Why the tortoise is used as a ritual tool by the Dibia.

A long time ago, sacrifices were offered to deities by the dibia (High Priest of the gods) on behalf of the community, with the sacrifice mostly being a he goat, this practice had gone on for so long and had become normal to everyone but the he goats. One day the he goat rose up and decided that he and his kind was done being the sacrifice, he decided to end the unfavourable tradition. So he pondering and pondering but after a while he realized that he could not come up with a solution.

Still determined not to become a sacrifice to a deity, the goat visited the dibia and asked him to help him out. Now the dibia was a major culprit of his kind’s demise, knew fully well that the reason why he goats had been used as the sacrifice was because they were very stupid and easy to outsmart. So not wanting to loose heir sacrifice, he told the he goat that if he could drink up all the water in the sea, he would help lift the curse from his race.

Upon hearing this, the goat’s heart became heavy because he knew he could not drink all the water in the sea. On his way back home he ran into the tortoise who at once asked him what the problem was. After narrating his story, the tortoise laughed and told him not to worry that he had a solution. He told the he-goat to return to the dibia and tell him that he would only drink the sea water if he could add more salt to it to make it tastier.

The he goat returned to the dibia and did as the tortoise had told him. The dibia was shocked at his response and accused him of being unfair with his request when everybody knows that you cannot make the sea tastier. On seeing that the He goat had won this round, he handed him a pot and told him to fill it with water in such a way that it will still be empty.

Like before, the he goat returned to the tortoise with his new problem and the tortoise boasted that there was nothing the dibia would do that will come as a surprise to him and he would not have a solution to.  The tortoise then heard a loud thunder and knew that it was going to rain, so he told the goat to draw three lines outside the dibia’s house and told him that he should tell the dibia that when the rain starts falling he should help him bring in what he left outside his house.

The goat did as tortoise had instructed. When he returned to the dibia with an empty pot and the dibia asked him why his pot was empty, he in turn asked for the three chalk lines he left outside the dibia’s house. This made the dibia furious and dumbfounded by the he goat’s new found wisdom. So he asked the he goat to tell him who had giving him his solution and without blinking the he goat told him that it was tortoise.

The dibia released the he goat from the age old curse then invited the tortoise to his obi. When the tortoise arrived, the dibia congratulated him for his wisdom and then fed him till his heart’s content. When the tortoise was so full that he could not leave, the dibia trapped him with the curse and ever since then the tortoise has been used as a ritual tool.