Given

The Story of Orire N'jem

Many, many rains ago, when the Sha still walked the world of man, three of them had a disagreement. Father Sho, patron of hunters, insisted that only a hunter's skill mattered when bringing down a beast, but Mother Ib and Father Ji, twin Sha of fortune, argued that luck was most important. They argued for five nights and days, until wise Father Ri should come upon them.

"Here is what you must do," said Father Ri. "On a small island in the Southern sea is a tribe plagued by a vicious baboon king. He is always trying to snatch up their children to eat. Choose a celebrated hunter and send them to slay this baboon, but lend them none of your divine aid. Then watch: does your hunter succeed by skill or luck? This will give you your answer."

So Father Sho chose a Prince known for his skill with sword and spear and bade him go to the Island by the Southern Sea. He would have from one season of rain to the next to slay the baboon king. The beleaguered tribe welcomed him and his entourage in style, feasting and celebrating. But days and weeks and turns of the moon passed by, and neither the Prince nor any of his warriors made much effort to kill the baboon king. Not when the tribe's Chieftain grumbled at their continued feasting at his expense. Not as all the tribe's children remained hidden away in their huts, growing sickly and stunted from lack of sun. Finally, when the rainy season was almost upon them again, the Prince set out on the hunt. But the baboon king was tricky, and he used ach'e to hide among the jungle leaves. And when the rains came they turned the floor to mud, washing away any tracks.

"This is impossible,' the Prince told his entourage. "Let us wait until the rains are done and try then. Father Sho is the patron of hunters, he will understand."

But all three Sha were enraged. "Even with a full entourage of warriors to aid you, you have failed to complete your task," they told him. "You are a disgrace not only to yourself but to your tribe, and so you will all be cursed!" The Prince raced back home and found that with the best hunters gone, lions had eaten many of their goats, cows and chickens, and mice had infested their stores of millet. It would be a hard year and many would perish until the next harvest.

With their argument yet unsettled, the Sha needed to send a new hunter. "This time we will chose," Mother Ib told Father Sho. The twins found a hunter from a hardened mountain tribe—a Chieftain's daughter well-beloved for saving her people from a feral fleet- cat. Mother Ib and Father Ji appeared before her put her to the task. 

"You will fell this baboon king, and you will go alone. Seek no aid and trust in our divine protection. We will not help you succeed, but neither will we let you perish. You will have from this rain to the next to complete the hunt. Succeed and receive our blessings, but fail and your whole tribe will bear the brunt of our displeasure."

So off the Princess went, spear in hand. After their encounter with the Prince, the tribe by the Southern Sea were not happy to have her. They gave her a small hut that leaked when it rained, and meager rations of pounded cassava. But the Princess paid it no mind. Every day she went into the jungle to hunt, but as the cool rains gave way to hot summer and back again, she saw not so much as a hair of the baboon king, and it sorely hurt her pride. One night, unable to sleep, she stepped outside and cried up to the night sky. "Mother Ib, Father Ji, every day I have stalked the jungles searching for the baboon king, but I can find no sign of him and my time grows ever short. Please, tell me, what would you have me do?"

But except for the croaking toads, the night remained silent. 

The Princess sighed and glanced down, where she saw a pile of rocks lit by an errant moonbeam, and it struck her that they resembled the hunched form of a small child. Thus inspired, she sat beside the rocks, folding herself just as small, and waited. Before too long the baboon king came. He used ach'e to cloak himself in night's darkness, but the Princess heard him sniffing, hungry. She stilled, listening carefully. Suddenly the baboon king screamed in glee, and ran at her. She could not see him, but heard his pounding steps. The Princess gripped her spear, waiting and timing as the footfalls approached her, and at the last moment she thrust out, stabbing the baboon king through the heart. 

The next day the Southern Sea tribe were overjoyed. And when she returned to the mountains she found Mother Ib and Father Ji waiting for her. "Though your skill has cost us an argument, it has brought us great joy to watch you persevere, and so you will be rewarded," they said. They taught her a rune to let her hear and see just as well as the Sha themselves, and that year the rains fell in just the right amount to guarantee a bountiful harvest. 

It has been tradition ever since that in times of dire need, Princes and Princesses will make journeys to far away lands and dedicate their quest to the Sha, in the hope of winning their favor.