Eshu

A long time ago in the faraway land of Keei there existed a god called Eshu. Eshu was a mischievous god. He ate where he never sowed and reaped where he never planted. Eshu was a god who did not mind a little bloodshed as long as the blood watered the tree from where his fruit was picked. He thrived by convincing the people that their problems were his problems. But when the people faced hunger, diseases and poverty, Eshu and his kin lived in sumptuousness.

The people of Keei were famed for their farming. They would till endless tracts of land and plant cassava, millet, vegetables, fruit and rear countless animals. This is because the Keei people were descended from two great farmers, Inga the father from the mountains and Rewe the father from the lakes.

Inga and Rewe were children of the same father who was called Keei and who the land was named after. When Keei’s two sons had come of age and needed a place to settle, he allocated the mountains to Inga and all the descendants who would come after him while Rewe was  apportioned the lakeside to occupy and till with his descendants.

Despite this, the people of Keei always lived in peace and harmony with each other. To avoid conflict among themselves, they decided to have their two vast farms separated by a long wide road that ran from the north of the farm to the south. This notwithstanding, they would till their lands side by side, sing the same songs of their forebearers as they planted and share their porridge during breaks taken from weeding their two magnificent farms.

All this time, Eshu the god of mischief would watch them from his palatial home up in the sky. But when the time for harvest came, Eshu would immediately spring into action. Harvest time was Eshu’s most favorite period in his life for this was his time to reap where he did not sow.

As the people of Keei, the descendants of Rewe and Inga prepared their sickles and sacks in readiness to go and pick their harvest from the farmlands, Eshu would summon his wizard who would perform a rite on him. This rite would make Eshu acquire two colors. The right half of his body would turn into orange, the royal color of the Rewes while the left side would turn into red, the royal color of the Ingas. All Eshu needed to do after this was to wreck confusion among the people of Keei.

It therefore happened that during a harvest season, Eshu in his two colors would wait for the Ingas and Rewes two descend on their two farms and start harvesting. While at it, Eshu would appear in his two colors and walk from the north end of the road separating the two farms to the south end facing ahead and not mentioning a word. In those days, gods were revered beings and whenever he appeared, the people would lay prostrate in honor.

Once he had disappeared at the south end, the Rewes would ask their brothers the Ingas “Have you seen how magnificent Eshu was in his orange splendor, the royal color of Rewe?” The Ingas would then respond in objection, “That’s a lie! Eshu passed by in red, the color of our forefather Inga.”

And the Rewes would accuse the Ingas of calling them liars and the Ingas would accuse the Rewes of the same. The two would put aside their harvest and get embroiled in a bitter fight about who between them was right. Meanwhile, Eshu’s minions would gather from the abandoned harvest the best picks. After his servants had filled his sacks with most of harvest, Eshu would carry it back to his glorified home up in the sky, living the people of Keei with leftovers to gather.

And the people would not have enough to eat and no strength to fight any more. Meanwhile from his palace high up, Eshu would enjoy the sweat of the people’s labor, watching impishly as they went back to their farms to till, to plant and to weed. Eshu was a patient god, he would patiently wait for the next harvesting season.