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The Woman with Two Skins
EYAMBA I. of Calabar was a very powerful king. He fought and conquered all the
surrounding countries, killing all the old men and women, but the able-bodied
men and girls he caught and brought back as slaves, and they worked on the farms
until they died.
This king had two hundred wives, but none of them had borne a son to him. His
subjects, seeing that he was becoming an old man, begged him to marry one of the
spider's daughters, as they always had plenty of children.
But when the king saw the spider's daughter he did not like her, as she was
ugly, and the people said it was because her mother had had so many children at
the same time.
However, in order to please his people he married the ugly girl, and placed her
among his other wives, but they all complained because she was so ugly, and said
she could not live with them.
The king, therefore, built her a separate house for herself, where she was given
food and drink the same as the other wives.
Every one jeered at her on account of her ugliness; but she was not really ugly,
but beautiful, as she was born with two skins, and at her birth her mother was
made to promise that she should never remove the ugly skin until a certain time
arrived save only during the night, and that she must put it on again before
dawn.
Now the king's head wife knew this, and was very fearful lest the king should
find it out and fall in love with the spider's daughter; so she went to a Ju Ju
man and offered him two hundred rods to make a potion that would make the king
forget altogether that the spider's daughter was his wife.
This the Ju Ju man finally consented to do, after much haggling over the price,
for three hundred and fifty rods; and he made up some "medicine," which the head
wife mixed with the king's food.
For some months this had the effect of making the king forget the spider's
daughter, and he used to pass quite close to her without recognising her in any
way. When four months had elapsed and the king had not once sent for Adiaha (for
that was the name of the spider's daughter), she began to get tired, and went
back to her parents.
Her father, the spider, then took her to another Ju Ju man, who, by making
spells and casting lots, very soon discovered that it was the king's head wife
who had made the Ju Ju and had enchanted the king so that he would not look at
Adiaha.
He therefore told the spider that Adiaha should give the king some medicine
which he would prepare, which would make the king remember her. He prepared the
medicine, for which the spider had to pay a large sum of money; and that very
day Adiaha made a small dish of food, into which she had placed the medicine,
and presented it to the king.
Directly he had eaten the dish his eyes were opened and he recognised his wife,
and told her to come to him that very evening. So in the afternoon, being very
joyful, she went down to the river and washed, and when she returned she put on
her best cloth and went to the king's palace.
Directly it was dark and all the lights were out she pulled off her ugly skin,
and the king saw how beautiful she was, and was very pleased with her; but when
the cock crowed Adiaha pulled on her ugly skin again, and went back to her own
house.
This she did for four nights running, always taking the ugly skin off in the
dark, and leaving before daylight in the morning. In course of time, to the
great surprise of all the people, and particularly of the king's two hundred
wives, she gave birth to a son; but what surprised them most of all was that
only one son was born, whereas her mother had always had a great many children
at a time, generally about fifty.
The king's head wife became more jealous than ever when Adiaha had a son; so she
went again to the Ju Ju man, and by giving him a large present induced him to
give her some medicine which would make the king sick and forget his son.
And the medicine would then make the king go to the Ju Ju man, who would tell
him that it was his son who had made him sick, as he wanted to reign instead of
his father. The Ju Ju man would also tell the king that if he wanted to recover
he must throw his son away into the water.
And the king, when he had taken the medicine., went to the Ju Ju man, who told
him everything as had been arranged with the head wife. But at first the king
did not want to destroy his son.
Then his chief subjects begged him to throw his son away, and said that perhaps
in a year's time he might get another son. So the king at last agreed, and threw
his son into the river, at which the mother grieved and cried bitterly.
Then the head wife went again to the Ju Ju man and got more medicine, which made
the king forget Adiaha for three years, during which time she was in mourning
for her son. She then returned to her father, and he got some more medicine from
his Ju Ju man, which Adiaha gave to the king.
And the king knew her and called her to him again, and she lived with him as
before. Now the Ju Ju who had helped Adiaha's father, the spider, was a Water Ju
Ju, and he was ready when the king threw his son into the water, and saved his
life and took him home and kept him alive. And the boy grew up very strong.
After a time Adiaha gave birth to a daughter, and her the jealous wife also
persuaded the king to throw away. It took a longer time to persuade him, but at
last he agreed, and threw his daughter into the water too, and forgot Adiaha
again.
But the Water Ju Ju was ready again, and when he had saved the little girl, he
thought the time had arrived to punish the action of the- jealous wife; so he
went about amongst the head young men and persuaded them to hold a wrestling
match in the market-place every week.
This was done, and the Water Ju Ju told the king's son, who had become very
strong, and was very like to his father in appearance, that he should go and
wrestle, and that no one would be able to stand up before him.
It was then arranged that there should be a grand wrestling match, to which all
the strongest men in the country were invited, and the king promised to attend
with his head wife.
On the day of the match the Water Ju Ju told the king's son that he need not be
in the least afraid, and that his Ju Ju was so powerful, that even the strongest
and best wrestlers in the country would not be able to stand up against him for
even a few minutes.
All the people of the country came to see the great contest, to the winner of
which the king had promised to present prizes of cloth and money, and all the
strongest men came.
When they saw the king's son, whom nobody knew, they laughed and said, "Who
is this small boy? He can have no chance against us." But when they came to
wrestle, they very soon found that they were no match for him. The boy was very
strong indeed, beautifully made and good to look upon, and all the people were
surprised to see how like he was to the king.
After wrestling for the greater part of the day the king's son was declared the
winner, having thrown every one who had stood up against him; in fact, some of
his opponents had been badly hurt, and had their arms or ribs broken owing to
the tremendous strength of the boy.
After the match was over the king presented him with cloth and money, and
invited him to dine with him in the evening. The boy gladly accepted his
father's invitation; and after he had had a good wash in the river, put on his
cloth and went up to the palace, where he found the bead chiefs of the country
and some of the king's most favoured wives.
They then sat down to their meal, and the king had his own son, whom he did not
know, sitting next to him. On the other side of the boy sat the jealous wife,
who had been the cause of all the trouble.
All through the dinner this woman did her best to make friends with the boy,
with whom she had fallen violently in love on account of his beautiful
appearance, his strength, and his being the best wrestler in the country.
The woman thought to herself, "It I will have this boy as my husband, as my
husband is now an old man and will surely soon die." The boy, however, who
was as wise as he was strong, was quite aware of everything the jealous woman
had done, and although he pretended to be very flattered at the advances of the
king's head wife, he did not respond very readily, and went home as soon as he
could.
When he returned to the Water Ju Ju's house he told him everything that had
happened, and the Water Ju Ju said:
"As you are now in high favour with the king, you must go to him to-morrow
and beg a favour from him. The favour you will ask is that all the country shall
be called together, and that a certain case shall be tried, and that when the
case is finished, the man or woman who is found to be in the wrong shall be
killed by the Egbos before all the people."
So the following morning the boy went to the king, who readily granted his
request, and at once sent all round the country appointing a day for all the
people to come in and hear the case tried.
Then the boy went back to the Water Ju Ju, who told him to go to his mother and
tell her who he was, and that when the day of the trial arrived, she was to take
off her ugly skin and appear in all her beauty, for the time had come when she
need no longer wear it. This the son did.
When the day of trial arrived, Adiaha sat in a corner of the square, and nobody
recognised the beautiful stranger as the spider's daughter. Her son then sat
down next to her, and brought his sister with him. Immediately his mother saw
her she said-
"This must be my daughter, whom I have long mourned as dead," and embraced her
most affectionately.
The king and his head wife then arrived and sat on their stones in the middle of
the square, all the people saluting them with the usual greetings.
The king then addressed the people, and said that he had called them together to
hear a strong palaver at the request of the young man who had been the victor of
the wrestling, and who had promised that if the case went against him he would
offer up his life to the Egbo.
The king also said that if, on the other hand, the case was decided in the boy's
favour, then the other party would be killed, even though it were himself or one
of his wives; whoever it was would have to take his or her place on the killing-
stone and have their heads cut off by the Egbos.
To this all the people agreed, and said they would like to hear what the young
man had to say. The young man then walked round the square, and bowed to the
king and the people, and asked the question, "Am I not worthy to be the son of
any chief in the country?" And all the people answered "Yes!"
The boy then brought his sister out into the middle, leading her by the hand.
She was a beautiful girl and well made. When every one had looked at her he
said, "Is not my sister worthy to be any chief's daughter?" And the
people replied that she was worthy of being any one's daughter, even the king's.
Then he called his mother Adiaha, and she came out, looking very beautiful with
her best cloth and beads on, and all the people cheered, as they had never seen
a finer woman. The boy then asked them, "Is this woman worthy of being the
king's wife?" And a shout went up from every one present that she would be
a proper wife for the king, and looked as if she would be the mother of plenty
of fine healthy sons.
Then the boy pointed out the jealous woman who was sitting next to the king, and
told the people his story, how that his mother, who had two skins, was the
spider's daughter; how she had married the king, and how the head wife was
jealous and had made a bad Ju Ju for the king, which made him forget his wife;
how she had persuaded the king to throw himself and his sister into the river,
which, as they all knew, had been done, but the Water Ju Ju had saved both of
them, and had brought them up.
Then the boy said: "I leave the king and all of you people to judge my
case. If I have done wrong, let me be killed on the stone by the Egbos; if, on
the other hand, the woman has done evil, then let the Egbos deal with her as you
may decide."
When the king knew that the wrestler was his son he was very glad, and told the
Egbos to take the jealous woman away, and punish her in accordance with their
laws.
The Egbos decided that the woman was a witch; so they took her into the forest
and tied her up to a stake, and gave her two hundred lashes with a whip made
from hippopotamus hide, and then burnt her alive, so that she should not make
any more trouble, and her ashes were thrown into the river. The king then
embraced his wife and daughter, and told all the people that she, Adiaha, was
his proper wife, and would be the queen for the future.
When the palaver was over, Adiaha was. dressed in fine clothes and beads, and
carried back in state to the palace by the king's servants.
That night the king gave a big feast to all his subjects, and told them how glad
he was to get back his beautiful wife whom he had never known properly before,
also his son who was stronger than all men, and his fine daughter.
The feast continued for a hundred and sixty-six days; and the king made a law
that if any woman was found out getting medicine against her husband, she should
be killed at once. Then the king built three new compounds, and placed many
slaves in them, both men and women.
One compound he gave to his wife, another to his son, and the third he gave to
his daughter. They all lived together quite happily for some years until the
king died, when his son came to the throne and ruled in his stead.
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