Of the Pretty Stranger Who Killed the King
In this short story, a people of Itu were plotting to kill King Mbotu of Old Town, Calabar. They tried several ways to end the king's life, but they were unsuccessful. A witch heard of the troubles of the Itu people and volunteered to kill Mbotu. Therefore, the witch transformed herself into a youthful and beautiful girl. The king fell in lust with her and asked her to marry him. As part of the plan, the witch married the king. She prepared with a special dish that has sleeping herbs which immediately put the king to sleep when he took a bite of the food. While he snooze, she removed the hidden knife from her bosom and cut off his head. The witch traveled to the Itu people and delivered the king's head. The moral of the story was: Never marry a stranger, no matter how pretty she may be.
The Disobedient Daughter who Married a Skull
I found this story quite interesting. In summary, a beautiful girl named Afiong refused to marry any man in the village because they were all ugly. She wanted to be with a man that was just as attractive as she was. Well, one day the spirit known as Skull, made himself into a perfect man by picking body parts from different men. He took a nice head from one man, strong arms from another, and so on. Skull presented himself to Afiong who fell in love with him. Although she didn't know him very well, she agreed to marry him and left her village. Little did she know that Skull was taking her back to the spirit land where his true ugly form was revealed. Not only that, but the spirits were cannibals and wanted to Afiong. In short, Afiong ran away from the spirit world and agreed to marry any man that her parents picked. She ended up with a man that was her father's friend.
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| My take on Afiong and Skull. Source. |
It was interesting to see a reoccurring theme of marrying someone that you know. It must have been a common practice in Africa to marry strangers.
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