ABSTRACT
The story runs that, in the olden time, there was nothing to eat, so " Eze Nri" (King of Nri) considered what should be done to remedy the defect. He took the drastic course of killing his eldest son, cutting the body into small pieces and burying them. His daughter shared a similar fate. Strange to say, five months later, yam tendrils (" orne ji") were observed to be growing at the very places where the dismembered parts of the son's body had been planted. In similar fashion " edde" (koko-yam) began to grow where the remains of the daughter had been buried. In the sixth month, the "Eze Nri" dug up fine large yams from his son's grave and" edde " from the place where he had buried his daughter. He cooked both and found them sweet.
