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57 Papa Turtle and Papa Tiger Los Compadres All of us are children of saints, and all of our meanness and the pleasure we take in sinning comes directly from them. Following some run-ins with women, the most saintly saint of all had to flee Tácua country and ended up in the Ochún region. Changó was his name, or St. Bárbara, who also goes by Obakoso, Alafi, Agadgu,1 Dádda, Obaiyé, and Lubbeo (Lubbeo being his given name). A real Romeo, he was always itching to pick a fight and was the life of the party. The king of the earth, a braggart, but courageous nonetheless. Quite a handsome fellow, even if he was raised in the gutters. Wherever he was, along with his miracles, he would get himself into all sorts of trouble and have to race out of town. He spent his life running from town to town because many wanted to kill him, but he always got away. In Ochún’s country, Lucumí country, he fell in love with Ochún (the Virgin of Charity).2 He made his conquest while dancing. She said “yes” immediately, and they began living together. Then one day, Ochún spoke to her older sister Yemayá, Our Lady of Regla, and said: “If you could see the black fellow I have, you’d be crazy jealous.” “What fellow?” Yemayá asked. Changó was always with an old man, a shadow of his shadow who looked after him, and the old man had already said to Yemayá: The father and the godfather of a child are considered to be compadres. 1. The name Agadgu can be found only in the French version. 2. Ochún is also called La Caridad del Cobre. 58 Los Compadres “When you meet Changó, call him Lubbeo. He’s your son.” Yemayá insisted on seeing Changó. And Changó seduced Yemayá, and Yemayá was pleased to be seduced. But just as they were about to make love, Yemayá suddenly remembered and shouted out: “Lubbeo, you are my son!” And she gave him milk from her breast. The news shocked Ochún so much that her head almost fell off. She grabbed her head and put it back in place, saying: “My nephew! He was my nephew!” Yes, but it was too late. There was nothing to be done.  Dolé wasn’t really a bad girl. She was Ochún’s daughter. She wasn’t allowed to eat squash, partly because squash contains Ochún’s secret but mostly because of what had happened in the well. And here is what had happened. Yemayá, while she was Orula’s (St. Francis of Assisi’s) wife, didn’t trust Ochún. Orula lived in a well, and Ochún would slip down into it. Yemayá started spying, and she saw Ochún sneaking down into the well. Quietly, she tiptoed off to find the Supreme Being under his shelter. “Babamí! Come and see something, Babamí!” The Supreme Being, who rules over all of them, Cholá, and Orichaoko, and Olua, Oyá, Oloku, Ogba, Ogún, Ochosí, Babaluayé, Obaoddé, Sodgi, Nanú, Nanáburukú, Obatalá, as well as the Ibeyis and the Elegguás.3 Babamí is older than 3. The name Olua is in only the French version. Oyá is a female Yoruba goddess who often accompanies Changó; she is an orisha of change and new beginnings. The mother of the Ibeyi, the divine twins, and also of Elegguá, she is sometimes identified as the Virgin of Candelaria. Nanú is the mother of Babalúayé. Nanáburukú is the grandmother of Babalúayé. 59 Los Compadres time, and he has more power than everyone else, just as Chang ó has more power than all the saints. Yemayá leans out over the well, tugging at Babamí’s sleeve: “Papa! Kuanchaca okó con okó!” And she points her finger to show the Supreme Being what Ochún and Orula are doing in their secret hiding place. “Very well then,” said the Everlasting Father. “Let St. Francis stay forever with Charity (Orula with Ochún)!” Dolé wasn’t evil, but she wasn’t very faithful either. All the men lusted after her, but the man who pleased her the least was her husband, a freed slave who rolled cigars for a living. He had lived most of his life in the country and wasn’t as cunning4 as the city blacks. Dolé’s lover was with her in the bedroom...

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