Ijapa, the Tortoise, and The Three Princesses

Once upon a time, there was a king who had three beautiful daughters whom he loved very much. The king was so protective of the princesses that nobody outside his family knew their names or was allowed to go near them.

One day, the king called the princesses and said, “My daughters, you are now old enough to be married, but I need to be sure that whoever you marry will take care of you as I have. What do you think about a test to help you find the right husbands?” The princesses thought about what the king said and the eldest answered, “We love the idea, Kabiyesi, but what kind of test would you give them?” Just then, the second princess said, “No one knows our real names, so let’s challenge the men to find out what they are. To guess correctly, the men would have to be clever and work hard, proving their love for us“. The king and the other princesses thought this was a great idea and they agreed to test the men of the kingdom.

The next day, the royal messenger went to all the villages in the kingdom and told the men about the test. “The King has promised to let the first person to correctly guess the names of the princesses to marry them. You have five days to find out their names“.

Every man in the kingdom, including Ijapa, the tortoise, was excited at the thought of marrying one of the princesses. The other men laughed at Ijapa when he talked about marrying a princess. “You’re not a real man; how could you marry a princess?” They mocked him. This upset Ijapa greatly and made him even more determined to marry one of the princesses.

Ijapa watched the princesses for two days and noticed they spent every afternoon in the palace garden under a large rose apple tree. This gave Ijapa an idea. He went to the market and bought three of the biggest and juiciest rose apples he could find. Very early the next day, Ijapa climbed up the rose apple tree and waited for the princesses. As soon as the Princesses sat down under the tree, Ijapa dropped one rose apple next to the youngest princess. Excited by what she found, the princess started singing to her sisters…

“Mo ri keke kan – gbirin ajalubale, gbirin
(I found an apple – it fell to the ground)

Opobipobi – gbirin ajalubale gbirin
(Opobipobi – it fell to the ground)

Oripolobi – gbirin ajalubale gbirin
(Oripolobi – it fell to the ground)

Mo ri keke kan – gbirin ajalubale gbirin
(I found an apple – it fell to the ground)”

As she sat down to share her rose apple with her sisters, Ijapa dropped another rose apple next to the second princess. Excited, she also started singing to her sisters…

“Mo ri keke kan – gbirin ajalubale, gbirin
(I found an apple – it fell to the ground)

Opobipobi – gbirin ajalubale gbirin
(Opobipobi – it fell to the ground)

Oripolobi – gbirin ajalubale gbirin
(Oripolobi – it fell to the ground)

Mo ri keke kan – gbirin ajalubale gbirin
(I found an apple – it fell to the ground)”

To make sure that he had the names of all three princesses, Ijapa dropped the last apple next to the third princess. Like her sisters, she started singing about her find. Ijapa waited until the princesses left the garden then, he went home happy because he now knew the names of the three princesses.

On the fifth day, all the men gathered at the palace hoping to win the hand of a princess in marriage. The king welcomed them all and called the first man to guess the princesses’ names. A wealthy merchant stepped up and announced with confidence, “The names of the princesses are Tola, Bola and Lola”. “No, they’re not,” the king responded. Then he called the second man to have a guess. The second man, a big, strong, farmer, declared, “Their names are Funmi, Wumi and Bunmi”. “No, they’re not,” the king answered again. Then it was the turn of the king’s general, “Their real names are Remi, Kemi and Yemi”. “No, they’re not,” the king said.

This continued for hours until all the men had been given a chance to guess the names of the three princesses. “Thank you all for coming.” The king said, disappointed that no one had guessed the real names of the princesses. Just then, Ijapa cried out, “Kabiyesi! I haven’t been given a chance to guess their names”. The king laughed “Don’t be silly Ijapa. Someone like you couldn’t marry a princess”. Everyone laughed at Ijapa. They all agreed that Ijapa was too poor and different to marry a princess. “You promised that any man could guess their names, Kabiyesi” Ijapa reminded the king. “Very well, let us hear what you think their names are” the king commanded. Ijapa stood up proudly and said, “The names of the princesses are Opobipobi, Opobipobi and Oripolobi”.

The room fell silent. No one could believe that Ijapa had correctly guessed all three names. “That is correct,” the king said finally. “But how did you know?” Ijapa told the king how he used the rose apples to discover their names. The king was impressed by Ijapa’s cleverness and as no one else had guessed correctly, the king allowed Ijapa to marry all three princesses. He also gave Ijapa a share of the kingdom, so that he could take care of the princesses.

The end.