22/07/2024
The song from Mike Ejiagha is folktale. The King had previously informed all the animals in his kingdom that anyone who could bring a big animal such as elephant or cow in tether to the feast would marry his daughter. Now none of the animals could bring the elephant to the feast in rope. But the tortoise had a different idea. He went to the elephant and informed him that through his (tortoise) effort, the king had approved him (the elephant) to chair the occasion and that he would like to go with him to the ceremony. On their way, the tortoise informed the elephant that he couldn't walk because he was frail and old. So the elephant suggested the tortoise to climb on his back so he could hitch-hike him to the occasion. In the course of the journey, the tortoise suggested to elephant that he needed a rope on the neck of the elephant so that he wont fall down from the top, a request which the elephant obliged. On the approach to the feast the tortoise climbed down from the back of the elephant and handed the tethered animal to the king and married his daughter. The folktale theme is an attempt by the storyteller (Mike Ejiagha) to elevate intellectual capacity or quality over muscular capacity or quantity... The gwo gwo gwo ngwo is the heavy movement of the elephant.
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