By
Obododimma Oha
In Igbo folklore, Tortoise is famous as a character of great wisdom, not just a trickster. In fact, there are many amazing tales that that try to show the great wisdom of Tortoise. Is it how he married a beautiful princess with just a grain of maize? Is it his escape from the claws of Lion? Is it his games of deceit against fishes and one-track-minded lion he meets on the way home? He is just pictured as the wisest. But his wisdom sometimes worked against him. He could show great "unwisdom" especially in some utterances, maybe out of arrogance and his being intoxicated as the wise one. This is about one of his utterances and the underlying foolishness.
" Mbe sị na agha su, ya azọgbue nwaanyị dị ime/agadi nwaanyị. Agha esu, ndị ọzọ azọgbue nwaanyị dị ime/agadi nwaanyị. A sị na mbe mere ya, gaa jide mbe." (Tortoise once boasted that if war broke out, he would trample a pregnant woman/ old woman to death. War broke out and other people trampled a pregnant woman/ old woman to death. But Tortoise was accused and arrested.)
Tortoise must have been so thoughtless and stupid to have made the statement reported. In the main, the statement indicates that
--- he was the one already accusing himself.
--- he thought it was greatness but it wasn't.
--- utterances could be dangerous, which was why the Igbo say that hands and legs can go to war and return, but the tongue won't.
It is difficult to understand how Tortoise could have made that statement. Was he terribly drunk? The Yoruba would ask: "Ki l'o mu (What did he drink?) Even then, drunkards are not that stupid. In fact, they are philosophers and do philosophize when filled with wine. But Tortoise was not reported drunk! What must have entered him? Arrogance? Evil spirit?
Generally, pregnant women, as vessels carrying another lives, are special people in need of protection. To think and talk of attacking them was the height of heartlessness. But Tortoise who knew these things chose to present himself as a heartless criminal. Maybe he did not say it. Maybe he just wanted to know what people would say and to shock us. Maybe. Or maybe he would deny later and call it fake news. It has become fashionable to deny, especially since everything has become questionable.
OK, a proverb and a warning! Just a warning that we must guard our tongues, watch we say. Thank God. It is not real to life. Wondering how Tortoise could sleep after bringing down a bee-hive on his head, the blood of a pregnant or old woman after him!
Apparently, Tortoise was thinking highly of himself as a hero, a gallant made by war and who could do terrible things. Trampling on a pregnant or old woman was one of those terrible things! But that statement is also against itself and against its utterer. Killing a pregnant or old woman, instead of attracting our respect, attracts our condemnation and outrage. Tortoise must be a bloody bastard made by war!
There is a little contradiction there : if he thought that he was building a grand image of himself, he was rather creating problems for himself and ruining his image. He was identifying himself as a criminal, as if being a criminal and being able to do terrible things are admirable.
How is the pregnant or old woman the enemy for Tortoise to kill? Obviously, he misfired, showing that he did not even know the target!
This is one occasion we are proverbially warned about discourse, not to just utter whatever enters our heads. We are invited by the saying to weigh our words always and not just talk or write. The Igbo would say, in that respect, "Okwu dị na nkà" ("There is craft in talk.").
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