The story of Joromi retold
Many years ago, when the world was still young, and there were many mystical secrets in the dark places of the earth, existed a village.
Now this village, called Ile-Meta, was located at the edge of a particularly thick forest, one which was notorious far and wide for being quite as dangerous as it was mysterious. Anyone who wandered deep into the forest and came back out was considered brave, so hunters were held in high esteem.
Anyone who grew up in a rural area in Nigeria, or at least has lived there for a bit, will know that forests are very mysterious places. Although due to deforestation and urbanization, the country is losing its forest resources, there are still a few places where the trees are old, and the branches grow high and thick, where the roots grow long and deep.
In these places, the mystery of the old world remains, well-hidden from the eyes of the average millennial urban skeptic and the over-intelligent scientist and philosopher.
Now in Ile-Meta lived a normal couple. The man was a farmer, and trapper, and although he depended more on his agrarian pursuits than his hunting prowess to provide food for himself and his household, he was still a worthy hunter. The woman was a weaver, and a mighty good one at that. Normal people, by the very standard.
But they were childless, so they were looked at as not very normal by the rest of the community. Long ago, it was the belief that lack of children was a punishment by the gods, or some other higher power, since the average African has always been prolific, as far as reproduction is concerned. This belief still holds traction in many rural communities in many tropical African rural communities.
Even though the man was noted for his bravery, being a hunter, and the woman for her skill, being a weaver, they were both still looked on with the stigma of infertility. But they bore their lot quietly, hoping that things would change soon. And change they did, yet not at all in the way expected. One day, the man had gone into the forest to check on his traps. They had caught nothing, and he was just about resetting them and going home, when off went his cap from his head.
It was one of the forest spirits. A strange monkey-like creature which held the cap in its hand, rejoicing over the quality of the material.
To be continued...
Thanks for coming!
That little boy,