Shrew and Squirrel with Tortoise

In those ancient days when human beings were not in existence, the rest of the animals ruled the affairs of the world. They talked, and shared cultural heritage without having any known religion.

They met regularly at a place where buying and selling were done. Elephant was the Market Leader while Lion was the Deputy. These animals had their individual weaknesses, for they were not perfect. The smelling Shrew was known for his love for fighting, and Tortoise was notorious at intruding into matters that were not of his concern.

So on this particular day in the market square, a fight broke out between the Squirrel and the Shrew. Every other animal did not bother to settle the fight because, Shrews was a renowned trouble-creator. So, it's expected that any sensible animal will avoid Shrews as much as possible.

Tortoise because of his love for rumor mongering; always wanting to break every news, adding and removing details as he liked, rushed to the scene of the fight. When he got to the scene of the battle, he observed that the Shrew was having an edge over the Squirrel, so he jumped into the fight.

But this act of Tortoise unleashed the fury of Shrew, he fumed like Volcano and breathed like the raging sea. The Shrews abandoned the Squirrel and then pounced upon Tortoise. He bit the nose of Tortoise so hard that he wailed like a man whose girlfriend left on the wedding day. Tortoise howled so loud to attract other animals attention, but they did not attend to him. 

Then Tortoise sang:

Asín tòhun Ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́ —————– jo mi jo

Àwọn ló jọ njà ———————- jo mi jo

Ìjà ré mo wá là ———————-jo mi jo

Asín wá fi mí ni mú jẹ ———— jo mi jo

Ẹ gbà mí lọwọ́ rẹ̀ —————— jo mi jo

Àwò mí mbẹ lọ́jà ——————-jo mi jo

Meaning:

Shrew and Squirrel

They were fighting

I am here to settle the fight

But Shrew bite my nose

Please deliver me from his grip

My goods are

still in the market.

Yet, despite his song, the other animals were not moved to help him. They believed that the Tortoise deserved his fate. And when it dawned on Tortoise that he was on his own, he decided to help himself out. He then made the gallant effort of pulling his nose together with the Shrews’ mouth all into his shell. And it's a success. He shut his shell on the Shrews' mouth. Shrews battled so hard to free his mouth, but the more he tried the longer his mouth get became. 

So as a result of this, Shrew became a long mouthed animal while Tortoise evolved toward having shorter nose.

#DontGossip

#AvoidFight

#YorubaFolklore

© FERT, 2015