KELIMABE AND KELIKELIMABE

These myths play an important role traditionally, religiously and culturally in African life which is visible in our modern society today. The story plays a role traditionally in the sense that in many traditions, the younger brother is allowed to stay with his elder brother even though he is married. Also, most tradition has it that the elder one must be held responsible for the well being of the younger ones. Recently, in our modern societies, fathers now give room to their daughters to choose the man they want as a husband unlike in the olden days when parents force their children to marry anybody they like or choose husbands for their daughters. Although we claim to be in a modern world, rich men and women still have boys and girls whom they keep as slaves or house helps. It plays a role religiously, in that a brother must not sleep with his brother’s wife. It is an abomination both in Christian and Islamic religions. The story plays another role culturally because in most culture, for example, in my ethnic group where I hail from, a woman must cook and serve food to her husband regardless of whether she comes from a rich family or not. She is also made to attend to him dutifully including preparing his bathing water as we saw in the story.
It tells us that people in those days had good climatic weather for them to be able to live in the wood, desert; some could sleep in their farmlands or in the open air. Then was a time without civilization. They had villages which were governed by a ruler or pharaoh. Also, it was a time when they believed in magical powers, evil spirits, having spirit wives and husbands, and they could talk to inanimate objects. They did everything together including going for hunting.
In our modern society currently, part of these myths are lacked or are not visible because I have not heard of a man whose penis was been cut off and he is able to stay alive. However, most of the story is correct, younger siblings tend to be more handsome or more beautiful than their elder siblings. Also, most women are not always contended with their husbands, they want their husband’s brother especially when they find them fascinating. On the other hand, in our society today, I have heard of people who tried to commit suicide out of frustration just like kelikelimabe who wanted to drown himself since he could not sleep with his wife because he had no penis. When some women are married into a family, they are more or less likely to cause problems. It either they are causing problems between two brothers or mother & son or husband & sister etc. Nevertheless, there is bound to be problems between siblings. Another similarity with our modern society is that in the Igbo tradition, when an Igwe arrives an occasion he is usually saluted with the type of salutation that was given to the Gows in the story. For example, they salute by saying you are the king of your own words, when u speak the earth thunders, the sun stand still, the children stops playing, the women go into hiding etc. Cases of these exaggerating salutations are used in the Igbo tradition.
These myths tells me that in every structure of society, we have the ugly and the beautiful, the rich and the poor, wicked and cruel people, people who are jealous of one another and people who are not contented with what they have.
It is a parable with good values that teaches that blood is thicker than water. Even though the two brothers had some disagreement among themselves, they still intended to see each other again. It also teaches that we should be patient enough to listen to one another before we take any action that could be destructive. It also teaches us that no matter any situation we find ourselves we should not give up or think of committing suicide because that is not the best option. The myth also teaches us to obey and carry out instructions from other people because those instructions could be useful to us just like how kelikelimabe followed the old man’s instructions and had his penis restored which gave him great joy as he consummated the marriage with his wife and they had a son.