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The Tortoise and the Pepper Soup

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Story:

IJ: “Once upon a time, the animals in the forest decided to have a big feast. There was all kinds of food, but the main dish was pepper soup. Oh, that soup! It was so spicy that even the strongest animals couldn’t eat it without feeling it. But they all agreed on a game—whoever makes the sss sound while eating loses the game. You know, that sound when something is so hot that your tongue wants to cool down, and you say sss? Yes, that one.

Now, the Tortoise, he’s very smart, you know. He’s always looking for how to trick others. So, when the challenge started, everybody was eating, and the heat from the soup was too much! But nobody wanted to be the first to make the sss sound. Everyone tried to hold it in, even though their tongues were burning!

But then, the Tortoise, hmm, he’s clever, oh. He turned to them and said, “Remember, oh, nobody should sss!” And every time he said it, he would stretch out the sss sound and use it as his own opportunity to cool his tounge down, but nobody thought twice. They didn’t even realize that he was making the sound too! And so, one by one, the other animals couldn’t hold it anymore. They would make the sss sound, trying to cool their tongues down.

In the end, only Tortoise was left. He was the winner. And do you know what he did? He ate the whole pot of pepper soup by himself! All the other animals had lost because they didn’t think twice about what he was doing!”

Context:

This story was told to the informant by her teacher in school, as part of the oral traditions passed down in the Igbo community. The informant, now a mother, remembers the story vividly because it always made her laugh as a child, and she often retells it to her own children as a way of teaching them about cleverness and the importance of using their minds. In her family, it’s seen as a fun story but also one that reminds them to be mindful of trickery and to always be sharp.

My Interpretation:

This story really highlights the cleverness of the Tortoise, a character who appears often in Igbo folklore. The Tortoise is known for using his intelligence and wit to outsmart others, rather than relying on strength. In this tale, he doesn’t cheat; instead, he plays with the rules of the game. By repeatedly saying, “Nobody should sss,” he himself makes the sound while pretending to remind the others of the rule. The other animals, focused on the heat of the soup, don’t realize what he’s doing and end up losing.

What stands out to me is how this story emphasizes the value of cleverness and quick thinking. It shows that intelligence can be a powerful tool, sometimes even more effective than physical strength. The Tortoise, as a character, isn’t about tricking others maliciously, he simply knows how to navigate a situation with strategy. In Igbo culture, the Tortoise is often seen as a symbol of wisdom, and this story reinforces how using your mind can lead to success, even when others don’t see it coming.

Ijapa the Tortoise Legend/Tale

Nationality: Nigerian
Age: 21
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

Legend:

“Ijapa is a tortoise in the village and every year, the birds have a festival in the sky to celebrate some type of feast. And this festival is super coveted, like there’s lots of food and everything, and [it’s] in the trees and high up. Ijapa, who’s a tortoise, obviously can’t get to the trees, so he starts picking feathers from every bird and makes a set of wings for himself, and he flies up to this festival disguised as a bird with all these feathers that he’s gathered and goes to this banquet. At the banquet, he’s eating all their food, and somehow, someone discovers he’s not a bird and so they go around telling everyone he’s not a bird and he’s infiltrated the banquet. As each of them leave, they take one feather [from Ijapa’s set of wings] and fly away. So, because Ijapa is so big-backed [informant’s words], hungry, and greedy, he’s staying late and doesn’t realize [the birds] are taking his feathers. By the time the last guest has gone, he realizes that he no longer has his set of wings. So, he shouts down from the tree to [get] someone to tell his wife, who, I can’t remember what creature it is, but it’s another animal, that hears him shouting from the tree. He [Ijapa] tells the animal to tell his wife to come and arrange, like a bed of soft things, so that when he jumps from the tree height, he lands on the soft things. But this animal, who also does not like Ijapa because Ijapa is greedy, arranges stones instead, and mimics the voice of his [Ijapa’s] wife, saying, “Jump down! I’ve arranged the bed of soft things” and Ijapa jumps down and cracks his shell.

That’s why tortoises’ shells are cracked.”

Context:

My informant told me that Ijapa (“tortoise” in Yoruba) is a character that shows up in a lot of Yoruba stories/tales that parents share with their children. Many of the Ijapa stories are didactic and usually have some sort of moral lesson: why you shouldn’t lie, why you shouldn’t be arrogant, etc. He compared this story to the tale of the Tortoise and the Hare, explaining that there are different variations of these stories in different regions. This is the version he remembers hearing from his parents.

Analysis:

This story is very interesting because not only is it a legend about why tortoises’ shells are cracked, but it is also a tale that has a moral lesson for children. Is it likely that a tortoise was able to gather loose feathers to create wings and fly up into the trees? I think that it is highly unlikely; but the fact that the phrase “That’s why tortoises’ shells are cracked” is included after the story transforms this tale into a seemingly legendary story. This story could be true, because tortoises’ shells can be cracked. Had it been described as a story of why someone should never lie or be greedy, then this would not be considered a legend. In my opinion, this story does not necessarily clearly fit in to one category of a legend or a tale. There is the part about why the tortoises’ shell is cracked, which shifts the story into the legend category, but then there is the moral lesson of why someone should not lie or be greedy, as well as the tortoise flying into the tree, which is more commonly found in tales.

How the Tortoise Got Its Cracked Shell

Nationality: Nigerian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 20, 2017
Primary Language: English

Interviewee:

“There is a lot of animal folklore in Nigeria. I used to hear this one story all the time when I was little. It goes like this:

There was once a great drought in all the land. So the animals gathered to try and make a plan. It was decided that the tortoise, due to his charm and manner of speaking, would fly up to heaven with the birds in order to bring food down. As he flew, he told the birds that at such times it is important to change your name. So he told them his name was “all of you.” They got to heaven (and the feast) and God said the food was for “all of you.” The tortoise gorged himself. The birds got mad and left, but the tortoise begged them to tell his wife to put soft things by his house so that he could jump and fall from heaven safely. The birds told his wife the opposite and the tortoise jumped and broke his shell.

I’ve heard that one a million times. There are many Nigerian folktales about the cunning tortoise.”

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This story reminds me of many tales that revolve around how an animal or other natural phenomenon came to be. It is a way of explaining the world around us before science or other explanations came about to replace tales. The cunning tortoise is a recurring character in Nigerian folklore, representing craftiness and outsmarting others, often at his own expense.