“There was a young maiden named Buje, the slender, whom all the men wanted.  The rich wanted her, but she refused.  Chiefs wanted her, and she refused.  The King wanted her, and she still refused.

“Tortoise came to the King and said to him, ’She whom you all want and cannot get, I will get.  I will have her, I.’  And the King said, ’If you succeed in having her, I will divide my palace into two halves and will give you one-half.’

“One day Buje, the slender, took an earthen pot and went to fetch water.  Tortoise, seeing this, took his hoe, and cleared the path that led to the spring.  He found a snake in the grass, and killed it.  Then he put the snake in the middle of the path.

     “When Buje, the slender, had filled her pot, she came
     back.  She saw the snake in the path, and called out,
     ‘Hi! hi!  Come and kill this snake.’

     “Tortoise ran up with his cutlass in his hand.  He
     struck at the snake and wounded himself in the leg.

“Then he cried out, ’Buje the slender, has killed me.  I was cutting the bush, I was clearing the path for her.  She called to me to kill the snake, but I have wounded myself in the leg.  O Buje, the slender, Buje, the slender, take me upon your back and hold me close.’

     “He cried this many times, and at last Buje, the
     slender, took Tortoise and put him on her back.  And
     then he slipped his legs down over her hips....

“Next day, as soon as it was light, Tortoise went to the King.  He said, ’Did I not tell you I should have Buje, the slender?  Call all the people of the town to assemble on the fifth day, and you will hear what I have to say.’

“When it was the fifth day, the King sent out his crier to call all the people together.  The people came.  Tortoise cried out, ’Everybody wanted Buje, the slender, and Buje refused everybody, but I have had her.’

     “The King sent a messenger, with his stick, to summon
     Buje, the slender.  When she came the King said, ’We
     have heard that Tortoise is your husband; is it so?’

     “Buje, the slender, was ashamed, and could not answer. 
     She covered her head with her cloth, and ran away into
     the bush.

     “And there she was changed into the plant called Buje.”

THE MAIDEN WHO ALWAYS REFUSED

Robert Hartmann (480) describes the Yoruba people as vivacious and intelligent.  But the details given by Ellis (154) regarding the peculiar functions of bridesmaids, and the assertion that “virginity in a bride is only of paramount importance when the girl has been betrothed in childhood,” explain sufficiently why we must not look for sentimental features in a Yoruba love-story.  The most noticeable thing in the above tale is the girl’s power to refuse chiefs and even the King.  In Ellis’s book on the Ewe-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast, there is also a love-story (271) concerning a “Maiden who always refused.”  It has a moral which seems to indicate masculine disapproval of such a feminine privilege.  The following is a condensed version: