That night they probably kissed each other a hunderd times and still couldn’t get enough of each other. However each time Obinze broached on his fantasies about living together with a woman of his love, Urenma would wince and shed a few tears. When Obinze asked her why she cried she would tell him that her tears were tears of joy. She lied and Obinze didn’t know it. The truth was that she would never get to marry any man; as a princess of the gods she was forbidden to marry any mortal man and she had only a short life to live amongst men and it broke her heart.
By the next day the village square was filled with greater number of people who had heard about Obinze’s prowess on the wrestling ground. Young and elderly women sung new songs in praise to Obinze. Even his aged grandmother was carried out by her kinsmen to the square to watch her grandson break more bones. The people of Ukeh could not understand how Obinze was able to break the bones of his fellow wrestlers. No one had been able to do that in decades, the gods had been able to protected them doing the wrestling festival.
There were a few wrestlers who by night went to seek the oracles to find out the source of Obinze’s strength and to acquire charms to subdue him. The medince men they approached revealed to them that the source of his strength was the love of a woman and gave them charms to subdue Obinze on the wrestling ground. However the medince men did not know and neither was it revealed to them that Urenma was a goddess, a princess of the river kingdom.
In the village square that evening the men who had gone to acquire power to subdue Obinze arrive with overwheling confidence that they would disgrace him. The men were Ikemefuna, Ezenwa and Uzokwe; the three of them were from differnts clans and Ikemefuna was the reigning champion. When Ikoro (Wooden gong) was sounded they were the first to jump into the wrestling ground and began to dance. Though the wrestling matches were planned in such a way that the last two standing clans would slug it out in a final wrestling match, wrestlers were permitted to challenge other wrestlers for bragging nights.
After some clans had wrestled each other that evening Ikemefuna, Ezenwa and Uzokwe made their way to the wrestling ground and each of them openly challenged Obinze who all that evening had not wrestled. Obinze and Urenma were in a corner of the village square watching the wrestling. When Ikemefuna, Ezenwa and Uzokwe challenged Obinze to wrestle each one of them in separate matches that evening, Obinze stood and met them on the wrestling ground and humbly declined the challenge. The crowd was not happy, he had become their favourite wrestler and they wanted him to teach each one of the three wrestlers a new lesson in wrestling.
The three men booed and mocked that he was afraid and that his success the previous day was circumstantial. Obinze ignored them and walked back to sit with Urenma.
When he sat down beside her, Urenma whispered “Obi m each one of them had gone to get charm to fight you, but I want you to accept their challenge. This day Ukeh will know that there is no charm strong than a woman’s love. Obi m, go back to the wrestling ground and challenge them to fight you at the same time. I want you to break their bones and knock off their teeth. Will you do that for me?”
“I will Ure”.
Obinze stood up and began to run to the wrestling ground, by then an elder was announcing next rounds of wrestling matches to take place. When the crowd saw Obinze running the wrestling sound, it roared and some young men began to hail him, “Ebube dike! Ebube dike! Obinze Ebube dike!”
Men and women and children took up the chant from those young men and began to sing along with them. Obinze scooped up sand from the ground held it out and shouted “Ikemefuna! Ezenwa! Uzokwe! I will wrestle the three of you on the condition that the three of you accept to fight me at the same time!”
There was silence when the crowd heard Obinze’s words. They thought he had gone mad or perhaps had allowed his little success to get into his head. How could he a beginner in wrestling, challenge three ace wrestlers to fight him at the same time?
Ikemefuna, Ezenwa and Uzokwe also wondered if Obinze had gone mad, they queried “Obinze do you know what you have just asked for?”
“If I am mad or unaware of the gravity of my challenge, why don’t U accept first and find out for yourselves?” Ikemefuna, Ezenwa and Uzokwe ran towards Obinze and knocked away the sand which held out before him. The elderly man who was announcing matches left the ground and the wrestling gong began to sound.
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