The Wisdom Gourd-gctid28485

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

How it Happened that Wisdom Came into the Land (Akan)

 
They say that Kwaku, the Spider, was there, and that he swept up all knowledge, gathered it together in one spot, and placed it in a gourd pot. He then declared that he would climb a tree and go and hang it on it, so that all wisdom on earth would be finished.  
 So he took it up to go with it, and when he reached beneath the tree where he was going to hand it, he took a string, and tied it to the gourd, and hung it in from of him, and he set himself to climb the tree. He climbed, and climbed, and climbed; in vain. He strove again, again he made to climb, and climb, and climb; in vain.  
 Now, his son, Ntikuma, who was standing by, said, “Oh, your eyes have surely died (for shame), would it not have been better if you had turned round the gourd and put it on your back, then doubtless you would have been able to climb. He (the Spider) said, “Clear out, you and your acting like an elder.” Then he turned to climb once more as before, but once again, fruitlessly. Then he considered long, and (finally) took the gourd and put it behind him. Then he set himself to climb, and mounted swiftly, Kra! kra! kra! (was the sound of his climbing); there he goes. He reached where the branches began to spread out from the stem, and he said (to himself), “I, Kwaku Ananse, by the deity, Afi o! I might as well be dead, my child who is so small, so small, so small—there was I, I collected all wisdom (so I thought) in one place, yet some remained which even I did not perceive, and Oh! my child, this still-sucking infant, has shown it to me.” Then he seized that gourd, and there was a sound of rending, tintini! and he cast it away, and there was a sound of scattering, tesee!
 That is how everyone got wisdom; and anyone who did not go there in time (to pick some up) is—excuse my saying so—a fool.
This is my story, which I have related, if it be sweet, (or) if it be not sweet, take some elsewhere, and bring some back to me.  (Rattray, 4)(Retranslated from original Akan)
 
 

 Ìjàpá Gathers all the Wisdom of the World into a Gourd (Yoruba)

 
Ìjàpá is an animal that is very wise; wisdom of trickery, he is full to the brim with wisdom of deception. He loved to praise himself to the extreme. He also used that wisdom to put on airs and brag. He wanted for all people and all animals to honor him to the point that he would become the one that everyone would wake up to greet first thing in the morning and the one everyone would run to call among all creation that Ọlórun created. He began to think within himself that if he gave effort, he would be able to gather all the wisdom of the world together so that he would be able to hide it so that he could be the controller of all the wisdom in the world. At that time, he would become the person who was the most wise, and he would give the wisdom away as a present for anyone who pleased him. If he wanted, he would sell it, and this way, he would become rich and famous. His name would be on the lips of elders and children alike. He would become an advisor for rulers, and a councilor of those with titles and all those with prominent names.  
 Ìjàpá went to look for a giant gourd with a cap, then started to gather all the wisdom of the world and stuff it all into his remarkable gourd. He started going from town to town looking for wisdom all over and put it all into the deep calabash that he carried in his hand. When the gourd became full; that he had gone to all places that were known in the world at that time, he went back to his home, in his town.  
 When he reached home, his very stomach was sweet with happiness that he had done what his heart wanted. Now he would look for a rope to tie up the gourd, then he would climb to the top of the baobab tree that was in his backyard where he would hide the wisdom that he had gathered.
 In a flash, he got a strong rope and tied it around the neck of the gourd tightly. Then he tied it around his neck, hanging in front and started to climb the tree. However, his hand wouldn’t reach the baobab tree. The huge gourd in front of him wouldn’t let his hand be able to reach the tree. He tried endlessly, but it wasn’t happening. If his hand reached the tree, his feet wouldn’t reach; if his feet, reached, his hands wouldn’t. Ìjàpá started to sweat profusely. His whole body was soaked. The gourd slipped from the tree trunk, his hands slipped, his feet wouldn’t catch on the tree. Ìjàpá climbed then fell off and hit the ground. An abundance of troubles. He was breathing heavily like an agílíntí lizard. Exhaustion took hold of him, his eyes became cloudy, thirst dried him. Since morning he had started his efforts to climb the tree, but it wasn’t successful even as the sun was beginning to set.  
 A hunter was coming from hunting and he met Ìjàpá where he was in the throes of his unsuccessful efforts to climb the baobab with his gourd of wisdom on his chest. The hunter asked Ìjàpá, “What are you up to, friend?”
“Don’t you see this gourd hanging from my neck? Well, it’s filled to bursting with wisdom! I want to be the controller of all the wisdom of the world, that’s why I want to climb this huge tree and hide this gourd at the top. Anyone who wants to use wisdom will have to come buy it from me! Whoever I happen to like, I’ll give it to them for free. It’s a tree that I want to climb, good hunter.”
 “Hope you do it! You are a wise person in truth. But, I think that if you hang the gourd around your back, then your hands will be able to reach the tree and it’ll be easy for you to climb this tree.”
 Ìjàpá hung the gourd down his back and started to climb the tree; fẹẹ, fẹẹ, fẹẹ was the sound that it made as he reached the top. His stomach spoiled with unhappiness as he said “Háà! Could it be that it is true, that old proverb of the elders that ‘No one finishes gaining wisdom in this world.’ I who called myself a wise person, could it be that I’m the president of all fools. I wasted my time for ten years that I collected up all this wisdom! Without a doubt, there is no end to wisdom in the world. If not for this hunter, I wouldn’t have been able to climb this tree. Only a madman would say that he’s wise to completion in this world.  
 This is how Ìjàpá spoke as he got madder, he smashed this gourd on the ground from the very top of the tree and the gourd broke into pieces with the sound wómúwómú. All the wisdom he gathered scattered throughout the world. This is the reason why wisdom is everywhere in the world and there is no one who is so wise that he can’t ask for wisdom from others.
 This story teaches us that we shouldn’t think that we are too wise. “The wisdom of others prevents the elder from being called mad,” if you’ll excuse me for citing this proverb. A persons who asks questions doesn’t get lost. So, if an issue is difficult, we should ask for advice from someone else. (Babalọlá 1982: 16)
[HIDE]http://abibitumikasa.com/yabb/Attachments/OgbonNyansa.pdf[/HIDE]