Free Translation into English

Once upon a time there was a young girl and she was five years old when her father gave her a husband. It was a man who killed many animals and he pleased his parents-in-law. He built them houses. He was making a great effort for his parents. But when the young woman reached puberty she didn't want the man she was promised to. She only insulted him when he reminded her of all that he had done for his parents. The young woman decided to go to another Ega village (Ugbogotu) so that she wouldn't meet. There she married a rich man. On the day they married a party was organised. On this day, the father of the woman killed some cattle. He made foutou in the pounding pots which was rather loud until it was time to eat at the young woman wedding. Unhappy about the wedding, the man who the woman had been promised to decided to take revenge. So when the young woman wanted to go to the village of her husband the man decided to block her way armed with a knife that her father had given to kill the cattle. When she met him on her way she wanted to avoid him. But the man demanded that she said hello to him. She insulted him and spat at him, too. He insisted but she didn't want to. When she refused to say hello despite of his insistence and when she didn't want to say sorry for what she had done he said to her that she had lived there her last days. So he took the knife, knocked her down and started to cut her to pieces. As soon as the sound of the pounding pots stopped the man knew that the young woman was going to die. A bird came and washed himself in the blood of the young victim.

On a tree, a bird sang. An old woman understood the message and told the crowd. They didn't pay attention to what she was saying and that made her swear. But the son of the rich man said that he had also heard the song of the bird and then it was his turn to be insulted. But when it got late and the young woman was late two boys went to meet her. On their way they found the decaptivated body of the young woman. Shocked they screamed so much that they could hear them in the village. Instantly the drummers stopped playing the drums and the women stopped making foutou. There was no more time to eat the beef. There was consternation everywhere. They didn't go back and they started to understand that the young woman was dead.

Since then it has been decided not to marry a woman when she is still a child. This is because the one she has been promised to makes an effort to please his future parents-in-law. But when the young girl reaches puberty she refuses the man who has done all this for his parents after all. This is the essence of the first chant.