In the past, children used to gather at the ama(village square), after dinner to share stories and play under the moonlight. I took part in a few of these and it was enjoyable  . The intention is to give those interested the opportunity to hear this folklores - the opportunity they may not have had as kids - the opportunity they may never have. I have spoken enough already.

Personal Info about the tortoise:

Name: Mbe
Name of Spouse: Anim
Name of Father: Aniga

that'll be all for now.





The Tortoise and The Lizard

    Long, long, time ago, there was scarcity of cooking salt in tortoise's village. The tortoise was then appointed to go and purchase salt in a certain village.
His kinsmen blessed him and said: "Whosever is pursuing, let him die, let him fall before you. Whosever tells you to die, let him die; let the kite perch, let the eagle perch, anyone that says the other will not perch, let it loose it's wings at once". And they all shouted and said, " Let it be sooooo! " The tortoise thanked them and commenced his journey. Before you get to where the salt is sold, you'll pass the lizard's village and several other villages.
   
The tortoise navigated through all these villages and got to that market and bought a bag of salt. On his way back, when he got to lizard's village, there was also salt scarcity in that village, so the lizard came out with it's matchet and cut the rope with which the tortoise was dragging the salt and carried the bag of salt into his house.
   
The tortoise then reported to the judges. The judges ruled that the lizard won the case because he said that the bag of salt he has, he saw along the wayside; that the tortoise was not carrying the bag on his head but was pulling it along the ground.
   
One another day, the lizard was passing tortoise's village and it started raining. The lizard ran into one hole by the road side and took shelter there. Because the hole was not deep, the lizard's tail was showing above the ground even though this entire body was inside the hole. When the tortoise saw it, he caught the tail and broke it off. The lizard then reported to the judges. They told him that the tortoise has won the case because the tortoise said that it's a tail he saw on the wayside. The END.

Moral: Do not do to people what you'll not want them to do to you.

Why is it that we always blame the tortoise in every African folktale, abeg my people make una leave Mr. Tortoise alone, the man don too suffer self, from loosing his hair to hot porridge and breaking his shell while falling off a birds back from the sky i think the man has suffered enough, why don't we go after mr. pig since they are so dirty or mr. vulture since they are so, well let's just leave it that, you already know the millon things in my mind when a vulture comes to mind.

lmao
an akuko ifo (folklore) can never ever be complete without mbediogu.  poor old Mbe,lol .d funniest part is that hes always the actor,anwu anwu,if he dies,thats the end of the story.
@Echelon,have you heard the story of the birds and the tortise?
here it goes  :

       Once upon a time,there was famine in the land of Okokobioko.everyone was just trying to survive.luckily,the birds where invited to a party in heaven.they were happy and enthusiastic. . . .there would be lots to eat and drink,enough to last them for days.Mr Tortoise heard about the party too and begged the birds to allow him go with them.After a serious debate amongst the birds,they agreed to let Mr Tortoise go with them because hes an eloquent speaker.
On the D-day,they all gathered and each bird lent the tortoise a feather to fly with.just before they took off,Mr Tortoise told them that they all have to choose a name,that in occasions like this,their hosts would be addressing them by their individual names.so each bird chose a name and the tortoise chose the name "all of us".on arrival to the party,like they expected,there were lots to eat and drink.as each dish is presented to the animals,Mr Tortoise would ask " who is this for?" and the host replies "its for all of us" 
   The birds looked on in fury as tortoise gulped down everything.the different dishes and drinks.they cudnt do anything because it was for him" all of us"  their host too was amazed.he tot that prolly,its their culture to let their king eat first then .  After everything,it was time to go.the angry birds all took back their feathers from tortoise and he was stranded in heaven,no way to go home.later,one of the birds,decided to help the tortoise.
                               _{watch out for part 2} 

davidif:

Why is it that we always blame the tortoise in every African folktale, abeg my people make una leave Mr. Tortoise alone, the man don too suffer self, from loosing his hair to hot porridge and breaking his shell while falling off a birds back from the sky i think the man has suffered enough, why don't we go after mr. pig since they are so dirty or mr. vulture since they are so, well let's just leave it that, you already know the millon things in my mind when a vulture comes to mind.

Tell us a story of mr. pig or mr. vulture then

@Ify
As you said the tortoise is the "actor" in most folklores; he features in a lot of stories, though sometimes, he acts foolishly.

Yes! I have heard about that story. Very much like Mbe - always looking for ways to defraud people 

Can't wait for the part 2!!!

Ifu agha nnabe(MBE)
He once called himself" Member of British Empire(MBE).

I have loads to tell but it will only be sweet in igbo. How i go do now?

Its about Tortoise and Elephant.

Does that imply you can't translate it into English?

presido1:

Ifu agha nnabe(MBE)
He once called himself ]" Member of British Empire(MBE)".

I have loads to tell but it will only be sweet in igbo. How i go do now?

Its about Tortoise and Elephant.

lol.pray, do tell us.Tortoise and elephant?never heard of it.
@Topic,part 2
Ostrich was the bird that agreed to help tortoise.He told Tortoise that hes going to his house to tell his wife anim to bring and arrange their beddings outside as he,Tortoise is going to jump down from heaven.Relief at last Tortoise thought
Alas,Ostrich got to mbes house and told anim to bring and arrange in front of their house,every metallic equipment she can lay her hands upon as the hubby,Tortoise is going to thrown down a big animal from heaven.lol.anim went to work,she laid down every thing destructive outside,she even went to borrow from neighbours. . . .knives,mortar,pestle,pots,cooking tripod.etc
After sometime,tortoise looked down from heaven and saw his wife anim at work _{dont ask me how} .things were working out fine,he thot so he got ready for the bing bang jump.pheeeeeeeew he jump down straight on top the knives. he was badly hurt he had his shell broken and scatterred all over the place. quickly,anim ran to Mr snail.his services are highly needed,to help gum back Tortoise's shell.
Snail refused to come cos he knew Tortoise wud never ever pay him after his services but anim persisted and assured him that he wud be paid so he came with her.It took Snail 4 market days of hardwork to get the shells in one piece again albeit it wasn't smooth any more.Tortoise was so very grateful and so was the wife anim.On the 5th market day,Mr snail was ready to go and was waiting for his money.Tortoise told him to
lmao.
to be contd.

Story of Mbe continues

Mbe na Ejula (The Tortoise and the Snail) - Part 1

Once upon a time, in a certain land, the ruling king gave a directive to his servant and said: “Use the wooden gong and announce to all my subjects that there is a task I’ll show them, that anyone that first finishes his own, I’ll give him my daughter in marriage.”

The king’s servant then did as his master instructed. It came to be that when it the day dawned, the tortoise awoke and picked up his matchet and went to his friend - the snail and suggested that they go and know why the king is calling them.

The snail offered kola nuts to the tortoise, and he ate; when both of them have finished eating the kola, the tortoise said, “My ancestors eat kola, let him that embarks on a journey come back.” The snail answered Iseeee! – Let it be so! When he had said this, they set out for the king’s palace.

Along the way, they started arguing about who’ll get to marry the princess. When they got to the palace, they greeted the king by his title names.

When they finished greeting the king, they told him why they’ve come. The king then directed his servant to show the two of them the task; that anyone that finishes first will be given the princess in marriage. So the servant divided the task into two for the two of them and they started working.

As they were working, one of the king’s wives came around and pleaded with tortoise to follow her and pick up a palm nut that fell into a hole for her, but the tortoise vehemently refused. She approached the snail and pleaded with him on the same issue. The snail obliged her and picked up the nut for her, saying in his mind, “It’s the day one buries someone that he buries himself”, “If a wild animal is feely itchy, it scrubs it’s back on the tree trunk but if a human is feeling itchy, he looks for another to scrub him” All these he thought as he hoped the good he has done will do him good.

After he had picked up the nut, the queen told the snail to hit her on the back, that he’ll see labourers that will do the work for him. The snail did as instructed, and lo, in a twinkle of an eye, ten strong men jumped out of her body. They all took matchets and finished up snail’s task in a short while and all ran away!

After all these, it all amazed the snail; he went and narrated to the tortoise all that happened. The tortoise shouted at once in disbelief… even before the snail has finished his narration, the tortoise took to his heels after the queen and when he got close to her, he said: “Please queen, did you ask me to come and pick up palm nut for you?” But the queen did not reply; the tortoise went ahead and hit her so hard on the back that she fell on the ground and died.

When the tortoise realized that he now has a corpse on his hands,

… to be continued

ok ooooo
we are waiting
long live mbediogu

Tortoise is a symbol of wisdom,wits and cons in african foklores.There is one story that the tortoise was in a race with a dog,a very fast animal,way faster than tortoise but at the end of the day,the tortoise ended up beating the dog in the race,imagine a tortoise beating a dog in a race,a whole lot of trckery and smartness,i don't rememmber the story fully,but i bet some of you will know about it,folklores we jokinglly and nonchalantly heard under the glaring moon and stars in the night sky in africa as children.

For tortoise to have survived millions of years of evolution,till date,way longer than man,they must be really smart,we've got alot to learn from them

Their only threat is the brutal and babaric man,who calls himself civilized.

Mbe na Ejula (The Tortoise and the Snail) - Part 2

When the tortoise realized that he now has a corpse on his hands, he became terrified and developed goose pimples on his body. Therefore, he ran to a soothsayer to ask what will happen next. The soothsayer told him a proverb: “When a great soothsayer performs sacrifices, it appears as if he fed the spirits by hand”. On hearing this, he took to his heels and went and gathered dead leaves and covered the corpse. When he had done this, he went back to his friend – the snail – and said to him, “Get your rifle, let go –a- hunting for monkeys have destroyed the cereals on my farm”. On hearing this, the snail greatly rejoiced, walked briskly into the house and took up his rifle, hung his hunting bag on his neck and picked up his hunting dog and off they went.

On their way, the tortoise told the snail, “Follow me, wherever I point at, shoot there! The snail rejoiced because he has “longa throat” for meat.
When they got to where the queen was lying, the tortoise said, “Snail, look at a monkey here, shoot and kill it.”
The snail immediately shot at where he was directed and started rejoicing that he has shot a monkey; that they now have meat. The tortoise then removed the leaves he used to cover the corpse and shouted with a loud voice, “Come and see ooo, you’ve killed a human being!” The snail shouted, “ Ewoo!” The tortoise told him, “If I told you to shoot, are you blind? Don’t you look before shooting? If I tell you to get to the bush and eat feaces, are you going to eat?” The tortoise took to his heels without looking back, leaving his friend behind.

The snail was greatly terrified because the law of the land is “a head for a head”, it is said that no head is greater than the other. He then approached the soothsayer to get advice on what he might do. The soothsayer told him to borrow a long apparel, anklets and a white cap; after putting on these, he should meet the tortoise and tell him the king gave him those for killing his wife which he had been thinking of how to kill secretly because of her envy.
When the snail has got all these, he went to his friend’s house, who on seeing him, ran away without recognizing that it was the snail.

When the snail beckoned on him, he recognized his voice and came out of his hiding place. When he saw him, he inquired from where he got all he was putting on. The snail told him that the king gave him those for the king considered what the snail did as a favour.
On hearing this, the tortoise shouted and began narrating to his friend how things went and how he killed the queen. He said, “Please let’s go to the king so he could collect all these things from you because I’m the one that killed his wife but he took all these and gave you. How can I finish washing hand and crack kernels for chicken? This is impossible!” But his friend did not pay attention to him at all. The tortoise ran to the king and started complaining, “It is I that killed your wife but you went ahead and gave all these things to the snail without knowing from where water entered the pumpkin flute, please collect all those things from him and give me for he who works must eat!”
The king shouted the tortoise down and called his servants and gave an order that the tortoise be dealt with; but he gave his daughter in marriage to the snail.

THE END.

Moral: When you’re scheming against people, watch out lest the plan backfire

Keep this tortoise story rolling,it will make good bedtime stories for kids,it is a kind window to africans original view of the worlds,events and all the creatures in it.How actions and deeds reflects in life

Something different to half baked western and eastern recreation of africa,lost roots and connections,

@ Echelon,for mentioning a rifle in the story,does it mean the folklore is mordern,not very ancient?after the european invasion came the rifle.

akiko ikoja ! mbe agaba,aja mbele
Eche bobo moreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

redsun:

@ Echelon,for mentioning a rifle in the story,does it mean the folklore is mordern,not very ancient?after the european invasion came the rifle.

no, there were rifles long before the invasion, but mostly used for hunting or ceremonial purposes. they were purchased from traders who did business with the portugese who traded on africa's shores long before the europeans decided they wanted it all.

iceblue:

no, there were rifles long before the invasion, but mostly used for hunting or ceremonial purposes. they were purchased from traders who did business with the portugese who traded on africa's shores long before the europeans decided they wanted it all.

Not very sure of the history of the dane guns but I know that in my town, they were deployed during a bloody fight between two communities in a land dispute many decades ago. The nsi-egbe (gun powder) and shrapnels are stuffed into it and there are experts who can load it for long-range firing.

Nice thread

But the fact remains that the europeans made the riffles and guns putting the story at pro europeans,not pre like i use to think.It could have been bows and arrows,which sound more authentic.

redsun:

But the fact remains that the europeans made the riffles and guns putting the story at pro europeans,not pre like i use to think.It could have been bows and arrows,which sound more authentic.

No,before the europeans came,we were using our dane guns for hunting and war.its still in existence till date, egbe awka .Awka is a town in Anambra state known for making guns.it might look local but yet it works
@Echelon,dont tell me the Mbe has died?

Are u serious?So the ibos like i have always believe are really ingenious.But for the hopeless union called nigeria,Biafra would have been a force to reckon with in terms of technology and human mental development.Give a typical ibo man ten thousand naira to start a small stall,before you know it the stall has become a supermarket,resourcefullness is life.

I am not tribalistic,but fact of life,nigeria have the potentials of splitting into more than five countries.

redsun:

@ Echelon,for mentioning a rifle in the story,does it mean the folklore is mordern,not very ancient?after the european invasion came the rifle.

I don't know ooo. . Ask me this question: So the tortoise speaks too, is he a human being? A: No, he is not. This is just a folktale  . Don't loose the morale.

ifyalways:

@Echelon,don't tell me the Mbe has died?

The tortoise is recuperating from his broken shells after your last story 

Mbe na Ogbugba Amamihe (The Tortoise and The Calabash of Wisdom)

In times past, when the world was still blind, the tortoise started boasting that out of all the living things on earth, he was the wisest. To prevent others from becoming wise as he was, he thought of what he would do and decided to tie up all his wisdom in a parcel and put it in a calabash and cover it up. This he would then tie up with a rope to be hanging on his neck to wherever he had to go. These were all in a bid to prevent everyone else from gaining access to wisdom.

As he was crawling with the calabash dangling on his chest, he came to a spot on the road where a large tree trunk had fallen across the road. As hard as he tried to cross over the tree trunk with the calabash on his chest, he couldn’t. The calabash just prevented him from crossing over. For some time, he thought of how he could cross over without breaking the calabash, albeit without success. He became worried because he knew that if he broke the calabash, others would gain access to wisdom.

When he couldn’t come up with a plan to cross over, he just started crawling up and down by the side of the trunk. As he was doing this, one yam farmer came across to where he was and shouted upon him, “Tortoise, son of Aniga, I thought you always claim to be the wisest of all God’s creature; why is it that you are doing a foolish thing like this? “Transfer the calabash to your back so you can cross over the tree trunk with your front.” The tortoise did as he was told and was able to cross the trunk with ease.

When all these things had transpired, the tortoise became very much ashamed because someone has shown how to cross over the tree trunk that blocked the road, he then shouted with a loud voice, “Truly, it’s now that I realize that there is no one whose wisdom is complete under the sun.” Therefore, it’s not good for one to be thinking that any suggestion he gave during any meeting must be followed as the best. No, because no one is the wisest. God created all things and gave them different gifts. Sometimes, a supposedly foolish person may have understanding more than a supposedly wise individual.

THE END.

Morale: No one knows it all. There is wisdom in the multitude of advisors

Echelon bravo ! ! !
do you know abt the Tortoise and the pig? i love that story though i have forgotten some parts of it.care to tell da story ?

mbe agaba,ajambele
mbe agaba,ajambele
ga,ga ga,ajambele
rute mmiri asaa,ajambele
gbara uzo asaa,ajambele
lmao,folklores and folksongs

Echebobo whats up?

Finally,Tortoise and the Pig 
   Once upon a time in the land of tutugege,Tortoise was very broke and there was none willing to help him either by giving him foodstuffs or money.To even make matters worse,his aged mum is sick too.  Hes gone far and wide looking for help but every door is closed against him because they all know him to be a cunning and lazy man,he would never pay back whatever is given to him.
   One day,Tortoise met Mr Pig on his way home after yet a day wasted on trying to get help from his friends.He told Mr Pig his problems and promised to pay back anyone that is willing to help him tenfolds.Well,Mr Pig being a greedy man,when he heard about the tenfolds decided to help Tortoise.He told him to come to his house the next day.
  The next day,at the third crow of the cock,Tortoise was already at Pigs house,ready for the money.After much talks and preaching  ,Pig finally gave tortoise the money and Tortoise promised to pay back after 7 mkt days.
On the D-dayvery early in the morning,Pig landed like Range rover to Tortoises house but unfortunately for him,Tortoise saw him while he was yet afar off and hid in the wifes' kitchen.Pig waited and waited till dusk and Tortoise is nowhere to be found so he left in annoyance.The next day,he went back to Tortoises house and this time almost caught him unawares . . . .he was enjoying a meal of roasted yam and oil with da wife.With Pig just at the doorstep,he had nowhere to hide so he quickly hid his head inside his shells while his wife anim placed the roasted yam and bowl of oil on the shell. . .it became a make shift table
The pig was asking anim of his hubby but she kept mum.she was busy enjoying her meal,in annoyance,Mr Pig took both the table and the bowls of yam and oil and flung them both into the bush beside anims kitchen.Ooops,the Tortoise calmly crawled out of his shell and made for the door.on seeing Mr Pig the following conversation ensued:
T: aaah my good friend,good morning.
P:hmmmn,wheres my money?
T: am really sorry,i cudnt come to your house yesterday as agreed.hold on let me get you a chair and some kolanuts.
P: am really not in the mood for all that,just give me my money.
T:ok that presents no problem at all.
T:Anim,Anim,please get me the table at the kitchen,i kept some money in the shelf under it
***enters Anim*** 
Nna anyi Mbe _{my husband} ,the table is no more oooh.Tortoise jumps up in shock and asks her what she meant.she now went on to explain how Mr Pig in annoyance flung away the table.case don close  it was now Tortoises turn to be annoyed and to shout.he told Mr pig that his money is hid in the table that he flung away so if he wants his money,he simply should go get the table.
    Mr Pig,the greedy but unwise man left for the bush at the back of Anims backyard,to look for the table. and till date hes yet to find it. 
next time u see the pig in muddy dirty water,hes looking for Tortoises table,u want to help him find it? 

I am reading a Tortoise story book and Mr. Tortoise never stops going to his father's grave asking the dead man "can't u teach me another trick?"

Ify. very funny story indeed . Can anyone outwit the tortoise?

Mustay:



I am reading a Tortoise story book and Mr. Tortoise never stops going to his father's grave asking the dead man "can't u teach me another trick?"

Imagine that.

Blue is True  Chelsea 4 Life

Mbe Na Nwunye Ya (The Tortoise And His Wife)

On a certain day that it was drizzling, the tortoise told his wife that they’d be having some visitors. He asked her to get to the oye market and buy goat, fowl, yam and cocoyam with which she’d use to prepare a delicacy for the visitors. Anim, his wife, obliged him and went to the market. She bought all that she needed to prepare a delicious meal alias aka – aga. When she got home, she started cooking, pounded the yam, killed the goat and fowl and used them to prepare the soup; when she finished she kept the food at the house; waiting for the visitors to arrive.

At afternoon, the tortoise told Anim his wife, “Come let’s get to the bush and harvest some palm fruits” So they went. After a little while, he told Anim that he just heard his name being called at home that perhaps it’s the visitors that had come and were calling. He started singing the following song:

“E…………………e…………………….e……………………….Tumangwe
E………………………e…………………e……………………….Tumangwe
Nwa Mbe na-ebu akwu…………………………………,  (The tortoise is cutting palm fruits)
…………, na-akpo ya (and he’s being called)………………………………………, Tumangwe”

He sang this song thrice, got down from the palm tree, told Anim he wanted to get to the house, she gave him the go-ahead.

When the tortoise got home, he ate all the food his wife had painstakingly prepared.  He then poured water on the floor of the house. When Anim got home, he told her the visitors had come, eaten all the food and gone home. She accepted that to be the truth.

In this wise, the tortoise deceived the wife time and again. On another fateful day, nwa nnunnu ogba ama – the testifying bird told Anim what tortoise was doing. From that day onwards, she started thinking of what to do.
She then used eso – a gummy material to pound the foo-foo. When the time came, the tortoise told his wife once again that he was going home to see his visitors.

When the tortoise touched the foo-foohe got stuck to it and was held there till Anim came back from the farm. When Anim saw him, she shouted , “ Mbe, is this what  you’ve been doing!? ” The tortoise replied, “ Please release me, I would never do this thing again”. Anim took the good foo-foo, and ate all, she also consumed all the meat and fishes in the soup, all in Mbe’s presence and said to him, “When the deceitful man dies, the deceitful man will bury him”

After this brouhaha, the tortoise wife started thinking of how she might hurt the tortoise. When she went to the market, she bought akidi beans.  The tortoise enjoyed eating akidi a lot because it’s delicious but he didn’t know the name. He then approached the wife and asked her to give her some of the cooked akidi so he could eat. On hearing this, Anim said she would give him only on one condition: that he mentions the name of the beans. The tortoise didn’t know how to get the name of the beans; he thought about it and arrived at what he’d do. He left his house and set out for the market. He didn’t want the market women to know that he didn’t know the name of the beans and cos of this he didn’t want to ask them directly. (fast guy); for it would be an abomination that an elder like him that is being looked upon as the wisest did not know the  name – akidi .

He then went past where the beans was spread and stepped on it. The woman he stepped on her beans addressed him, “Tortoise, why are you stepping on my akidi?” The tortoise immediately withdrew his leg, and without mincing words, started a song with akidi and headed home –

“Akidi kiridim, kiridim, akidi kiridim, kiridim”

As he was crawling home, he knocked his foot against a stone; he then shouted, “Nna m oo! – My father oo! – and forgot the name akidi.
At this point, he could not think of what to do. He then went back to the market and approached one little boy and asked him, “What does your people call those beans over there?” The lad did not know what the tortoise was up to. He therefore answered him, “akidi”. The tortoise continued with his song,

“Akidi kiridim, kiridim, akidi kiridim, kiridim”

till he got home.

He ran to where Anim was seated and said, “It’s called akidi” Anim then gave him some of the beans. From then onwards, they negotiated for peace and lived happily ever after.

Morale: : Never underestimate anyone's intelligence and assume you will always get away with trickery. If you must trick, stand on your toes 

lol
kiridim kidim
Eche when wud Tortoise finally die?