Research & Development: Yoruba Folktales that I have chosen to adapt

I chose this folktale because I liked the story and thought it would work well as a modern adaptation. I felt the story expressed greed and forgiveness. Though these topics could be serious I feel that I could take a comic spin on it while still expressing the themes in the story.

The Stolen Soup Aroma

‘’A long time ago in the village of Ipetumodu, there lived a poor woman. This woman was so poor that she did not have any soup for her eba. The eba is a starchy paste made from cassava flour and it is rather unappetizing to eat all by itself. Across the street from this poor woman lived another woman who cooked egusi soup everyday.
One day, as the poor woman was sitting down to her only meal for the entire day, a small bowl of eba, the aroma from her neighbours cooking wafted down through her window.
Perhaps she will be kind enough to let me have a little soup for my eba she thought. So she took her bowl of eba and headed over to her neighbour who was busy stirring a big pot of egusi soup.
Please, may I have a little soup for my eba, the poor woman asked.
The woman stirring the egusi soup looked up to see her raggedy-looking neighbour and replied, if you can’t make your own egusi soup, then you don’t deserve to have any.
The poor woman went back to her own hut and sat outside her doorsteps where the aroma from her neighbour’s egusi was very strong. She would scoop some eba with her hands; inhale a big dose of egusi soup aroma while she swallowed the lump of eba.
The egusi woman, seeing this destitute neighbour eating her soups aroma got very angry. She ran out and yelled at the woman Stop eating the aroma from my soup! But the poor woman did not stop; she kept inhaling the aroma from the egusi soup while she ate her eba. She found the aroma from the soup very satisfying.
Everyday, whenever the rich aroma of egusi soup wafted into the poor woman’s hut, she would quickly make a little bowl of eba and go outside to inhale the pleasant aroma. The egusi woman was getting very furious and she decided to take her case to the oba, the king of their village.
This woman steals the aroma from my egusi to eat her eba. She must be punished, the egusi woman told the oba. The oba heard the story and agreed that the poor woman should indeed be punished for stealing soup aroma and he ordered the egusi woman to carry out the punishment.
She stole your aroma therefore you shall flog her shadow, the oba told the egusi woman. You shall flog her shadow forty times and she was given the big stick with which she would carry out her justice.
The egusi woman, wielding her big stick to beat the poor woman’s shadow felt very foolish. She felt so foolish that she asked the poor woman for forgiveness and offered to give her real egusi soup from that day on.’’

 

I was assisted with ideas and tips for the adaptation of the story from Fiona Stuart in Level 2, Animation. She helped give her feedback, as I wanted an outsider’s opinion, so that was very helpful.  I have decided to change the title to ‘Stolen Goods’. My story is below. Currently now work on the script, and adapting another story for the second episode.

The Tortoise and the princess who never speaks

There was a king who had a daughter named Bola. Bola had never spoken a word and the king was very distressed. He had done all that he could to make Bola speak, powerful medicine men had brewed her all kinds of herbs and recited incantations but nothing worked. The king promised his daughter and half his kingdom to anybody who can make his daughter speak.

Tortoise heard of this reward and set out to get it. He bought a bottle of honey and placed it by a bush near where Bola lived while he hid himself. When Bola came by and saw the bottle of honey, she put her hand in it. Immediately Tortoise jumped out of his hiding place and grabbed Bola by the hand. ‘’Thief!?’’, he cried. So it is you who steal my honey and ate it.

‘’No’’ said Bola. I have not stolen your honey to eat?

Tortoise then tied Bola with a rope and started to lead her back to the palace singing,

Bola stole honey to eat
Kayin, Kayin
Bola is a cunning cheat
Kayin, Kayin
Bola is a shameless thief
Kayin, Kayin
To this, Bola sang in response,

Into the wood of the elephant I went with the elephant
Kayin, Kayin
Into the wood of the buffalo I went with the buffalo
Kayin, Kayin
And Tortoise has come to accuse me of stealing honey to eat
Kayin, Kayin
When they arrived at the palace, the king and all who were gathered were amazed to hear Bola sing.

My daughter, who has never been heard to speak, speaks today! The king cried.

As he had promised he gave half his kingdom to Tortoise and Tortoise married the king’s daughter.