After a long day on the farm, it was time for Babatunde, the farmer, and his seven sons to have some dinner. The only problem was that they didn’t have any fire to cook with. Seeing smoke coming from a hut in the distance, the farmer sent his oldest son to go and get some fire to cook their dinner with.

His oldest son arrived at the hut and knocked, “Kan, kan, kan”. The door opened and standing there was a monster. The monster was huge and he also had huge lips. “What do you want?” answered the monster, but the boy didn’t answer. He had never seen such a massive creature before and he froze in fear, staring at the monster’s lips.

“Why did you knock on my door?!” He asked and again. The boy, frozen in fear, still didn’t respond. Angry at the boy’s rudeness, the monster started singing…

 Elete momo ri momo – momo
(Giant lipped monster, giant lipped monster)
Se bi’na lo wa fun – momo
(Didn’t he come here for some fire?)
Ab’ete lo wa wo – momo
(Or did he come to stare at my lips?)
Ete ta giri gbemi – Kalo
(Lips unravel and swallow him)

Immediately after singing, the monster opened his mouth and swallowed the boy whole.
After waiting for a few minutes and hearing nothing from his first son, the farmer sent his second son to get some fire from the hut.

When his second son arrived at the hut, he knocked on the door just like his brother had done. When the door opened, he also froze, terrified at the sight of the massive creature and his giant lips. Like before, the monster asked “What do you want?” “Why have you knocked on my door?” But the boy just stood and stared, frozen in fear. Upset that another person had shown up staring at his lips, the monster started to sing again…

Elete momo ri momo – momo
(Giant lipped monster, giant lipped monster)
Se bi’na lo wa fun – momo
(Didn’t he come here for some fire?)
Ab’ete lo wa wo – momo
(Or did he come to stare at my lips?)
Ete ta giri gbemi – Kalo
(Lips unravel and swallow him)

And as with the first boy, the monster opened his mouth and swallowed the second boy whole.

When his second son also failed to come back, the farmer sent his third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh sons one after the other. Each time, the boys stared at the monster and were swallowed whole. Worried that none of his children had come back, the farmer decided to go to the hut himself.

The farmer sent his third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh sons one after the other and the same thing happened to them. They stared at the monster’s lips and got swallowed whole. Now worried that none of his children had come back, the farmer decided to go to the hut himself.

When he got there, the farmer knocked and was greeted by the monster. Although the farmer was also surprised to see the monster, who now also had a very big belly, he was so worried about his children that ignored the monster’s giant lips and tummy. “Have you seen my sons?” he asked. “I sent them here to get some fire to cook our dinner but they haven’t come back”. “Were those your sons?” the monster asked. “They all stared rudely at me, so I ate them,” he explained. The farmer became angry that all his children had been eaten, and killed the monster. He cut open his huge stomach and rescued all seven of his sons.

The Moral of the Story:

Be respectful. It’s not polite to stare at people. Especially if the person has something that makes them look different. Even if that thing scares you.