In Umuagu, a village where breadfruit trees shade gossip and the harmattan writes on every face, Tortoise, Mbekwu, had a daughter as lovely as ripe mango. Suitors came with yams and cowries, with wrappers bright as parrot wings. Mbekwu smiled, counted loudly, and delayed quietly. He told each man, Return in seven days with a better offer, the girl deserves the weight of a festival.
The daughter, Adaeze, watched with a heart like a bird in a calabash, fluttering, quiet, trapped. She liked Obinna, a young farmer with honest feet and patient speech. He brought small yams, not showy, and a hen that clucked like a promise. But Mbekwu had a plan that walked on many legs. He wanted the suitor with the biggest display, so the village would speak his name with respect, not his shell with jokes.
When the chief’s nephew arrived with twenty baskets of gifts, Mbekwu almost swallowed his own cleverness. Yet he said, Return in seven days, and bring kola that laughs. The nephew frowned, then nodded, pride pulling his mouth flat. Obinna returned too, with a better hen, a slightly bigger yam, and a shy smile that said, I am growing, I am trying. Mbekwu shook his head and pointed at the nephew’s path, rich men walk quickly, my friend, do not trip under their dust.
Adaeze cried to her mother, Mama, is a wife bought by baskets or by breath. Her mother sighed, Your father loves the sound of counting. Speak to your choice before the counting finishes you. So one evening, as the moon stood like a calabash in the sky, Adaeze met Obinna by the breadfruit tree and said, If I come to your farm at dawn, will you still want me when the yams are stubborn. He answered, If you come with truth, I will not fear the ground.
Meanwhile, Mbekwu plotted a final trick. He announced a test, Whoever brings the river’s smile and the forest’s whisper will win. The nephew sent servants sprinting. Obinna stood by the river, confused, until Adaeze touched the water and it wrinkled in small happy lines. She cupped the water, carried it in her palm to Mbekwu, and said, This is the river’s smile, it appears when love touches it. Then she picked a leaf and held it to Obinna’s ear, and the leaf rubbed softly, a small sound, this is the forest’s whisper, it speaks to those who listen, not those who shout.
The village laughed, then clapped, then hushed. Mbekwu’s eyes narrowed. He wanted a bigger bride price, yet the people had seen a wiser test answered with a wiser heart. The chief’s nephew bristled, I will triple my gifts. Mbekwu’s fingers twitched like a lizard’s tail, but Grandmother Omalicha spoke, If you price a daughter beyond love, you sell a stranger into your own house. The proverb walked the air like a proud goat. Mbekwu swallowed his greed.
He insisted, however, on one more display, a feast where each suitor would serve the village with his own hands. The nephew hired men to serve in his name, their bracelets jingled more than their backs bent. Obinna cooked with his mother, served elders first, and kept ladles warm for little children. Adaeze watched and felt her heart sit down, calm, ready.
At last, Mbekwu nodded and said, I wanted a mountain of wealth, I found a river that does not dry. He took smaller bride price, still enough to quiet his love of counting, and sent his daughter with kola that truly laughed. At the wedding, a storyteller spoke, Beauty is a mirror, it shows what stands before it. Adaeze smiled at Obinna, who stood barefoot, steady, grateful, the ground answering his feet.
Moral, A bright heart is worth more than heavy baskets
Author’s Note, Igbo marriage customs balance bride price, community feasting, and the test of character. This version turns Tortoise’s cunning into a social pressure that nearly sells love for applause, then resolves through proverb authority and public service.
Knowledge Check
Cunning, What habit drives Mbekwu, answer, Love of counting, delaying for bigger gifts
Choice, Who does Adaeze prefer, answer, Obinna, the patient farmer
Test, What wins the contest, answer, River’s smile and forest’s whisper shown through love and listening
Intervention, Who rebukes greed, answer, Grandmother Omalicha
Service, What reveals true worth at the feast, answer, Serving elders and children by hand
Lesson, What outweighs heavy baskets, answer, A bright, steady heart
