THE RARE LEAF YORU`BA´ LEGENDS AND LOVE STORIES: Volume I of Glimpses into Yoru`ba´ Culture

"The Quest for the Rare Leaf" teaches that breaking tradition can have grave consequences when the Olúwo (town council leader) forces his daughter to marry someone she does not love. "The Legend of the Queen's Basket" tells the story of how the be¿ é¿ rè¿ (first daughter) of the O¿ba (King) becomes the custodian of the Queen's Basket, which offers him untold powers and contains the ìbálé (sheets bearing the proof of virginity) of the village women. "The Legend of O¿rúnmìlà" is the tale Àjànà who dedicates his life to learning and teaching the Word of God and is believed to have become a god himself - O¿runmìlà (god of wisdom and divination). "The Ebìrìpò Episode" tells the story of how, when the town's warriors are lured away to help their seeming allies, the women of Ogèrè devise a plot to entice the invaders with èbìrìpò and defeat them all.