Jụọ Ndigbo

One late night during the planting season, known as  oge unwu  in Igbo land, a widow sent her only son to fetch some fire embers from a neighbor. The boy set off and decided to take a shortcut, passing under a massive breadfruit ( Ụkwa ) tree. As he walked beneath it, a heavy breadfruit suddenly fell from a branch, striking him on the head. The impact was fatal, and he was killed instantly. When his mother was alerted, she was overcome with sorrow and began to wail and lament. Gịnị g’emere m Ụkwa nooooo! O nwa’ele ele! Gịnị g’emere m Ụkwa nooooo! O nwa’ele ele! Ụkwa mere gịnị? Ụkwa dagburu nwa-Aka n’ụkpọrọ k’ọgara ngụtara nne ya ọkụ! Then, the Pestle divided the breadfruit. The widow started to wail and lament again: Gịnị g’emere m Obi nooooo! O nwa’ele ele! Gịnị g’emere m Obi nooooo! O nwa’ele ele! Obi mere gịnị? Obi mawara ụkwa. Ụkwa mere gịnị? Ụkwa dagburu nwa-Aka n’ụkpọrọ k’ọgara ngụtara nne ya ọkụ! Then, the termites ate the Pestle. She started to wail and lament again: G...

I remember again the stories told us by my grandmother about an orphan whose father’s wife (or stepmother) refused to give a piece of Ụdara fruit when she was sharing the same Ụdara fruit with her stepsiblings. Her stepmother separated the children between hers and the orphan. This story depicts an orphan as a child who had lost a mother. We know that an orphan is someone who has lost one or both parents. We will maintain an understanding of the usage of the word ‘orphan’ in the story to signify a child who has lost a parent (mother) in this context. Quietly, the orphan collected the seeds of the Ụdara fruit her stepsiblings had thrown away and planted them in a corner of their garden. Every day, she watered the seeds as she sang: Ụdara m tobe. Nda! Ụdara m tobe. Nda! Tobe! Tobe! Tobe! Nda! Nwunye nna m. Nda! Zụta ụdara n'ahịa. Nda! Rachanwo nwa enwe nne. Nda! Nwa enwe nna, nwa enwe nne. Nda! El'ụwa bụ ọrịrị. Nda! Onye nọsịa ọ naba. Nda! Bere kwukwukwu kọmsịa Bere otu nwa k...