How Ijapa Won the Oba's Daughter

The Oba (king) declared that any man who could build a house that reached the heavens would win his daughter's hand in marriage. Many strong and wealthy men tried, but their houses of mud and wood would always collapse. Ijapa the Tortoise, however, went to the Oba and accepted the challenge. He did not bring building materials. Instead, he brought a single, very long rope. He stood in the Oba's courtyard and threw one end of the rope so high into the air that it disappeared into the clouds. He then began to climb the rope. After he had disappeared from sight, he slid back down. "Your Majesty," he announced, "I have surveyed the site in the heavens, and I am ready to build. However, my heavenly construction crew says the ground here is too soft. They need you to send up a foundation of pounded yam, then a layer of stew, and finally a layer of roasted goat." The Oba and his chiefs, bewildered by Ijapa's confidence and strange request, spent the entire day preparing a massive feast and hoisting it up the rope. At the end of the day, Ijapa slid down the rope again. "The foundation is laid!" he declared. "Now, please wait while I ascend to finish the work." He then climbed the rope and was never seen again. He had used the impossible task to trick the king into giving him the largest feast he had ever eaten.