Jin Jin Jin was a farmer and his favourite crops were yams, maize and groundnuts. He was one of the most hardworking farmers in Elena and was well- known throughout the length and breadth of the town. He was handsome, amiable and cunning. He was in his late twenties when he proposed to Usere, the daughter of another illustrious farmer in Elena. After some effort, he won the heart of the lady and they were joined together in marriage in the best of the people's tradition.
It was the rainy season and Jin Jin Jin left home for his farm quite early. He had observed that there was a barn near the footpath to his farm which contained yams of various species stocked by one farmer whom everybody called the "Miser of Elena" His eyes darted from one part of the bam to the other. He later focused on one particular specie of yam he had been longing to have.
I need this specie of yam, it is the best,and the seeds are hard to come by. If I approach the
"Miser of Elena",he won't give me. I can take one without anyone seeing me,he talked to himself. He walked close to the farm and quietly took a tuber of yam of his choice. He looked right, left and centre but there was nobody around. He ran out of the barn and walked fast to his own farm.
As soon as he got to his farm, he cut the yam into ten pieces and buried the seeds along with the ones he had prepared for planting. He felt happy and satisfied that at long last he had gotten the specie of yam that was the most popular among farmers.
During the season, he planted the seeds with others in a yam farm of about two hundred heaps. He weeded the farm twice and there was enough rain to ensure a bumper harvest.
Nine months after he had planted the seeds, he harvested some yams for consumption. His wife was with him when he harvested yams from five heaps in the farm. They were big and beautiful yams. Three weeks later, he came to the farm alone. He wanted to have lunch and felt that roasted yam would be alright. He entered his yam farm and tried to uproot a yam from one heap at the centre of the farm. What he heard shocked him and he was afraid. A voice declared.
Leave me alone
Leave me alone
You stole a yam a year ago
The seed is this product
Leave me alone
Jin Jin Jin
Leave Ine alone.
Jin Jin Jin
Leave me alone
He stopped and looked at a tree nearby. There was a bird there with a sharp beak. The bird sang a beautiful song but he could not explain this. He bent down again, then the voice continued:
Leave me alone
Leave me alone
You stole a yanl a year ago
The seed is this product
Leave me alone
Jin Jin Jin
Leave me alone
Jin Jin Jin
Leave me alone.
He looked at the tree thinking the statement was from the bird with the sharp beak. The bird had flown away and the voice was that of a human being. He quickly stopped what he was doing and ran home. He didn't tell his wife or friends about the yam that sang and talked.
Some weeks later, he visited the yam farm again. He went far from the heap that sang a song to try his luck. He harvested some yams, they were five in number and he heard no strange voice or song. He returned home very happy. "No more strange song or unseen spirit inside the yam heap" he talked to himself.
Some weeks later, he sent his wife to the farm to harvest some yams. He could not go himself because a close relation died. Usere entered the yam farm and harvested four tubers of yams and carried them home.
While her husband was still busy with the arrangement for the burial of a close relation, she decided to cook some yam for him. She took the biggest yam from the lot she harvested, washed this properly and tried to cut it to pieces for cooking. To her greatest amazement, a voice came out very distinctly and said:
Leave me alone
Your husband stole a yam sometime ago,
This is the product
Leave me alone
Leave me alone
The woman dropped the knife and looked around. Can a yam talk? Can a yam talk? Can a yam talk? she asked this question three times and stared at the ceiling. She put the knife on the yam again and heard the same voice. She decided to cook beans because she was afraid of the strange yam.
When her husband returned home, he thought his wife cooked yam with garden eggs, but the wife served him beans. "Why did you not cook yam for me?" , he asked
There is a story behind a story. I can't cut the yam into pieces, can you help? , she asked.
Yes, I can, replied Jin Jin Jin. Here is the knife, the wife gave him a knife to do this. She watched her husband with great interest. But Jin Jin Jin was internally afraid of what could happen. As soon as he put the knife on the yam, a strange voice boomed and said distinctly:
Leave me alone
You stole a yam sometime ago,
This is the product
Jin Jin Jin
Yam thief, yam thief
Jin Jin Jin
Yam thief, yam thief Jin Jin Jin
Yam thief, yam thief If you eat this yam You eat poison.
Jin Jin Jin
Yam thief, yam thief
Jin Jin Jin
Yam thief, yam thief Jin Jin Jin.
The two of them heard this; it was now more detailed than the message the wife heard when she first attempted to cut the yam into pieces.
Jin Jin Jin remembered his encounter with a yam in his farm some weeks ago. He refused to harvest the yam then. But his wife had brought the strange yam home. He could not refuse to cut the yam into pieces. He dropped the knife and walked to the living room but Usere followed him.
Today is a sad day, Jin Jin Jin, you have disappointed me. You stole a tuber of yam. Is that true? the wife asked with annoyance.
Oh, my dear wife, I cannot tell you lies, I took a tuber from a barn on my way to my farm a year ago, The seed provided this tuber of yam. I regret doing this, I am very sorry for what I did,pleaded Jin Jin Jin.
The wife burst into tears, she spoke still full of anger.
When you asked for my hand in marriage some years ago, a woman warned me that you could disgrace me in future. The person didn't give details of your past which she knew. I was already in love with you. I ignored the warning then, now you have confirmed the untold story. Why on earth did you steal a tuber of yam? she asked. Please pardon me, the mystery yam has exposed me and I will never do this again. It is a shame I was involved. Please pardon me, Jin Jin Jin pleaded.
Usere knew that her husband was remorseful. Jin Jin Jin quietly threw the mystery yam into the dunghill. He abandoned the yam farm and didn't harvest what was left. But the strange song of the yam echoed in his ears from time to time. He decided not to engage in such things for the rest of his life. Whenever he passed through the barn of the "Miser of Elena",he remembered the mystery yam. He was sure the man had many of them. He was afraid of the man and his barn which was always full of big, beautiful yams but full of mystery too.
AND THIS THE END OF MY STORY,HOPE YOU FIND IT INTERESTING?
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