My Nigerian friend John Sodipo was showing me his family history on the Internet during our lunch break. I began to look it over and was interested in the following paragraph about the patriarch's death:
"Towards the end of Chief Oyeneye Majekodunmi's life, when there were no wars to wage, on one occasion , as he sat in his compound surrounded by wives, children, servants and slaves,feeding the animals with cassava, he suddenly stopped feeding them, dropped the knife and the cassava, leaned back on his couch, beat his chest three times and exclaimed as follows " Ose opo; aki ni kan duro, Emi Majekodunmi, Emi Majekodunmi, Ogorun odun loni nmo si nbo oruko mi" which came to pass when his children and great grandchildren celebrated his 100 years anniversary in 1984 after his death in 1884."
One day I am going to have to ask him what the chief's dying words (" Ose opo; aki ni kan duro, Emi Majekodunmi, Emi Majekodunmi, Ogorun odun loni nmo si nbo oruko mi") mean but it's sort of more fun not to know and just wonder.
7 comments:
Oh, it's a good thing you have a multilingual friend here...that Nigerian phrase is just the opening lyrics to Elvis' "Blue Suede Shoes."
But what is the cassava he is feeding the animals? It sounds like a Greek dip or something and I was wanting the recipe.
Cassava's just a plant which I think is low in nutritional value.
in the absence of my internet,
PIM
PIM
PIM
PIM
PIM
Cheers and cheerio!
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This post also reminds me of one of my daughter's favorite books from childhood, about a little Chinese boy named Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sa Rembo Chari Bari Ruchi Pip Peri Pembo. (Say it aloud a few times---it's like aerobics for the mouth). TTTNSRCBRPPP had an unfavored, slighted little brother named simply "Chang."
Apparently the name Majekodunmi translates into English as 'may the pain of life, the pain I've caused other people, not affect me' :) or something similar. John was telling me some young heir of the family died when a servant lost control of a horse that then killed him so they chose this name. That must have been before 1800.
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