Ese Ofun-Meji

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"When one leg goes forth
the other must follow.
If the father leads,
the child follows behind.
If, however, the child walks in front,
then it will be honored as greater
than once was its father."
Ofun once was the first of all Odu,
but he arrived late in Ife-Ondaiye:
others came before him, because on his way
he had drank his fill, nicely and thirstily
drunk lots of palm wine.
Finally arriving on Earth, Ofun found
Ejiogbe having taken his place,
Ejiogbe was first among Odu,
Ofun was mad, and quite disappointed.
The others said: "You were our leader,
always in front, and we thought
when we arrived here to find you,
having like always gone before.
So we simply took the places
in rank we thought ours."
Then the people of Ife confirmed,
after having heard this in earnest:
"When one leg goes forth
the other must follow.
If the father leads,
the child follows behind.
If, however, the child walks in front,
then it will be honored as greater
than once was its father."




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