How Ijapa Brought the Yam to the World

In the beginning, there was no yam on earth. The only yam was in the sky, and it belonged to the Orishas. The animals on earth were starving. Ijapa the Tortoise, seeing his children cry from hunger, decided he would go to the sky to get the yam. He asked the great Eagle to carry him. In the sky, Ijapa went before the Orishas and made a great show of respect. "The people of Earth are your humble servants," he said, "but we are starving. We beg you to share a small piece of your divine yam so we may live." The Orishas were moved by his plea and gave him a small piece of yam, but warned him, "This is sacred food. You must cook it before you eat it." Ijapa thanked them and returned to Earth. But he was greedy. Instead of sharing the yam, he planted the small piece in secret. It grew into a huge vine with many large yams. He cooked one for himself and found it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. He kept the secret of the yam to himself until his wife, suspicious of his fat belly, followed him to his secret farm and revealed the truth to all the other animals. Though they were angry at his selfishness, they now had yams to cultivate, and Ijapa, the selfish trickster, had accidentally become the one who brought the most important food to humanity.