The story of The King Who Married the Cock’s Daughter explores jealousy, natural instincts and the consequences of acting without understanding the truth. It follows a wealthy king who marries a beautiful young woman despite her father’s warning that she has the natural habits of a hen.
At first, the king is delighted with his new wife and gives her all his attention. However, his other wives become jealous and devise a plan to turn him against her. Their scheme succeeds, but the king later discovers that he has been deceived. By then, the damage has already been done.
King Effiom and His Many Wives
King Effiom of Duke Town, Calabar, was a wealthy ruler who greatly admired beautiful women. Whenever he heard about a particularly attractive young woman, he would send for her. If she pleased him, he would make her one of his wives.
His wealth allowed him to pay whatever bride-price her family requested. Dayrell’s account also records that much of the king’s wealth came from buying and selling enslaved people, an uncomfortable historical detail that forms part of the setting of the original tale.
King Effiom already had two hundred and fifty wives, but he was never satisfied. He continued searching for women he considered more beautiful than those already in his household.
Some of his friends regularly looked out for attractive young women and informed him whenever they heard of one. One day, they told him about the Cock’s daughter. They described her as exceptionally beautiful and far more attractive than any of his existing wives.
The king immediately became interested. He summoned the Cock and announced that he wanted to marry his daughter.
The Cock’s Warning
The Cock was a poor man and could not resist the king’s command. He brought his daughter before King Effiom, who was immediately pleased by her appearance.
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The young woman’s name was Adia unen. The king agreed to marry her and paid her father a bride-price of six puncheons of palm oil.
Before the marriage was settled, however, the Cock gave the king an important warning. He explained that his daughter possessed the natural instincts of a hen. Whenever she saw corn, she would be tempted to pick it up and eat it.
The Cock wanted the king to understand this behaviour before taking his daughter as a wife. He warned him not to blame her if she picked up corn whenever it was placed before her.
King Effiom was not concerned. He replied that he did not mind what she ate as long as she became his wife.
With that agreement, Adia unen entered the king’s household.
Adia Unending Becomes the King’s Favourite
King Effiom became deeply attached to his new wife. He enjoyed her company and was pleased by the way she entertained him.
His affection for Adia unen soon changed the atmosphere within the palace. Although he had many wives, he began spending almost all his time with her.
The other women noticed the difference immediately. The king who had once divided his attention among several favourites now appeared interested in only one person.
He neglected his former favourites and sometimes passed them without speaking or showing them any attention. His affection was concentrated entirely on Adia unen.
The neglected wives became increasingly resentful. Although they did not particularly like one another, they found common ground in their dislike of the Cock’s daughter.
They believed that Adia unen had taken away the attention and affection they had previously received from the king. Their jealousy gradually developed into a shared determination to disgrace her.
The Wives Devise a Plan
The king’s wives began discussing ways to make Adia unen lose her position as his favourite.
During their discussions, one of the women remembered the Cock’s warning. She recalled that Adia unen could not resist eating corn whenever she saw it.
The woman believed this weakness could be used against her. If they could arrange for Adia unen to pick up corn in front of the king and his visitors, they might embarrass her and make the king reconsider his marriage.
The other wives agreed with the plan.
Not long afterwards, the people of the kingdom gathered to pay homage to King Effiom. Such visits took place three times a year, and the visitors brought presents including yams, fowls, goats and newly harvested corn.
The king welcomed them with food and drink. A feast was organised, and a large dance accompanied the gathering. The celebrations usually continued for several days and nights.
The wives recognised this public occasion as the perfect opportunity to carry out their scheme.
The Public Humiliation
Early on the morning of the gathering, the king’s head wife instructed a servant to wash a head of corn and place it in a calabash.
She told the servant to bring the corn into the gathering and scatter it on the ground directly in front of Adia unen. After doing so, the servant was to walk away without drawing attention to the arrangement.
The servant followed these instructions.
By about ten o’clock, the chiefs and other visitors had assembled. King Effiom was seated on his large wooden chair, while Adia unen was among the people gathered around him.
The servant approached and scattered the corn in front of the king’s favourite wife.
As soon as Adia unen noticed it, she moved towards the scattered grains, picked them up and began eating.
The people immediately noticed her behaviour. Some laughed, while others made remarks about her actions. They wondered why the king’s most favoured wife would pick up corn that had been thrown onto the ground.
The king felt deeply embarrassed. He had been proud of Adia unen and had placed her above all his other wives, but her behaviour had become a source of public amusement.
The other wives had achieved exactly what they wanted.
The King Sends Adia Unending Away
King Effiom was so angry and ashamed that he ordered one of his servants to gather Adia unen’s belongings and take them to her father’s home.
The order was carried out, and Adia unen returned to her parents.
The king had forgotten his earlier conversation with the Cock. He had been warned that Adia unen would naturally pick up corn, but he allowed public embarrassment to influence his decision.
That evening, the king’s third wife, who was friendly with Adia unen, spoke to him about what had happened.
She explained that the incident was not accidental. The king’s head wife had deliberately arranged for the corn to be scattered in front of Adia unen because the other wives were jealous of the attention she received.
The third wife also made it clear that the plan had been designed to turn the king against his favourite.
King Effiom listened and became furious. He realised that his other wives had manipulated the situation to remove Adia unen from the palace.
The King’s Revenge and His Death
After discovering the truth, King Effiom decided to punish the woman who had organised the scheme.
He ordered that she be sent back to her parents without her clothes or presents. When she arrived at her father’s home, however, her parents refused to receive her.
They had given her in marriage to the king and depended on the palace whenever they needed assistance. Her return without the usual belongings and support represented a serious loss to them.
As a result, she was left wandering the streets in misery. After some time, she died in poverty and starvation.
Although King Effiom had punished the wife responsible for the deception, he could not undo what had happened to Adia unen.
He grieved deeply because he had sent away the woman he loved most. His sorrow continued until he died the following year.
The people observed that their king had died of a broken heart. After his death, they passed a law declaring that no one should marry a bird or an animal in the future.
The king’s unusual marriage had therefore become the reason for a new law in the kingdom.
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Moral Lessons
The story shows how jealousy can lead people to deceive others and create unnecessary suffering. The king’s neglected wives allowed their resentment to influence their actions. Instead of addressing their dissatisfaction honestly, they worked together to humiliate Adia unen and destroy her marriage.
It also highlights the importance of remembering warnings and understanding another person’s nature. The Cock had explained his daughter’s behaviour before the marriage, and the king had accepted it. His later anger showed that he had not considered the consequences of his own decision. The tale also reminds readers that acting on appearances and public embarrassment without examining the truth can lead to lasting regret.
Knowledge Check
1. Who was King Effiom?
He was the wealthy ruler of Duke Town, Calabar, who had two hundred and fifty wives.
2. What warning did the Cock give King Effiom before the marriage?
He warned that his daughter had the natural instincts of a hen and would pick up corn whenever she saw it.
3. Why did the king’s other wives become jealous of Adia unen?
They became jealous because the king neglected them and gave almost all his attention and affection to Adia unen.
4. How did the jealous wives plan to disgrace Adia unen?
They arranged for a servant to scatter corn in front of her during a public gathering, knowing she would pick it up and eat it.
5. How did King Effiom discover that Adia unen had been deliberately disgraced?
His third wife explained that the king’s head wife had organised the incident because the other wives were jealous.
6. What law did the people establish after the king’s death?
They passed a law prohibiting people from marrying birds or animals.
Source
This retelling is based on “The King who Married the Cock’s Daughter,” Chapter IX, page 42, in Elphinstone Dayrell’s Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, West Africa, published in 1910, with an introduction by Andrew Lang.
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