Ose meyi - The daughter of a king IN Babas palace, lived his daughter Odedei she was magnificently beautiful

and w hen she past threw the gardens of the palace her beauty was radient aginst the v egetation of the the rare flowers that grew there . He knew it would be difficul t to find her a mate . A woman of great fortune and wealth could only marry the best man in the kingdom he thought to himself. But alas, she was in love with OD EDE a poor warrior that lived in service of his father and who lived in a run do wn cottage outside the gardens of the palace that was seperated by a frail bridg e . ON that day , Baba dressed in his finest clothes ; because the rich prince Ocana can had come to ask him for Odedei's hand in marriage. Ocanacan knew thier was n o one that could out do his wealth and riches and he deserved the kings daughter in marriage. Baba was so overjoyed he called to his daughter to tell her the gr eat news Odedei , OMOMI I have great news te tell you . Time has come for you to marry so meone of great stature and position. I have decided that you will marry Ocanacan , the rich prince when the moon shows its face again . KNowing that the full mo on is your favorite thus will be your wedding night . Odedei left speechless , dared not to say a word to her father , her eyes full o f tears her heart broke into pieces like glass breaking on the floor . She begge d her fathers permission to retire to her chambers. The next day sitting by the river she shed her tears and contemplated the lotus flowers that grew upon the river she said to herself : Oh dear Lotus my heart was light when I gazed upon your growth, the next time yo u bloom I will be in the misery of my life . Odedei cried for many days on end and she had no time in her daily chores before the wedding to see Odede and she felt he had forgotten her , she knew he must o f recieved word that her wedding was upon the next moon .. One day in some spare time she returned to the gardens and there by the bridge s he saw a some coconut bark with a symbol on the inside floating along in the riv ers bends .. no doubt it was Odede sending her a message .. she glanced upon the symbol and realized it was from Odede he sent her word that he grived the day s he would marry and the lotus flowers would bloom upon the new moon and with this symbol he asked her to marry him instead .. Quicky she returned to the palace w here she found her maid servant and took the necklace from her neck and told her servant to go to Odede and place it in his hands with the words of Yes I will . when she arrived and Odede recieved his reply he knew Odedei would marry him up on the new moon and the lotus blooms . The days past the days grew longer and the smell of perfume was in the air .. Od edei waited with furvor for the blooms to come to the lotus of the river. upon the day the lotus where in bloom the people rushes to dress thier mistress. . Odedei had so many dresses and furs that her future husband Ocanacan offered h is future Obini (wife) But Odedei had not noticed them at all ... Upon entering her chamber the servants saw that Odedei has choose the simplest o f dress to wear and she was bare of jewels .. although she was dressed so simple and wore no jewels her beauty was stunning and outshined the garments .. at tha t moment the knock came upon the door ... It was Odede who had come for his love ... as they left the palace Baba saw the lovers leaveing the gates to the garde n together in rage he drew his whip and set out to bring his daughter back ..

Odede favored by the gods saw Baba coming towards them .. and he called out to . . Oshun the goddess of the river she took pity upon the lovers and transformed t hem into hummingbirds and they flew around the lotus flowers of the banks of the river ... TO this day you can still see the pairs of hummingbirds flocking arou nd the lotus flowers of the river Oshun in Osgobo.