THE CONCEPTION AND BIRTH OF THE GODS IN HUMAN FLESH

Now, Eze Ebube's prayers has gotten to the gods and the gods are set to visit the royal household with a divine child. But can man beget his chi ?

Can Eze Ebube father his own chi ? The gods are wise.

Eze being a fulfilled king is rich in all things having thousands livestock, vast farm lands with a heavily stocked ban. His positions ranged to hundreds of maid servants and male servants. The gods equally blessed him with children ten male and eight female, his three wives gave him a total of eighteen children.

Now, the gods in their wisdom want to visit Eze Ebube and the child has to come through his oldest wife Egondu, Oh! What a wisdom of the gods. For a man can not father his Chi Egondu at a very old age became pregnant with of the gods. She was sixty and two years at the time she conceived.

As months passes by, it became so obvious that Egondu is pregnant with a child. She became the talk of Umunkata, gossip went round that when ever two or more people are gathered Egondu is the subject of their discussion. Many was of opinion that she is favored of the gods to be with a child at such age while others believed it was an abomination for a woman her age to be pregnant.

Eze Ebube continually thanked the gods everyday for counting him worthy of such a great honor.

His prayers was:

Oh! god of the sun, god of the moon

Oh! God of the seas, god of thunder

The god of the seven clans of umunkata

The god of my ancestors

Thank you for honoring me above all mortal

I will forever worship you god of umunkata

The gods was with Egondu as she Carries the seed of the gods. She was strong and of good health for the nine months of her pregnancy.

Heaven was let loose after the ninth month and the baby was not forthcoming. Tenth month came and past yet the child is not forthcoming.

Egondu became a shadow of herself. She constantly in tears not for the pain of the pregnancy but the fear of the fact that the child is over due.

Even though her husband Eze Ebube double the number of maid servants assigned to her from the very first month of her pregnancy and Egondu practically does nothing by herself. The pregnant queen was no longer comfortable with the whole pregnancy saga and started to question the gods. "gods of our land, is this pregnancy a curse or a blessing? what offense have I committed to receive punishment of this magnitude? Oh! god of our land, deliver me from this evil load that I carry for the burden is way beyond me" those where the words of Egondu the pregnant queen.

Egondu's children were not left out in the worries as they feared greatly for the life of their mother because she has stopped child bearing for over thirty years before this one. The entire royal household was engulfed in great fear and blamed the gods for allowing a woman who is far into menopause to be pregnant with a child again.

The fact that the pregnancy is long over due and the baby is still not forthcoming further convinced many that the child she is carrying is a cursed child and that she most have done an abominable thing to receive punishment of such magnitude from the gods.

In all, Eze Ebube remained calm for he knows that the child his wife carry is divine. He kept on praying and giving thanks to the god until a certain night the king had mysterious revelation from the gods. That revelation can be likened to both dream and nightmare, its like a two edged sword having a sharp edge and a blunt edge. In the dream Eze Ebube saw himself in the wilderness thirsty and hungry, wandering in search of a tree he can find fruit on. He searched around and found no tree with fruits for he was in the wilderness all he could see was tall dry looking tree with leaves withered away. Just at the point were he was tired, he sat down under a tall tree to rest.

When he has rested for a while, suddenly cool breeze blew from behind and when he turned back behold, a green flourishing Udala tree full of leaves.

And immediately he jumped up with excitement and ran towards the tree, as green and flourishing as the tree is he could only find one big and ripped Udala fruit on it. He was so happy to have seen a flourishing tree with fruit but to his amazement immediately he plugged off the fruit from the tree, the tree dried up to the root. He was terrified and immediately he woke up, jumped up from the bed with sweat all over his body and his heart beating faster, Eze Ebube took a deep breath and sat on the bed he lost sleep for the night as he waited patiently for morning.

Finally, morning came on that faithful Eke market day and Eze Ebube had summoned his cabinet members and they were all seated awaiting the arrival of Eze mmuo (the chief priest) whom he had earlier summoned as well. The king and his cabinet was patiently waiting for Eze mmuo to unravel the meaning of the mysterious revelation.

Not too long, Eze mmuo arrived the palace and after hearing from the king he smiled, he told Eze Ebubbe that the gods has answered his prayers. In his words

"The Udala fruit represent that which you have asked the gods of ( message)

The Udala tree represent the person the gods will use to bring your answer ( messenger)

The Udala tree dried up after you plugged the fruit because the message is bigger than the messenger and the messenger is only favored by the gods, therefore doesn't deserve the credit but the gods"

Eze Ebube being a man of great wisdom understood perfectly what Eze mmuo has said.

The astronomers and astrologist have seen a new moon and have communicated to the king that onwa asaa (the seventh moon) has appeared and the king has mandate the town crier to announce the sight of the new moon to Umunkata. There was great joy in Umunkata following the announcement of onwa asaa the festive month (knowing that the next Eke market day which is in two days will be the new yam festival and masquerade feast) but to Egondu the pregnant queen it was a reminder that her baby has stayed twelve months in her womb. She was no longer crying but just waiting on the gods to deliver her.

Two days after, on the festival day very early in the morning there was a shout of joy and sorrow in the palace. Egondu the pregnant queen had gone into labour and brought forth a baby boy. But the bad news is that she didn't make it as she lost her life during childbirth. The gods had taken her.

To Eze Ebube the revelation has come to past for the gods can't lie.

He accepted the demise of Egondu in good faith as it was already reveled. He took his new born and called him Ikenna (his father's strength).