A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Ogumefu’s twin-brother tale follows royal children raised away from the capital. The younger brother eventually becomes king and brings the elder to share his life at court. Jealousy leads the elder to drown him and claim that he voluntarily left the country, allowing the murderer to take the throne. Some time later a fish rises at the place of the killing and sings that his brother lies there.

The new king kills the fish with a stone, silencing that witness. On a later visit accompanied by nobles, the river rises in waves and repeats the accusation. The courtiers investigate, find the dead king’s body and reject the murderer. The fish and river provide successive revelations, but the text does not identify the fish as the dead brother’s reincarnation. The opening account of twin persecution is the literary collection’s framing, not a statement that this treatment characterizes contemporary Yoruba communities.

Sings concealed body’s locationKilled by guilty rulerRiver repeats accusation
01

Origins & earliest records

Ogumefu’s preface attributes the collection to Yoruba country in southern Nigeria and notes that songs are abbreviated. No individual storyteller or field date is supplied for this episode; the preface’s Christian judgments are editorial framing.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete selected chapter read: XVIII, The Twin Brothers, pp. 33–36; fish and river revelations pp. 35–36

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Yoruba Legends

    M. I. Ogumefu · 1929

    XVIII, The Twin Brothers, pp. 33–36; fish and river revelations pp. 35–36

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Collected narrative; digitized historical editionOgumefu — XVIII, The Twin Brothers, pp. 33–36; fish and river revelations pp. 35–36Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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