Ogbe Owonrin (Ogbe Owonrin · Ogbe Owonrin)

This is the story of the three Eleggua: Eshu Laroye, Eshu Alawana, and Eshu Ekute. The three of them devoted themselves to planting corn, sweet potato, and — the last of them — yam. They lived together on the same farm.

Eshu Ekute's yam field was large and beautiful, a great producer; his yams were the best that were sold. His two brothers envied him for it. They threw powders on his crop so that it would not turn out well, since neither of the other two was prospering — but this was because Ekute himself was cheating his brothers all along. Their work never showed any result, because he was the one who was diverting their irrigation water to his own field. Every day Ekute brought a yam to Orunmila, telling him at the same time that the other two refused to send anything, claiming that after working as long and as hard as they had, they were not about to give part of their harvest to an old sorcerer. Faced with Ekute's account, Orunmila decided to act against Laroye and Alawana, closing their roads so completely that nothing came to them at all — until the two of them went to complain at Olofin's feet, asking how it was possible that they, who sent Orunmila everything, should have Orunmila order that nothing of their production be bought.

That is how the trap Ogbe Wale had laid for his two brothers was discovered. Orunmila then punished him: wherever he went, he would carry disorder and division with him.

In times past, in the chamber of Ijebu Ode, there lived a king named Alakesi who owned a pond of biajaca fish that he prized greatly. Eshu arrived in that land to watch over everything. Alakesi went to consult Orunmila and Ogbe Ojuani came out for him; Orunmila ordered him to make ebbó with two roosters, two hens, a casting net tied with beads and floats, and the rest of the ingredients, plus abundant money. This ebbó was meant to secure a fortune that was soon to arrive. He did not make the ebbó, and it was then that Eshu came to lodge there, and — as was the custom — was received as a guest in the king's palace.

At midnight Eshu got up and set fire to the roofs and rafters of the palace; once this was done, he began shouting, feigning innocence: Fire! Everything is lost! — and inside the enormous casting net there lay an incalculable fortune. The shouting woke the whole town and the king, who all came running to Eshu, and hearing him, asked: with what will we pay for Eshu's fortune? The elders then agreed to ask Eshu what he wanted, and he said he would settle for eating the biajaca of the pond, and that in payment for this he would give Alakesi long life, more power, and riches. Alakesi accepted and offered his biajaca to Eshu, and he became much richer and more powerful than before, spoken of throughout the whole land of the Yoruba.