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at the time of the great famine all the animals were very thin and weak from want of food but there was one exception and that was the tortoise and all his family who were quite fat and did not seem to suffer at all even the leopard was very thin in spite of the arrangement he had made with the animals to bring him their old grandmothers and mothers for food in the early days of the famine as you will remember the leopard had killed the mother of the tortoise in consequence of which the tortoise was very angry with the leopard and determined if possible to be revenged upon him the tortoise who was very clever had discovered a shallow lake full of fish in the middle of the forest and every morning he used to go to the lake and without much trouble bring back enough food for himself and his family one day the leopard met the tortoise and noticed how fat he was as he was very thin himself he decided to watch the tortoise so the next morning he hid himself in the long grass near the tortoises house and waited very patiently until at last the tortoise came along quite slowly carrying a basket which appeared to be very heavy then the leopard sprang out and said to the tortoise what have you got in that basket the tortoise as he did not want to lose his breakfast replied that he was carrying firewood back to his home unfortunately for the tortoise the leopard had a very acute sense of smell and knew at once that there was fish in the basket so he said i know there is fish in there and i am going to eat it | 0 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
udo ubok udom was a famous king who lived at itam which is an inland town and does not possess a river the king and his wife therefore used to wash at the spring just behind their house king udo had a daughter of whom he was very fond and looked after her most carefully and she grew up into a beautiful woman for some time the king had been absent from his house and had not been to the spring for two years when he went to his old place to wash he found that the idem ju ju tree had grown up all round the place and it was impossible for him to use the spring as he had done formerly he therefore called fifty of his young men to bring their matchets and cut down the tree they started cutting the tree but it had no effect as directly they made a cut in the tree it closed up again so after working all day they found they had made no impression on it when they returned at night they told the king that they had been unable to destroy the tree he was very angry when he heard this and went to the spring the following morning taking his own matchet with him when the ju ju tree saw that the king had come himself and was starting to try to cut his branches he caused a small splinter of wood to go into the kings eye this gave the king great pain so he threw down his matchet and went back to his house the pain however got worse and he could not eat or sleep for three days | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the elephant and the hippopotamus always used to feed together and were good friends one day when they were both dining together the tortoise appeared and said that although they were both big and strong neither of them could pull him out of the water with a strong piece of tie tie and he offered the elephant ten thousand rods if he could draw him out of the river the next day the elephant seeing that the tortoise was very small said if i cannot draw you out of the water i will give you twenty thousand rods so on the following morning the tortoise got some very strong tie tie and made it fast to his leg and went down to the river when he got there as he knew the place well he made the tie tie fast round a big rock and left the other end on the shore for the elephant to pull by then went down to the bottom of the river and hid himself | 0 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
there was once a very beautiful girl called akim she was a native of ibibio and the name was given to her on account of her good looks as she was born in the spring time she was an only daughter and her parents were extremely fond of her the people of the town and more particularly the young girls were so jealous of akims good looks and beautiful form for she was perfectly made very strong and her carriage bearing and manners were most graceful that her parents would not allow her to join the young girls society in the town as is customary for all young people to do both boys and girls belonging to a company according to their age a company consisting as a rule of all the boys or girls born in the same year akims parents were rather poor but she was a good daughter and gave them no trouble so they had a happy home one day as akim was on her way to draw water from the spring she met the company of seven girls to which in an ordinary way she would have belonged if her parents had not for bidden her these girls told her that they were going to hold a play in the town in three days time and asked her to join them she said she was very sorry but that her parents were poor and only had herself to work for them she therefore had no time to spare for dancing and plays she then left them and went home in the evening the seven girls met together and as they were very envious of akim they discussed how they should be revenged upon her for refusing to join their company and they talked for a long time as to how they could get akim into danger or punish her in some way at last one of the girls suggested that they should all go to akims house every day and help her with her work so that when they had made friends with her they would be able to entice her away and take their revenge upon her for being more beautiful than themselves although they went every day and helped akim and her parents with their work the parents knew that they were jealous of their daughter and repeatedly warned her not on any account to go with them as they were not to be trusted at the end of the year there was going to be a big play called the new yam play to which akims parents had been invited the play was going to be held at a town about two hours march from where they lived akim was very anxious to go and take part in the dance but her parents gave her plenty of work to do before they started thinking that this would surely prevent her going as she was a very obedient daughter and always did her work properly on the morning of the play the jealous seven came to akim and asked her to go with them but she pointed to all the water pots she had to fill and showed them where her parents had told her to polish the walls with a stone and make the floor good and after that was finished she had to pull up all the weeds round the house and clean up all round | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
very many years ago before the oldest man alive at the present time can remember the towns of ikom okuni abijon insofan obokum and all the other injor towns were situated round and near the insofan mountain and the head chief of the whole country was called agbor abragba and enfitop also lived there and were also under king agbor the insofan mountain is about two days march inland from the cross river and as none of the people there could swim and knew nothing about canoes they never went anywhere outside their own country and were afraid to go down to the big river the whole country was taken up with yam farms and was divided amongst the various towns each town having its own bush at the end of each year when it was time to dig the yams there was a big play held which was called the new yam feast at this festival there was always a big human sacrifice fifty slaves being killed in one day these slaves were tied up to trees in a row and many drums were beaten then a strong man armed with a sharp matchet went from one slave to another and cut their heads off this was done to cool the new yams so that they would not hurt the stomachs of the people | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
in the olden days there were no hooks or casting nets so that when the natives wanted to catch fish they made baskets and set traps at the river side one man named akon obo who was very poor began to make baskets and traps out of bamboo palm and then when the river went down he used to take his traps to a pool and set them baited with palm nuts in the night the big fish used to smell the palm nuts and go into the trap when at once the door would fall down and in the morning akon obo would go and take the fish out he was very successful in his fishing and used to sell the fish in the market for plenty of money | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a chief of inde named inkita had a son named ayong kita whose mother had died at his birth the old chief was a hunter and used to take his son out with him when he went into the bush he used to do most of his hunting in the long grass which grows over nearly all the inde country and used to kill plenty of bush buck in the dry season in those days the people had no guns so the chief had to shoot everything he got with his bow and arrows which required a lot of skill when his little son was old enough he gave him a small bow and some small arrows and taught him how to shoot the little boy was very quick at learning and by continually practising at lizards and small birds soon became expert in the use of his little bow and could hit them almost every time he shot at them when the boy was ten years old his father died and as he thus became the head of his fathers house and was in authority over all the slaves they became very discontented and made plans to kill him so he ran away into the bush having nothing to eat he lived for several days on the nuts which fell from the palm trees he was too young to kill any large animals and only had his small bow and arrows with which he killed a few squirrels bush rats and small birds and so managed to live | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a man called akpan who was a native of oku a town in the ibibio country admired a girl called emme very much who lived at ibibio and wished to marry her as she was the finest girl in her company it was the custom in those days for the parents to demand such a large amount for their daughters as dowry that if after they were married they failed to get on with their husbands as they could not redeem themselves they were sold as slaves akpan paid a very large sum as dowry for emme and she was put in the fatting house until the proper time arrived for her to marry akpan told the parents that when their daughter was ready they must send her over to him this they promised to do emmes father was a rich man and after seven years had elapsed and it became time for her to go to her husband he saw a very fine girl who had also just come out of the fatting house and whom the parents wished to sell as a slave emmes father therefore bought her and gave her to his daughter as her handmaiden the next day emmes little sister being very anxious to go with her obtained the consent of her mother and they started off together the slave girl carrying a large bundle containing clothes and presents from emmes father akpans house was a long days march from where they lived when they arrived just outside the town they came to a spring where the people used to get their drinking water from but no one was allowed to bathe there emme however knew nothing about this they took off their clothes to wash close to the spring and where there was a deep hole which led to the water ju jus house the slave girl knew of this ju ju and thought if she could get her mistress to bathe she would be taken by the ju ju and she would then be able to take her place and marry akpan so they went down to bathe and when they were close to the water the slave girl pushed her mistress in and she at once disappeared the little girl then began to cry but the slave girl said if you cry any more i will kill you at once and throw your body into the hole after your sister and she told the child that she must never mention what had happened to any one and particularly not to akpan as she was going to represent her sister and marry him and that if she ever told any one what she had seen she would be killed at once | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
when ndarake was king of idu being young and rich he was very fond of fine girls and had plenty of slaves the nsiat bird was then living at idu and had a very pretty daughter whom ndarake wished to marry when he spoke to the father about the matter he replied that of course he had no objection personally as it would be a great honour for his daughter to marry the king but unfortunately when any of his family had children they always gave birth to twins which as the king knew was not allowed in the country the native custom being to kill both the children and throw them into the bush the mother being driven away and allowed to starve | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
chief oborri lived at a town called adiagor which is on the right bank of the calabar river he was a wealthy chief and belonged to the egbo society he had many large canoes and plenty of slaves to paddle them these canoes he used to fill up with new yams each canoe being under one head slave and containing eight paddles the canoes were capable of holding three puncheons of palm oil and cost eight hundred rods each | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
essido had spent it all he then sold his house and effects and spent the proceeds on feasting while he had been living this gay and unprofitable life eyo i had been working harder than ever at his fathers old trade and had made many trips to rio del rey himself almost every week he had canoes laden with yams going down river and returning after about twelve days with shrimps and fish which eyo i himself disposed of in the neighbouring markets and he very rapidly became a rich man at intervals he remonstrated with essido on his extravagance but his warnings had no effect if anything his brother became worse at last the time arrived when all his money was spent so essido went to his brother and asked him to lend him two thousand rods but eyo refused and told essido that he would not help him in any way to continue his present life of debauchery but that if he liked to work on the farm and trade he would give him a fair share of the profits this essido indignantly refused and went back to the town and consulted some of the very few friends he had left as to what was the best thing to do the men he spoke to were thoroughly bad men and had been living upon essido for a long time they suggested to him that he should go round the town and borrow money from the people he had entertained and then they would run away to akpabryos town which was about four days march from calabar this essido did and managed to borrow a lot of money although many people re fused to lend him anything then at night he set off with his evil companions who carried his money as they had not been able to borrow any themselves being so well known | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
in the olden days when effiong was king of calabar it was customary at that time for rulers to give big feasts to which all the subjects and all the birds of the air and animals of the forest also the fish and other things that lived in the water were invited all the people birds animals and fish were under the king and had to obey him his favourite messenger was the hawk as he could travel so quickly the hawk served the king faithfully for several years and when he wanted to retire he asked what the king proposed to do for him as very soon he would be too old to work any more so the king told the hawk to bring any living creature bird or animal to him and he would allow the hawk for the future to live on that particular species without any trouble the hawk then flew over a lot of country and went from forest to forest until at last he found a young owl which had tumbled out of its nest | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
there was once a woman named aftiong any who lived at nsidung a small town to the south of calabar she was married to a chief of hensham town called etim ekeng they had lived together for several years but had no children the chief was very anxious to have a child during his lifetime and made sacrifices to his ju ju but they had no effect so he went to a witch man who told him that the reason he had no children was that he was too rich the chief then asked the witch man how he should spend his money in order to get a child and he was told to make friends with everybody and give big feasts so that he should get rid of some of his money and become poorer the chief then went home and told his wife the next day his wife called all her company together and gave them a big dinner which cost a lot of money much food was consumed and large quantities of tombo were drunk then the chief entertained his company which cost a lot more money he also wasted a lot of money in the egbo house when half of his property was wasted his wife told him that she had conceived the chief being very glad called a big play for the next day in those days all the rich chiefs of the country belonged to the alligator company and used to meet in the water the reason they belonged to the company was first of all to protect their canoes when they went trading and secondly to destroy the canoes and property of the people who did not belong to their company and to take their money and kill their slaves chief etim ekeng was a kind man and would not join this society although he was repeatedly urged to do so after a time a son was born to the chief and he called him edet etim the chief then called the egbo society together and all the doors of the houses in the town were shut the markets were stopped and the women were not allowed to go outside their houses while the egbo was playing this was kept up for several days and cost the chief a lot of money then he made up his mind that he would divide his property and give his son half when he became old enough unfortunately after three months the chief died leaving his sorrowing wife to look after their little child the wife then went into mourning for seven years for her husband and after that time she became entitled to all his property as the late chief had no brothers | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a long time ago in the days of king adam of calabar the king wanted to know if there was any animal or bird which was capable of enduring hunger for a long period when he found one the king said he would make him a chief of his tribe the nsasak bird is very small having a shining breast of green and red he also has blue and yellow feathers and red round the neck and his chief food consists of ripe palm nuts the odudu bird on the other hand is much larger about the size of a magpie with plenty of feathers but a very thin body he has a long tail and his colouring is black and brown with a cream coloured breast he lives chiefly on grasshoppers and is also very fond of crickets which make a noise at night both the nsasak bird and the odudu were great friends and used to live together | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
old town calabar once had a king called essiya who like most of the calabar kings in the olden days was rich and powerful but although he was so wealthy he did not possess many slaves he therefore used to call upon the animals and birds to help his people with their work in order to get the work done quickly and well he determined to appoint head chiefs of all the different species the elephant he appointed king of the beasts of the forest and the hippopotamus king of the water animals until at last it came to the turn of the birds to have their king elected essiya thought for some time which would be the best way to make a good choice but could not make up his mind as there were so many different birds who all considered they had claims | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
in the time that all animals still lived together there once lived a spider called ananse he lived in a village with his relatives and all kinds of other animals hyena porcupine squirrel guineafowl the chameleon the warthog and many many more… ananse was one of the village elders and one day he summoned all his friends and relations to discuss how they could all do more to help each other since they were all farmers they decided it would be a good idea if they would all go to help one individual each day to plough weed harvest whatever needed doing in the fields or around the house for example on monday they would start at ananses uncles farm to help on tuesday it would be his grandfather and on wednesday it would be his nephews turn ananse put himself in charge of this program and he saw to it that everyone joined in and helped out after a month or so or so he was having a quiet sit down in front of his house and he started thinking you know he said to himself i think i can see a way to benefit from this arrangement i could pretend to be really ill so i cant help out with the others and by the time im well again all the work on my farm will be done so the next morning ananse stayed in his bed and when his nephew came to call on him told him oo oo yoo my dear nephew this body of mine is really sick today im afraid i cant join you today ananses nephew told the others that his uncle was sick they were all very concerned and decided that the next day they would all go and help out at ananses farm this went on for several weeks and ananses condition got no better one or two people started to whisper its all very well us helping out on ananses farm when is he going to give us a hand ananse heard the complaints and realized that he wouldnt be able to pretend for much longer he decided he would have to do something to make everybody believe that he was really very sick the next day he called some of his relatives together and said to them this illness of mine has been going on for some time and it doesnt look as if im getting any better in fact i feel worse every day in fact i think im going to die some of his relatives protested no no uncle you wont die no no my brother i will call on the medicine man and get you some herbs but ananse told them he was getting weaker all the time and started making his funeral arrangements when i die he said you should bury me on my brother kwamis farm i have always loved his yams and i would like to be buried next to them kwami agreed that his brother could be buried there after all its very difficult not to grant a dying man his last wish ananse continued giving his instructions they should dig a nice big hole and line the walls with cloth so that his spirit would be comfortable they should put pots and pans and cooking utensils in the grave so that his spirit would be able to prepare food for himself ananses relations set to work digging the grave while ananse himself pretended that his condition was getting worse all the time soon he learnt that the grave was finished so the next time he saw someone approaching his house he pretended to be dead | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
there was a time when animals and people lived on the earth harmoniously side by side each respected the other and they went out of their way to be friendly and useful to each other the elephant being the king of the animals decided one day that there should be a king of the rivers and marshes he thought it would be useful to have somebody responsible for alerting people to the coming of the first rains so that they would have time to get ready and start preparing their tools and seeds the king of the animals sent out his trusted town cryer the cockerel with a message that any animal who wished to be considered should attend the kings court the following morning the cockerel dutifully made his way all round the animal village passing the kings messages to all and sundry the next morning the elephant came into his court yard after having partaken of his breakfast and found a number of candidates for the post had gathered there the cat was there and the monkey toad and frog stood side by side flamingo was there and the crab had also turned up the elephant inspected each one of the candidates and started weighing up their qualities for the position to the cat he said cat you dont even like water you run away and hide at the first sight of rain how can i make you the king of rivers and marshes so the cat was dismissed | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the grass shrivelled up and turned a pale grey rivers and pools dried up all day long animals scurried around looking for food and finding nothing mr tortoise was getting desperate every day he woke up to the sound of his wife and children crying one day while he was wandering the countryside looking for food he knew he wouldnt find he noticed a flock of birds flying overhead and disappearing on the other side of the mountain range the next day he saw more birds flying in that direction and disappearing over the mountain range and again the next day it occurred to him they might be onto something and he tried to attract their attention he shouted he screamed he danced he jumped up and down he shouted while jumping up and down he ran in circles and waved a stick none of the birds paid any attention to him none even slowed down many animals would have given up but not mr tortoise he decided he would compose a song to the vulture he thought the vulture might just be vain enough to stop and listen that night he finished composing the song and the next morning positioned himself in a nice open spot by the side of a field when he saw the first birds in the sky he started to sing his song the vulture is so good the vulture is so wise everyone admires him as he flies through the skie ie ie ie ies the vulture heard snatches of the song and he was intrigued so he came down to land and strode over majestically to where mr tortoise was sitting when mr tortoise saw vulture approaching he sang again the vulture is so good | 0 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there was a wedding in the sky the bride and groom invited all the animals in the whole land those who had wings and could fly obviously would have no problem attending but those animals who lived on the ground would have a few problems getting there unless they could persuade a bird to take them on their back mr tortoise really wanted to attend the wedding he loved parties but he had no idea how to get there while he was mulling over this problem a vulture landed near him looking for scraps of food left behind by other animals the tortoise called out to the vulture mr vulture i wonder if you are planning to attend the wedding next week the vulture confirmed that he had every intention of being there if only because there would be lots of free food then the tortoise asked if mr vulture would consider giving him a lift vulture shook his head that might be a bit difficult he said i can see by looking at you that you are not very light mr tortoise | 0 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
monkey lived on the branches of an old mangrove tree right on the spot where the land ends and the sea begins he liked living here there were lots of other animals to talk to and play with most of them much smaller than he was which he particularly liked because it made him feel safe and comfortable at home the big hunters like the lion hardly ever ventured here because the ground was so soggy that their heavy paws would sink into the mud and they wouldnt be able to move fast enough to catch their prey there were birds of all shapes and sizes some that flew and some that could only run along the ground like the guinea fowl and the fish he loved talking to the fish listening to their stories of life under water in fact his best friend was shamus the shark every evening when the sun was about to go down shamus would wind his way through the roots of the mangroves and look for monkey monkey was always expecting his friend and hed find a nice cosy branch that hung close to the waters surface to sit on while he waited for his friend the first thing he usually saw was the triangular tip of shamuss fin sticking up above the water monkey would jump up and down on his branch and wave and shout over here shamus im over here uh uh ugh ugh un ugh shamus would roll over a few times in the shallow water while he swam the last few yards and lift his enormous jaws out of the water to greet monkey yo monkey my man hows life in the trees toil and toil and toil my salty friend monkey would joke then they would fill each other in on all the news from among the mangrove trees and under the deep blue sea monkey would talk about all the mischief hed got up to that day how he chased the birds or caught a ride on uncle turtles back or hid from the preying eyes of a hovering hawk shamus would tell him about all the beautiful creatures at the bottom of the sea the squids with their trailing tentacles catching glimpses of light from the surface the sea anemones that were always waving at passers by but shamuss favourite subject by far was food he loved to talk about delicate textures and flavours of the different species of fish he devoured on a daily basis and he was always curious to know what monkeys favourite dish was to be honest monkey didnt think that much about food he was a strict vegetarian and usually dined on mangrove leaves but he did remember once a long time ago he did eat something rather special that was when his cousin from zanzibar had paid him a visit hed brought along a large bag stuffed to the rim with palm hearts and theyd been delicious so succulent so chewy so tangy and so sweet so utterly yummy theyd feasted for days on end so whenever shamus asked him about his favourite food monkey would lie back on his branch rub his tummy and tell the tale of eating palm hearts for three whole days and nights then one day not so long ago shamus turned up at the usual time the setting sun painting the whole mangrove a glorious bright palm oil red he seemed a little excited as if he couldnt wait for their usual banter to pass so he could get down to business hey monkey my man he burst out guess what you know those palm hearts youre always going on about yea well guess what | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there lived a hunter called ajakasi many hunters lived in his village some hunters used guns some used bows and arrows others used sticks and cutlasses to do their hunting ajakasi went on a hunting expedition early one morning he went deep into the bush he wondered around all day long but the bush seemed deserted and by late afternoon he had not even seen a bird he was terribly tired and hungry he decided to go back home just as he was about to turn back he heard an unusual sound coming from somewhere in the distance he listened carefully thinking he finally got lucky he hard peeap peeap peeap uuwuurgh oowuurgh uuuwuurgh he said to himself goodness that sounds like a big animal maybe even a lion ill sneak up carefully and see if i can find it he headed in the direction from which the sound was coming and soon he came upon a clearing in the forest and right there in the middle of the clearing was a big hole he approached gingerly and craned his neck so as to be able to see inside the pit and what did he see he saw a lion instinctively he jumped back then after collecting his nerves he approached the hole again and craned his neck so as to be able to see inside the pit then he saw a snake in the same pit and he saw a man crouching in one of the corners ajakasi couldnt help but wonder what was happening down there why was the lion not eating the man then he also saw a rat he couldnt believe is eyes so there was a lion down there and a huge snake and a man and a rat the lion was he first to spot ajakasi please mr hunter get me out of this pit im terribly hungry ajakasi shook his head and with a trembling voice said im really sorry mr lion but i cant do that a hungry lion how can i pull you out as soon as i get you up here youre going to have me for your lunch the lion growled in response dont you think i could have eaten this man here he asked or the snake or the rat we all agreed not to eat each other but to stick together so that we might all get out of here i guarantee that if you help us you will be safe the man in the pit joined in please mr hunter believe us the lion is telling the truth please get us out of here please help us the snake joined in hissing and the rat was squeaking the hunter was touched all right he said all right ill help you just hold on while i find something he went into the trees and found the longest possible rope he tied one end to the nearest tall tree and pulled it hard to test it when he was satisfied that it would be strong enough to pull all those creatures out of the pit he threw the loose end into the hole and who was the first to come out of course the lion the snake came out next and then the rat and finally the man crawled to the surface the lion gave ajakasi a heavy handshake ouch screamed ajakasi youve hurt me that was painful is that how youre going to thank me no no no no said the lion thank you very much indeed mr hunter i will see you again with that the lion disappeared into the jungle the snake thanked him too and slithered away the man thanked him and ran off the rat was the last to thank him i wont forget your kindness he said before scurrying off in the undergrowth | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
this version of the old story which we all know in the version made famous by aesop was told to me in london by zarah a refugee from somalia hare was a very vain creature he was always going around putting others down and boasting about his won exploits one day tortoise got really fed up well teach him a lesson he said he sat by the roadside and waited for hare to come racing by he called out to him hare where are you going in such a hurry stop and listen to my proposal which might be of some benefit to you hare turned round and approached tortoise whats this i hear he said are you planning to give me some reward indeed so said tortoise we are going to have a race | 0 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there was a chief in a village near the bush this man had many sons and one of them was the best hunter in the whole land whenever he went out hunting he always managed to bring back much more meat than any of the other hunters in the village but this hunter did not just like to provide meat for the villagers he enjoyed the thrill of the hunt stalking his prey and outsmarting it and killing animals for fun the chief often reprimanded his son because he knew that the spirits of the forest and the ancestors did not approve of killing for fun or sport but all his exhortations fell on deaf ears his sons behaviour never changed as for the animals they were both afraid of and angry with this hunter and they called a meeting of all the bush animals to discuss if there was not some way to could stop this man some suggested setting traps to catch him but everybody agreed that this hunter was too clever to fall into a trap he would surely spot it from afar then the lion suggested that one of them should change into the shape of a young woman in order to seduce the hunter | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there was a town where all the people were exceedingly lazy they didnt like to do any kind of work at all they didnt clean up their yards they didnt keep their streets clean and they couldnt be bothered to weed their vegetable patches the place was disgusting it was a disgrace the chief hated it he quite liked cleanliness and every so often he would start a clean up campaign but only a handful of people ever turned up to lend a hand and even then they would stop working after one or two days and the weeds would grow again and in the blink of an eye the place would be just as bad again as it ever was one day a hurricane blew through the town after it had passed the place looked even worse than before but the worst thing was that an enormous tree had been blown over and thrown right across the main road leading to the market place the first trader came along carrying his produce and found the road blocked by the tree he said i havent got time to move this tree ive got to get my produce to the market | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there lived a very great and honourable chief called gbeyor he had a daughter called gbeofia meaning queen of beauty gbeyor had given this name to his daughter because she was the most beautiful girl in the whole village when she had reached the age of 21 gbeofia called her father and told him that she wanted to marry gbeyor was aghast he shouted at his daughter hai my only daughter my queen of queens what are you trying to tell me i will not allow you to marry any man in this village my daughter you are so beautiful and precious to me therefore i would like you to marry a man who is very rich and handsome before long word got around in the village that gbeofia wanted to marry and the conditions that her father had imposed in spite of this some of the men in the village still thought they might have a chance therefore some of them would call on the chiefs place every saturday evening carrying special drinks and some expensive cloth as presents requesting gbeofias hand in marriage gbeyor could see that they were only farmers and that they were not good enough to marry his precious daughter one evening mr spider made his way to the chiefs door carrying a bottle of local gin the chief laid eyes on mr spider and asked him harshly hey mr spider what do you want in my palace mr spider answered in a very polite manner please chief i an here to marry your beautiful daughter the chief got very angry and shouted you fool come on clear off you think you can come along here with a bottle of local gin and marry my daughter | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there lived a woman whose name was aftermath she had one daughter whose name was akuvi her husband had died when the girl was still very young as akuvi grew up she began to rebel against her mothers authority if aftermath asked her to fetch water she would refuse if aftermath asked her to pound some yam the girl would snarl and sulk mother used to curse her daughter but all to no avail you think im hard on you she would say just wait if you keep behaving like this youll meet your fate one day this went on for quite some time until one day the mother again asked akuvi to fetch some water from the well akuvi refused bluntly why do i always have to fetch your water mother why cant you get it for yourself you have arms and legs just like i do aftermath got so angry at her daughters insolence that she took a cane and beat her this in turn made akuvi very angry thats it she said thats it ive had enough im going with that she took some of her clothes packed them in a bundle and left home she really had no idea where she was going she had nobody to turn to she didnt know anybody outside the small village they lived in as there was nowhere else to go she headed towards the forest after shed been walking for some time she came across a small farm on the edge stood an old hut and outside the hut sat an old lady akuvi had never seen such an old lady she must be at least a hundred years old akuvi walked up to the old lady who looked her in the eye and asked who are you and where are you from akuvi just about opened her mouth to answer when the old lady shouted stop dont speak i know all about you she wagged her crooked fingers at the girl your mother tried her best to bring you up well but you wouldnt have it would you | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
long ago a man called kofi amero lived in a village called amero kopfhi the village was named after him because in those days he was the wealthiest man in the whole area kofi amero was a very strict man but he wasnt fair no he was nasty and selfish in spite of his wealth he lived by himself without a wife or child because no woman could tolerate his strange behaviour one sunny day after kofi amero had taken his breakfast he was relaxing on the front porch of his house when all of a sudden he caught sight of a stranger dressed in the most tattered and shabby clothing the man looked so weird that kofi amero decided he must be a madman and tried to ignore him he was a little surprised when the man addressed him and asked for some food kofi amero didnt like giving charity and he was quite annoyed the man should ask for something but he had some uncooked kokoyam lying around under the window so he took a small dry piece and threw it at the beggar the man grasped the vegetable greedily and ate it within seconds when he had eaten every last bite and licked his fingers in the process he straightened himself and before kofi ameros astonished eyes changed into an angel of god kofi dropped to the floor the stranger requested kofi amero not to be disturbed he meant him no harm he said kofi as you were kind enough to let me share some of your food even though you thought i might be a troublesome beggar before i leave this place i will grant you any three wishes that you may make as you can imagine kofi amero got very excited when he heard this hahahah heeheehee today is going to be a good day for me he scratched his head wondering what he could possibly ask of the angel then asked him to come inside he pointed to an old armchair in the corner of his room master he said you see that chair in the corner there the angel nodded yes i can see it kofi continued well you see i bought that chair for myself at great expense so that i may rest after a hard days work but it is the only chair in my house and every time i get a visitor they have to sit in it and i have to remain standing or sit on the floor | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there lived a woman who couldnt have children because of that all her husbands kept leaving her one day she was feeling so sad miserable and lonely that she decided to go and see a witch doctor for him to help her have a baby the witch doctor said how can i help you to have a baby you need a husband and you havent got a husband she begged him to do everything in his power in the end he relented ok he said ill see what i can do but it wont be easy but as ive got a reputation to keep up ill perform a miracle on you he gave the woman three limes and told her to take them home with her at the end of each day he said for the next three days before you go to bed make sure you have a bath wash your hands thoroughly take one of the limes and cut it in two squeeze the juice rub it on your tummy your thighs and your hands the woman followed these instructions exactly after a few weeks she noticed that her stomach and her thighs were getting big she got worried and went back to see the witchdoctor again to ask his advice he told her not to worry these were the signs that the magic was working you just have to go through with this you will be fine he said he added that once the children got big and started to wonder about their father she should tell them that the father is a one eyed antelope as time went by she got bigger and bigger after nine months her left thigh just opened up and a baby boy jumped out then her stomach opened up and a baby girl jumped out she was very happy that at last she was a mother and for some time they lived happily like any normal family she called the boy atta and the girl she called attakuma as the children grew older they became very headstrong they always did exactly what they liked and took little or no notice of their mothers wishes or commands one day when her twins were about ten years old the woman told them your dad is not a human he is an antelope with one eye if you go hunting and you come across a one eyed antelope dont kill it it could be your father the children promised her they would never kill any one eyed antelope they might come across one day the twins went hunting they walked really far searching the jungle for meat they spent all day searching then decided to go back home empty handed one the way back they encountered a one eyed antelope atta said to his sister look at the size of that antelope lets shoot it and take it home no no no said attakuma remember what our mother told us if we shoot it we might be killing our father atta turned to his sister and snorted what you believe that stuff how can our father be an animal no way thats impossible with that he raised his bow and shot the antelope right in its heart the beast died immediately but the animal was so big and heavy that it was impossible for them to carry they had to make some rope tied it round the animal and dragged it all the way back home their mother hadnt returned from the market yet so they set about cooking a delicious meal when mother got home she was very pleased to find that her children had prepared a meal for her and set down immediately to eat but after a few bites she thought this meat tasted just like antelope meat | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time a hyena was out foraging in the bush it was a fine sunny day and he was looking forward to catching some morsels to eat but as he was sniffing around he fell into a hidden trap set by a hunter he found himself at the bottom of a hole with the trap catch closed over him he tried to push it open but iit just would not budge it was rather well made so he started shouting help help somebody get me out of here please a lion passed by looked to see who was in the trap | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
mr spider who is popularly known as ananse is renowned to be a man of tricks have you ever asked yourself why he is bald this is the story of how this came about one afternoon after mr spider had enjoyed his lunch he sat down in his yard to relax his lunch had been particularly nice so soon enough he snoozed off into a slumber and sat there snoring nrrrroorrroogh nrrrroorrrroogh nrrroorrrooogh suddenly there was the sound of someone knocking on the door and this woke him up mr spider opened the door and there he saw nana petra spider said eeh nana petra you are welcome its a long time since you called to see me he took his visitor inside the house and offered him everything he needed as a visitor mr spider asked nana petra my brother may i know your intention of coming here at this crucial hour | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time in the distant past there was a great war between the animals who live in the sky and those that live on the ground nobody now remembers how the war started or what it was about but it was a terrible time many animals on both sides were wounded or killed and eventually somebody said that if they carried on like this there would be no animals left on the earth so some of the sky animals and some of the ground animals had a meeting and as nobody could recall what they were fighting each other for it was agreed that a truce should be called and peace declared for the sky dwellers the heron was appointed to make the announcements and for the ground animals the hare would do this job as he was able to get around the area very quickly | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a very long time ago before man came along to upset the natural balance all animals lived together peacefully but in those days none of the animals had heads of their own except the elephant who was the king of the animals he had a large collection of heads in all shapes and sizes which he kept stored in a large cave every time an animal wished to leave the village compound to go out into the field or the bush he would go to the elephant first and ask to borrow a head on his return to the animal village the head would be returned to the kings store this worked very well for a time the only problem was that there were not quite enough heads for all the animals | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
foolish anansi thought he could trick a fisherman into doing his work for him lets go fishing he suggested very well said the fisherman who was clever and quite wise to anansis tricks ill make the nets and you can get tired for me wait said anansi ill make the nets and you can get tired for me | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
turtles used to live on the land they say until the time a clever turtle was caught by some hunters they brought him to their village and placed the turtle before the chief who said how shall we cook him | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a great warrior did not return from the hunt his family gave him up for dead all except his youngest child who each day would ask where is my father where is my father | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
anansi the spider hated to share when turtle came to his house at mealtime he said i cant give you food until youve washed your dusty feet turtle licked his lips when he saw the big plate of steaming food but politely walked to the stream to wash when he returned the plate was empty | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once there lived a cat she thought the lion is the strongest of all the animals it is good to have strong friends i shall go to the lion and make friendship with him she did so and the lion and the cat were friends for many many days once they went for a walk together and met an elephant the lion began to fight with the elephant and the elephant killed him | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there lived a poor man abhilas by name he was clever and often made jokes at rich people and even at the chief so they did not like him and wanted to kill him once the chief sent for abhilas and he came to the chiefs house i hear that you are very clever abhilas can you build me a house in the sky in three days you may have as many men as you need if you cant do that my soldiers will kill you i shall build it my chief said abhilas and went home | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
when he was a strong young cat he caught many mice the mice were afraid of him then but in time he grew old and could not catch mice any more one day he decided to play a trick on the mice he lay on his back and did not move at all | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once a chief told one of his servants to bring him the best meat from the market the servant brought him a tongue | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a jackal once got a thorn in his paw oh oh he cried as he walked along a road in the forest what shall i do what shall i do then he met an old woman please dear granny he said pull the thorn out of my paw the old woman pulled it out the jackal thanked her and went away but in a minute he came back and asked where is my thorn granny i dont know answered the old woman who needs a thorn then the jackal began to cry oh where is my thorn he cried i need it i need it very much the old woman was sorry for the jackal and said dont cry here is an egg for you the jackal took the egg and ran away with it he came to a village and knocked at the door of the first house a man opened it please my good man said the jackal may i stay the night with you it is late and cold | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
long long ago in africa there lived a hunter his name was ogalussa once he went to the forest to hunt and his wife with their five sons went to the field work the family came home in the evening but ogalussa was not yet back the family waited and waited for him but he didnt come they had their supper without him night came then morning came then again night came but ogalussa did not come home a week passed a month passed and after a sixth son was born to ogalussas wife puli was his name ogalussa did not come back every day ogalussas wife worked in the field sometimes the sons helped her sometimes they went to the forest to hunt | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
there was one place in the seven hills which the animals liked very much there was good water and green grass but a strong lion lived there he killed two or three animals every day one day the animals came to the lion and one of them began to speak oh dear lion it is not good for you to run and hunt all day long in the seven hills well send you one animal for your dinner every day all right the lion said but you must begin to send me my dinner now i am hungry i must have my dinner every day if you dont send an animal to me every day i shall kill as many of you as i want dont kill us dear lion we shall send you an animal every day | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
long ago there lived a king writers poets and musicians came from many places to see him the king liked to hear their stories poems and music but there was one man whom the king liked better than the others his name was mahamood he knew many tricks sang funny songs and danced well he could make the king laugh and the people called mahamood the fool of the king there was one thing that the king did not like in mahamood he ate very much this little man ate from morning till night the king thought my poor mahamood will die soon if he eats so much then he called together all his ministers and servants and said listen to me for one day you must not give mahamood anything to eat do not give him wine nor fruit nor meat do not give him even a piece of bread he must not sit at my table he must not have anything to eat the whole day oh yes my king thats right he is too fat said one of the ministers so the next day there was no place for mahamood at the kings table | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
this is a story about a boy his name was anansi there was a great famine in the country where anansi lived anansi and his little brothers and sisters were very hungry the boy could not think of anything but food this hunger will kill me he often said one day he went out of the house and walked to the seashore i shall try to catch a little fish he thought he sat on the seashore watching watching watching but nothing came then suddenly he saw a green island in the sea anansi climbed into a little red boat and soon he came to the green island he got out of the boat stood under the tree and looked up at big nuts high above him he tried to climb up the tree and get the nuts but that was not easy he tried again and again but he could not get the nuts the nuts were laughing at him ill get you my dear nuts he said and he tried again and again to get the nuts at last he got one nut now i have you he cried he tried to throw it into his little boat but the nut fell into the sea well there are many more nuts in the tree said anansi but the second nut fell into the sea too seven times that happened seven good big nuts were in the sea the wind carried them far far away | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
there grew a big tree on the seashore half of its branches were over the land and the other half over the water a little monkey lived in the tree he played in the branches all day and when he was hungry he ate the sweet fruit that grew in the tree now in the sea there lived a shark one day the monkey threw some of the fruit into the sea the shark ate it up from that day on the shark and the monkey were friends and the shark asked the monkey to throw some fruit down to him every day thank you friend monkey said the shark i have only fish to eat in the sea and i like your fruit very much the monkey was happy to be a friend of the shark and threw fruit into the sea every morning once the shark said to the monkey you are so good to me that i want to do something good for you the monkey looked down at the shark and listened the shark said i want to show you my home you will meet my brothers and sisters you are so good to me that i think they will like you the monkey thought a minute and said no i dont want to go thank you i am afraid of cold water and i cannot swim i shall be happier if i stay in my tree oh no no said the shark | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a man bought a sheep and went home with it a hare saw him and thought what a good sheep that is i must have it for myself the hare ran quickly in front of them took off his left shoe put it on the road and hid himself in the bushes | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
there was a time when some birds and some animals lived in the sky the dog and the hen lived there too one day it was very cold and rainy in the sky the birds asked the dog to go down to the earth and bring some fire to make the sky warm | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once there lived an old woman she had two donkeys | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
one day a very long time ago some of naayire people went hunting they walked and walked in the bush but found nothing when night came they were very far from home we must sleep in the bush the chief sad we must find a good place to sleep the hunters were not afraid to sleep in the bush but they knew elephants lions and other animals sometimes killed sleeping hunters and there were some bad people too in the bush the hunters came to a place with big trees round it | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
dont go near the well dont play round it mother hen said to her children and they never came to the well but once a little chicken ran to the well and stopped there why is the well so bad | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
one a chief decided to give a feast for his people he sent his men to every village they told the people to come to the chiefs house and said the chief asks each of the men to bring one bottle of palm wine and pour it into a pot at the door the day of the feast came people put on their best clothes and walked to the chiefs house with their families they stopped at the door of the chiefs house and poured their bottles into a very big pot at the door | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
long long ago the chief of the dagomba people had a son he loved the boy so much that he could not sleep if the boy was not near him at night one evening the chief sat under a big tree near his house some dagombas sat around him that night was warm and there was no rain one could hear the tom tom of the drums children sang and danced near them life is good the chief said and the people clapped their hands the dagomba people always clap their hands when they agree with somebody or something then the chiefs wife came up to the chief and said oh chief it is time for our boy to sleep but he is with you in the house the chief said isnt he here with you the woman asked | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
long long ago there was a lake of cold water in kenya many animals came at night to the lake to drink some water but people never came to the lake at night the animals could kill and eat them now a rich man who had a beautiful daughter once said the young man who will go to the lake in the evening and stay in the cold water till morning will have my daughter for his wife there lived a poor young man who loved the rich mans daughter very much he said to his mother i shall try to stay all night in the lake and then marry my dear girl no no the mother said you are my only son the water in the lake is very cold and the animals will eat you up dont go there she cried and cried | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once there lived a frog who had two wives his first wife lived in dumbi and the second wife lived in dala he himself lived in a little place between dumbi and dala he went sometimes to dumbi and sometimes to dala to see his wives once a little frog came to him and said come to dumbi please your first wife has a nice pudding for you | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
zakia was a beautiful and clever girl she lived with her father she was so clever that her father always asked her advice but once he did not ask her advice and zakia was very angry this was when the king asked the girls father to let him marry her zakias father did not tell his daughter about that and said to the king oh my king my daughter will be very glad to marry you but zakia was not glad no father she said no no i will not marry and love a man whom i do not know oh my dear daughter said her father if you dont marry him he may be very angry but he is very good and clever oh please do as i say at last zakia said all right ill marry him but the king must learn a trade ill marry him only if he does so one day he may lose his throne and what shall we do then we shall be poor we shall die of hunger go to the king and tell him my wish zakias father went to the king and told him his daughters wish and the king smiled and said your daughter is not only beautiful but very clever too ill be glad to do as she asks | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
long long ago there lived an old woman who sold the best soup in the market it was chicken soup nobody knew the old womans name nobody knew where she lived no body knew why her soup was always the best in the market and why it was so hot but people did not think about that they bought the soup and ate it every morning the old woman came to the market square she carried a big black pot of hot chicken soup on her head then she sat down under a tree and it did not take her long to sell her soup there lived a small boy not far from the market square his name was kalari he liked the soup very much he wanted to know where the old woman came from one day when the old woman put her empty pot on her head and left the market square kalari followed her but she did not see him | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there lived a chief who liked to listen to stories and he knew so many stories that sometimes he stopped the story teller and finished the story himself one day the chief sent his servants everywhere to find a good story teller our chief will give many presents to the man who will tell him the longest story in the world and make him laugh the servants shouted in the streets many people came to the chief and told him very long stories they tried to make him laugh but nobody could do that the chief always said that is not the longest story and there is nothing to laugh at once a boy came to the chief and said oh my chief let me try to tell you the longest story in the world and make you laugh the chief said well sit down and begin your story the boy began long long ago there lived a man mogambo by name he ate so much that no man could feed him full the chief of that country heard about mogambo and said bring him to me | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
there was once a big cave the top part of the cave was dry and there was water in the bottom part of it many animals lived in the dry part and a crocodile lived in the bottom part of it he liked to lie in the water and sleep sometimes he came out of the cave for a short time one day a hunter with his bow and arrow came near the cave he saw the crocodile and decided to kill him he aimed at the crocodile but he became blind at once | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a man had to go on a long travel he hid his money in a pot and put butter over it so nobody could see what was there under the butter in the pot then he took the pot to his neighbor and said please keep this pot of butter for me till i come back he did not say anything about the money in the pot a month passed two months passed but the traveler did not come back his neighbor thought im afraid the butter in the pot is bad and he took all the butter out of the pot and saw money there he took the money for himself and put many small stones into the pot in place of the money when the traveler came back he asked his neighbor for the pot | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
there once lived a man with his wife they were very poor and always hungry the man often went to the forest but he was a bad hunter and sometimes brought home only a small bird one day he went to the forest again but it was a very bad day for him he did not find even a small bird he was tired and sad he sat down to rest under a tree then he heard a sweet song of a bird he looked up and saw a very small bird whose feathers were red | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a long time ago at the village of serki a woman gave birth to twins both boys they were very nice children one of the twins eiba by name had a white spot on his right hand the other one they called him saiba had two white spots on his left hand father and mother were very happy and very sad at the same time you will ask why because there was a very bad custom in serki to kill twins and the chief of serki said those twins must die too but their father and mother did not want to kill the twins what said the chief angrily you dont want to kill them go away from the village and never come back or i shall kill you together with your children so the poor family went away from the village | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once there lived two girls who were friends they loved each other dearly they bought the same dresses they ate the same food they went together to bring water from the river people always saw them together and said what good friends they are but one day a young man said you say those two girls are good friends i am not sure about that i shall try to find it out the next day the young man stopped the two girls in the street good morning he said i want to speak to one of you | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
two frogs were paying on a rainy day slowly they hopped and hopped and came into a house | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
two strangers came to a village in the evening they came to the chief of that village and said may we stay for the night in your village oh yes strangers said the chief there is a house for strangers in our village you may sleep there and there is supper for you to eat but know this there is an old custom in our village strangers may sleep in our house for strangers but they must not snore we kill the man who snores the two strangers went to the house they had a good supper there and then they went to sleep they slept well | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
one day nine dogs went out to hunt they met a lion he said i am hunting too i am very very hungry let us hunt together so the dogs and the lion hunted together all day | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
segabs mother died when he was eleven years old his father married another woman bizunesh by name segab did not like bizunesh but bizunesh began to love the boy very much and tried to be a good mother to him she always made good breakfasts dinners and suppers but he did not eat them she bought him many good clothes but he did not look at them she gave him new shoes but he went to the river and threw the shoes into the water when she spoke to him he always ran away one day the poor woman said to segab i always wanted to have a son and now i have you segab i love you very much my dear boy | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
there was once a man who had three sons and all of them loved the same girl each of them asked the girl the same question will you marry me all of them were clever handsome and strong the girl liked each of the three young men very much and could not decide which of them was the best one day the father of the three brothers said here is some money for you you will go on a long travel while you are travelling you must look for a very very useful thing when you find it you will buy it and bring it home the three brothers travelled for a long time and they bought three very useful things | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there was a chief who had a beautiful daughter many young men wanted to marry her but the chief thought they are not very good for my daughter fire and rain wanted to marry her too rain came to the chiefs daughter and said will you marry me oh daughter of the chief yes i will said the girl at the same time fire came to the chief and said i want to marry your daughter will you give her to me for my wife the chief said yes i will then the chief sent for his daughter and said to her my dear daughter you will marry fire i gave him my promise | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
many many years ago the sun and the moon lived together on the earth water was their best friend and they often came to see him but water never went to see the sun and the moon in their house why dont you come to see us the sun once asked him | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
spider was very lazy every morning he got up at 12 0 clock ate his breakfast and said to his wife i am going to our farm but he did not go to the farm he had no farm at all he went to the forest and sat there under a big tree all day long his wife sometimes said to him tell me when you want my help on the farm she said nothing more she did not want to make him angry spider answered thenoh there is plenty of time yet dont be afraid i shall tell you when i need you the people often asked him when will you begin to work on your farm and he answered there is plenty of time yet then one day he said to his wife tomorrow i want to plant some nuts on our farm go to the market and buy a bag of nuts i must have them for tomorrow his wife was happy to hear that and ran to the market to buy the nuts the next day spider went with the nuts to the forest ate as many nuts as he wanted and then had a good sleep under a big tree in the evening he came home and said to his wife oh how tired and hungry i am i was working on our farm all day long is supper ready life is hard for us men | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
long long ago the chameleon and the dog were friends but sometimes the dog walked with the man one day the chameleon asked the dog why do you sometimes go with the man the man and i are friends answered the dog the man is a hunter and we go hunting together i help him to hunt we have meat when we come back | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a hen came to the river every day she drank water there one day the crocodile saw her and came up to her he wanted to eat her up but she cried oh dont eat me my dear brother the crocodile let her go | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once the sun said to the hawk i need some money please give me some i shall give it back to you very soon the hawk gave some money to the sun a week passed a month passed but the sun did not give back the money at last the hawk decided to go to the sun and ask for his money he went to the sun when he was high up in the sky do you remember that you must give me back my money he said to the sun the sun answered yes i do but i am in the sky now and the money is at home please come when i am at home and i shall give the money back | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
long long ago the jackal and the dog were friends and lived in the bush they hunted together every day in the evening they came home and ate their food together one day they did not catch anything and came back very hungry a cold wind was blowing in the bush oh said the dog it is so bad to be hungry and cold go to sleep the jackal said when morning comes we shall go hunting again and we shall catch a young antelope but the dog could not sleep then he saw a red light far away jackal he cried what is that red light over there theres a village and that red light is a mans fire the jackal answered fire is warm and it is cold here said the dog i say jackal will you go and bring some fire | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
long long ago the animals had no tails or very small ones one day the lion asked all the animals to come to him to get good tails it was cold that day and it was raining the hare had only a short little tail | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once a kites child was very ill the kites sister came to mother kite and said i know a good doctor for your child the spider is the best doctor here i shall ask him to come to you mother kite asked her sister to go for the doctor her sister went to the spider and said the kite has a child and it is very ill will you go to the kite and see her child all right the spider said but i am afraid to go | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once there was a man who was strong when he gathered firewood he hauled twice as much as anyone else in the village when he hunted he carried home two antelopes at once this mans name was shadusa and his wife was named shettu one day he said to her just look at these muscles i must be the strongest man in the world from now on just call me master man but shettu said quit your foolish boasting no matter how strong you are there will always be someone stronger and watch out or someday you may meet him the next day shettu paid a visit to a neighboring village on the walk home she grew thirsty so she stopped by a well she threw in the bucket—splash—then she pulled on the rope but though she tugged and she heaved she could not lift the bucket just then a woman walked up with a baby strapped to her back balanced on her head was a calabash a hollow gourd for carrying water youll get no water here today said shettu the bucket wont come up the two women pulled together but still the bucket would not budge wait a moment said the woman she untied her baby and set him on the ground pull up the bucket for mama the baby quickly pulled up the bucket and filled his mothers calabash then he threw in the bucket and pulled it up once more for shettu shettu gasped i dont believe it oh its not so strange said the woman after all my husband is master man when shettu got home she told shadusa what had happened master man yelled shadusa he cant call himself that im master man ill have to teach that fellow a lesson oh husband dont pleaded shettu if the baby is so strong think what the father must be like youll get yourself killed but shadusa said well see about that | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
effiong edem was a native of cobham town he had a very fine daughter whose name was afiong all the young men in the country wanted to marry her on account of her beauty but she refused all offers of marriage in spite of repeated entreaties from her parents as she was very vain and said she would only marry the best looking man in the country who would have to be young and strong and capable of loving her properly most of the men her parents wanted her to marry although they were rich were old men and ugly so the girl continued to disobey her parents at which they were very much grieved the skull who lived in the spirit land heard of the beauty of this calabar virgin and thought he would like to possess her so he went about amongst his friends and borrowed different parts of the body from them all of the best from one he got a good head another lent him a body a third gave him strong arms and a fourth lent him a fine pair of legs at last he was complete and was a very perfect specimen of manhood he then left the spirit land and went to cobham market where he saw afiong and admired her very much about this time afiong heard that a very fine man had been seen in the market who was better looking than any of the natives she therefore went to the market at once and directly she saw the skull in his borrowed beauty she fell in love with him and invited him to her house | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
tortoise had formerly lived in the same town with several other animals but after awhile they had decided to separate and each built his own village one day tortoise decided to roam so he started and went on an excursion leaving his wife and two children in the village on his way he came to the village of antelope the latter welcomed him killed a fowl and prepared food for him and they sat at the table eating when they had finished eating antelope asked kudu my friend what is your journey for tortoise answered i have come to inquire of you as to you and me which is the elder antelope replied kudu i am older than you but tortoise responded no i am the elder then antelope said show me the reason why you are older than i tortoise said continuing the discussion i will show you a sign of seniority let us have a race as a test of speed antelope replied derisively aiye how shall i know to test speed with kudu does kudu race however he agreed and said well | 0 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time all the streams and rivers ran so dry that the animals did not know how to get water after a very long search which had been quite in vain they found a tiny spring which only wanted to be dug deeper so as to yield plenty of water so the beasts said to each other let us dig a well and then we shall not fear to die of thirst and they all consented except the jackal who hated work of any kind and generally got somebody to do it for him when they had finished their well they held a council as to who should be made the guardian of the well so that the jackal might not come near it for they said he would not work therefore he shall not drink after some talk it was decided that the rabbit should be left in charge then all the other beasts went back to their homes when they were out of sight the jackal arrived good morning good morning rabbit and the rabbit politely said good morning then the jackal unfastened the little bag that hung at his side and pulled out of it a piece of honeycomb which he began to eat and turning to the rabbit he remarked as you see rabbit i am not thirsty in the least and this is nicer than any water give me a bit asked the rabbit so the jackal handed him a very little morsel oh how good it is cried the rabbit give me a little more dear friend but the jackal answered if you really want me to give you some more you must have your paws tied behind you and lie on your back so that i can pour it into your mouth the rabbit did as he was bid and when he was tied tight and popped on his back the jackal ran to the spring and drank as much as he wanted | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
there was once a dove who built a nice soft nest as a home for her three little ones she was very proud of their beauty and perhaps talked about them to her neighbours more than she need have done till at last everybody for miles round knew where the three prettiest baby doves in the whole country side were to be found one day a jackal who was prowling about in search of a dinner came by chance to the foot of the rock where the doves nest was hidden away and he suddenly bethought himself that if he could get nothing better he might manage to make a mouthful of one of the young doves so he shouted as loud as he could ohe ohe mother dove and the dove replied trembling with fear what do you want sir one of your children said he and if you dont throw it to me i will eat up you and the others as well now the dove was nearly driven distracted at the jackals words but in order to save the lives of the other two she did at last throw the little one out of the nest the jackal ate it up and went home to sleep meanwhile the mother dove sat on the edge of her nest crying bitterly when a heron who was flying slowly past the rock was filled with pity for her and stopped to ask what is the matter you poor dove and the dove answered a jackal came by and asked me to give him one of my little ones and said that if i refused he would jump on my nest and eat us all up but the heron replied you should not have believed him he could never have jumped so high he only deceived you because he wanted something for supper and with these words the heron flew off he had hardly got out of sight when again the jackal came creeping slowly round the foot of the rock and when he saw the dove he cried out a second time ohe ohe mother dove give me one of your little ones or i will jump on your nest and eat you all up this time the dove knew better and she answered boldly indeed i shall do nothing of the sort though her heart beat wildly with fear when she saw the jackal preparing for a spring however he only cut himself against the rock and thought he had better stick to threats so he started again with his old cry mother dove mother dove be quick and give me one of your little ones or i will eat you all up but the mother dove only answered as before indeed i shall do nothing of the sort for i know we are safely out of your reach the jackal felt it was quite hopeless to get what he wanted and asked tell me mother dove how have you suddenly become so wise | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
one day soongoo′ra the hare roaming through the forest in search of food glanced up through the boughs of a very large calabash tree and saw that a great hole in the upper part of the trunk was inhabited by bees thereupon he returned to town in search of some one to go with him and help to get the honey as he was passing the house of boo′koo the big rat that worthy gentleman invited him in so he went in sat down and remarked my father has died and has left me a hive of honey i would like you to come and help me to eat it of course bookoo jumped at the offer and he and the hare started off immediately when they arrived at the great calabash tree soongoora pointed out the bees nest and said go on climb up so taking some straw with them they climbed up to the nest lit the straw smoked out the bees put out the fire and set to work eating the honey in the midst of the feast who should appear at the foot of the tree but sim′ba the lion looking up and seeing them eating he asked who are you then soongoora whispered to bookoo hold your tongue that old fellow is crazy but in a very little while simba roared out angrily who are you i say speak i tell you this made bookoo so scared that he blurted out its only us upon this the hare said to him you just wrap me up in this straw call to the lion to keep out of the way and then throw me down then youll see what will happen so bookoo the big rat wrapped soongoora the hare in the straw and then called to simba the lion stand back im going to throw this straw down and then ill come down myself when simba stepped back out of the way bookoo threw down the straw and as it lay on the ground soongoora crept out and ran away while the lion was looking up after waiting a minute or two simba roared out well come down i say and there being no help for it the big rat came down as soon as he was within reach the lion caught hold of him and asked who was up there with you why said bookoo soongoora the hare | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once there was a man named go′so who taught children to read not in a schoolhouse but under a calabash tree one evening while goso was sitting under the tree deep in the study of the next days lessons paa the gazelle climbed up the tree very quietly to steal some fruit and in so doing shook off a calabash which in falling struck the teacher on the head and killed him when his scholars came in the morning and found their teacher lying dead they were filled with grief so after giving him a decent burial they agreed among themselves to find the one who had killed goso and put him to death after talking the matter over they came to the conclusion that the south wind was the offender so they caught the south wind and beat it but the south wind cried here i am koo′see the south wind why are you beating me what have i done and they said yes we know you are koosee it was you who threw down the calabash that struck our teacher goso you should not have done it but koosee said if i were so powerful would i be stopped by a mud wall so they went to the mud wall and beat it but the mud wall cried here i am keeyambaa′za the mud wall why are you beating me what have i done and they said yes we know you are keeyambaaza it was you who stopped koosee the south wind and koosee the south wind threw down the calabash that struck our teacher goso you should not have done it but keeyambaaza said if i were so powerful would i be bored through by the rat so they went and caught the rat and beat it but the rat cried here i am paan′ya the rat why are you beating me | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
long long ago there lived in a village called keejee′jee a woman whose husband died leaving her with a little baby boy she worked hard all day to get food for herself and child but they lived very poorly and were most of the time half starved when the boy whose name was mvoo′ laa′na began to get big he said to his mother one day mother we are always hungry what work did my father do to support us his mother replied your father was a hunter he set traps and we ate what he caught in them oho said mvoo laana thats not work thats fun i too will set traps and see if we cant get enough to eat the next day he went into the forest and cut branches from the trees and returned home in the evening the second day he spent making the branches into traps the third day he twisted cocoanut fiber into ropes the fourth day he set up as many traps as time would permit the fifth day he set up the remainder of the traps the sixth day he went to examine the traps and they had caught so much game beside what they needed for themselves that he took a great quantity to the big town of oongoo′ja where he sold it and bought corn and other things and the house was full of food and as this good fortune continued he and his mother lived very comfortably but after a while when he went to his traps he found nothing in them day after day one morning however he found that an ape had been caught in one of the traps and he was about to kill it when it said son of adam i am neea′nee the ape do not kill me take me out of this trap and let me go save me from the rain that i may come and save you from the sun some day so mvoo laana took him out of the trap and let him go when neeanee had climbed up in a tree he sat on a branch and said to the youth for your kindness i will give you a piece of advice believe me men are all bad never do a good turn for a man if you do he will do you harm at the first opportunity | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
in a country which is full of wild beasts of all sorts there once lived a jackal and a hedgehog and unlike though they were the two animals made great friends and were often seen in each others company one afternoon they were walking along a road together when the jackal who was the taller of the two exclaimed oh there is a barn full of corn let us go and eat some yes do let us answered the hedgehog so they went to the barn and ate till they could eat no more then the jackal put on his shoes which he had taken off so as to make no noise and they returned to the high road after they had gone some way they met a panther who stopped and bowing politely said excuse my speaking to you but i cannot help admiring those shoes of yours do you mind telling me who made them yes i think they are rather nice answered the jackal i made them myself though could you make me a pair like them asked the panther eagerly i would do my best of course replied the jackal but you must kill me a cow and when we have eaten the flesh i will take the skin and make your shoes out of it so the panther prowled about until he saw a fine cow grazing apart from the rest of the herd he killed it instantly and then gave a cry to the jackal and hedgehog to come to the place where he was they soon skinned the dead beasts and spread its skin out to dry after which they had a grand feast before they curled themselves up for the night and slept soundly next morning the jackal got up early and set to work upon the shoes while the panther sat by and looked on with delight at last they were finished and the jackal arose and stretched himself now go and lay them in the sun out there said he in a couple of hours they will be ready to put on but do not attempt to wear them before or you will feel them most uncomfortable but i see the sun is high in the heavens and we must be continuing our journey the panther who always believed what everybody told him did exactly as he was bid and in two hours time began to fasten on the shoes they certainly set off his paws wonderfully and he stretched out his forepaws and looked at them with pride but when he tried to walk–ah that was another story they were so stiff and hard that he nearly shrieked every step he took and at last he sank down where he was and actually began to cry after some time some little partridges who were hopping about heard the poor panthers groans and went up to see what was the matter | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
now though the jackal was dead he had left two sons behind him every whit as cunning and tricky as their father the elder of the two was a fine handsome creature who had a pleasant manner and made many friends the animal he saw most of was a hyena and one day when they were taking a walk together they picked up a beautiful green cloak which had evidently been dropped by some one riding across the plain on a camel of course each wanted to have it and they almost quarrelled over the matter but at length it was settled that the hyena should wear the cloak by day and the jackal by night after a little while however the jackal became discontented with this arrangement declaring that none of his friends who were quite different from those of the hyena could see the splendour of the mantle and that it was only fair that he should sometimes be allowed to wear it by day to this the hyena would by no means consent and they were on the eve of a quarrel when the hyena proposed that they should ask the lion to judge between them the jackal agreed to this and the hyena wrapped the cloak about him and they both trotted off to the lions den the jackal who was fond of talking at once told the story and when it was finished the lion turned to the hyena and asked if it was true quite true your majesty answered the hyena then lay the cloak on the ground at my feet said the lion and i will give my judgment so the mantle was spread upon the red earth the hyena and the jackal standing on each side of it there was silence for a few moments and then the lion sat up looking very great and wise my judgment is that the garment shall belong wholly to whoever first rings the bell of the nearest mosque at dawn to morrow now go for much business awaits me all that night the hyena sat up fearing lest the jackal should reach the bell before him for the mosque was close at hand with the first streak of dawn he bounded away to the bell just as the jackal who had slept soundly all night was rising to his feet good luck to you cried the jackal and throwing the cloak over his back he darted away across the plain and was seen no more by his friend the hyena after running several miles the jackal thought he was safe from pursuit and seeing a lion and another hyena talking together he strolled up to join them good morning he said may i ask what is the matter you seem very serious about something pray sit down answered the lion we were wondering in which direction we should go to find the best dinner the hyena wishes to go to the forest and i to the mountains | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there lived an old man who dwelt with his son in a small hut on the edge of the plain he was very old and had worked very hard and when at last he was struck down by illness he felt that he should never rise from his bed again so one day he bade his wife summon their son when he came back from his journey to the nearest town where he had been to buy bread come hither my son said he i know myself well to be dying and i have nothing to leave you but my falcon my cat and my greyhound but if you make good use of them you will never lack food be good to your mother as you have been to me and now farewell then he turned his face to the wall and died there was great mourning in the hut for many days but at length the son rose up and calling to his greyhound his cat and his falcon he left the house saying that he would bring back something for dinner wandering over the plain he noticed a troop of gazelles and pointed to his greyhound to give chase the dog soon brought down a fine fat beast and slinging it over his shoulders the young man turned homewards on the way however he passed a pond and as he approached a cloud of birds flew into the air shaking his wrist the falcon seated on it darted into the air and swooped down upon the quarry he had marked which fell dead to the ground the young man picked it up and put it in his pouch and then went towards home again near the hut was a small barn in which he kept the produce of the little patch of corn which grew close to the garden here a rat ran out almost under his feet followed by another and another but quick as thought the cat was upon them and not one escaped her when all the rats were killed the young man left the barn he took the path leading to the door of the hut but stopped on feeling a hand laid on his shoulder young man said the ogre for such was the stranger you have been a good son and you deserve the piece of luck which has befallen you this day come with me to that shining lake yonder and fear nothing wondering a little at what might be going to happen to him the youth did as the ogre bade him and when they reached the shore of the lake the ogre turned and said to him step into the water and shut your eyes you will find yourself sinking slowly to the bottom but take courage all will go well only bring up as much silver as you can carry and we will divide it between us so the young man stepped bravely into the lake and felt himself sinking sinking till he reached firm ground at last in front of him lay four heaps of silver and in the midst of them a curious white shining stone marked over with strange characters such as he had never seen before he picked it up in order to examine it more closely and as he held it the stone spoke as long as you hold me all your wishes will come true it said but hide me in your turban and then call to the ogre that you are ready to come up in a few minutes the young man stood again by the shores of the lake well where is the silver asked the ogre who was awaiting him ah my father how can i tell you so bewildered was i and so dazzled with the splendours of everything i saw that i stood like a statue unable to move then hearing steps approaching i got frightened and called to you as you know you are no better than the rest cried the ogre and turned away in a rage when he was out of sight the young man took the stone from his turban and looked at it i want the finest camel that can be found and the most splendid garments said he shut your eyes then replied the stone and he shut them and when he opened them again the camel that he had wished for was standing before him while the festal robes of a desert prince hung from his shoulders mounting the camel he whistled the falcon to his wrist and followed by his greyhound and his cat he started homewards his mother was sewing at her door when this magnificent stranger rode up and filled with surprise she bowed low before him dont you know me mother he said with a laugh and on hearing his voice the good woman nearly fell to the ground with astonishment how have you got that camel and those clothes asked she can a son of mine have committed murder in order to possess them do not be afraid they are quite honestly come by answered the youth i will explain all by and by but now you must go to the palace and tell the king i wish to marry his daughter at these words the mother thought her son had certainly gone mad and stared blankly at him the young man guessed what was in her heart and replied with a smile fear nothing promise all that he asks it will be fulfilled somehow so she went to the palace where she found the king sitting in the hall of justice listening to the petitions of his people the woman waited until all had been heard and the hall was empty and then went up and knelt before the throne | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there lived a man whose name was abu nowas and he was a great favourite with the sultan of the country who had a palace in the same town where abu nowas dwelt one day abu nowas came weeping into the hall of the palace where the sultan was sitting and said to him oh mighty sultan my wife is dead that is bad news replied the sultan i must get you another wife and he bade his grand vizir send for the sultana this poor abu nowas has lost his wife said he when she entered the hall oh then we must get him another answered the sultana i have a girl that will suit him exactly and clapped her hands loudly at this signal a maiden appeared and stood before her i have got a husband for you said the sultana who is he asked the girl abu nowas the jester replied the sultana i will take him answered the maiden and as abu nowas made no objection it was all arranged the sultana had the most beautiful clothes made for the bride and the sultan gave the bridegroom his wedding suit and a thousand gold pieces into the bargain and soft carpets for the house so abu nowas took his wife home and for some time they were very happy and spent the money freely which the sultan had given them never thinking what they should do for more when that was gone but come to an end it did and they had to sell their fine things one by one till at length nothing was left but a cloak apiece and one blanket to cover them we have run through our fortune said abu nowas what are we to do now i am afraid to go back to the sultan for he will command his servants to turn me from the door but you shall return to your mistress and throw yourself at her feet and weep and perhaps she will help us oh you had much better go said the wife i shall not know what to say well then stay at home if you like answered abu nowas and i will ask to be admitted to the sultans presence and will tell him with sobs that my wife is dead and that i have no money for her burial when he hears that perhaps he will give us something yes that is a good plan said the wife and abu nowas set out the sultan was sitting in the hall of justice when abu nowas entered his eyes streaming with tears for he had rubbed some pepper into them they smarted dreadfully and he could hardly see to walk straight and everyone wondered what was the matter with him abu nowas what has happened | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once there was a very poor man named haamdaa′nee who begged from door to door for his living sometimes taking things before they were offered him after a while people became suspicious of him and stopped giving him anything in order to keep him away from their houses so at last he was reduced to the necessity of going every morning to the village dust heap and picking up and eating the few grains of the tiny little millet seed that he might find there one day as he was scratching and turning over the heap he found a dime which he tied up in a corner of his ragged dress and continued to hunt for millet grains but could not find one oh well said he ive got a dime now im pretty well fixed ill go home and take a nap instead of a meal so he went to his hut took a drink of water put some tobacco in his mouth and went to sleep the next morning as he scratched in the dust heap he saw a countryman going along carrying a basket made of twigs and he called to him hi there countryman what have you in that cage the countryman whose name was moohaad′eem replied gazelles and haamdaanee called bring them here let me see them now there were three well to do men standing near and when they saw the countryman coming to haamdaanee they smiled and said youre taking lots of trouble for nothing moohaadeem hows that gentlemen he inquired why said they that poor fellow has nothing at all not a cent oh i dont know that said the countryman he may have plenty for all i know not he said they dont you see for yourself continued one of them that he is on the dust heap every day he scratches there like a hen trying to get enough grains of millet to keep himself alive if he had any money wouldnt he buy a square meal for once in his life do you think he would want to buy a gazelle what would he do with it he cant find enough food for himself without looking for any for a gazelle but moohaadeem said gentlemen i have brought some goods here to sell i answer all who call me and if any one says come i go to him i dont favor one and slight another therefore as this man called me im going to him all right said the first man you dont believe us well we know where he lives and all about him and we know that he cant buy anything thats so said the second man perhaps however you will see that we were right after you have a talk with him to which the third man added clouds are a sign of rain but we have seen no signs of his being about to spend any money all right gentlemen said moohaadeem many better looking people than he call me and when i show them my gazelles they say oh yes theyre very beautiful but awfully dear take them away so i shall not be disappointed if this man says the same thing i shall go to him anyhow then one of the three men said let us go with this man and see what the beggar will buy pshaw said another buy you talk foolishly he has not had a good meal in three years to my knowledge and a man in his condition doesnt have money to buy gazelles however lets go and if he makes this poor countryman carry his load over there just for the fun of looking at the gazelles let each of us give him a good hard whack with our walking sticks to teach him how to behave toward honest merchants so when they came near him one of those three men said well here are the gazelles now buy one here they are you old hypocrite youll feast your eyes on them but you cant buy them but haamdaanee paying no attention to the men said to moohaadeem how much for one of your gazelles then another of those men broke in youre very innocent arent you you know as well as i do that gazelles are sold every day at two for a quarter still taking no notice of these outsiders haamdaanee continued id like to buy one for a dime one for a dime laughed the men of course youd like to buy one for a dime perhaps youd also like to have the dime to buy with then one of them gave him a push on the cheek at this haamdaanee turned and said why do you push me on the cheek when ive done nothing to you i do not know you i call this man to transact some business with him and you who are strangers step in to spoil our trade he then untied the knot in the corner of his ragged coat produced the dime and handing it to moohaadeem said please good man let me have a gazelle for that at this the countryman took a small gazelle out of the cage and handed it to him saying here master take this one i call it keejee′paa then turning to those three men he laughed and said ehe hows this you with your white robes and turbans and swords and daggers and sandals on your feet—you gentlemen of property and no mistake—you told me this man was too poor to buy anything yet he has bought a gazelle for a dime while you fine fellows i think havent enough money among you to buy half a gazelle if they were five cents each then moohaadeem and the three men went their several ways as for haamdaanee he stayed at the dust heap until he found a few grains of millet for himself and a few for keejeepaa the gazelle and then went to his hut spread his sleeping mat and he and the gazelle slept together this going to the dust heap for a few grains of millet and then going home to bed continued for about a week then one night haamdaanee was awakened by some one calling master sitting up he answered here i am who calls the gazelle answered i do upon this the beggar man became so scared that he did not know whether he should faint or get up and run away seeing him so overcome keejeepaa asked why master whats the matter oh gracious he gasped what a wonder i see a wonder said the gazelle looking all around why what is this wonder that makes you act as if you were all broken up why its so wonderful i can hardly believe im awake said his master who in the world ever before knew of a gazelle that could speak oho laughed keejeepaa is that all there are many more wonderful things than that but now listen while i tell you why i called you certainly ill listen to every word said the man i cant help listening well you see its just this way said keejeepaa ive allowed you to become my master and i can not run away from you so i want you to make an agreement with me and i will make you a promise and keep it say on said his master now continued the gazelle one doesnt have to be acquainted with you long in order to discover that you are very poor this scratching a few grains of millet from the dust heap every day and managing to subsist upon them is all very well for you—youre used to it because its a matter of necessity with you but if i keep it up much longer you wont have any gazelle—keejeepaa will die of starvation therefore i want to go away every day and feed on my own kind of food and i promise you i will return every evening well i guess ill have to give my consent said the man in no very cheerful tone as it was now dawn keejeepaa jumped up and ran out of the door haamdaanee following him the gazelle ran very fast and his master stood watching him until he disappeared then tears started in the mans eyes and raising his hands he cried oh my mother then he cried oh my father then he cried oh my gazelle it has run away some of his neighbors who heard him carrying on in this manner took the opportunity to inform him that he was a fool an idiot and a dissipated fellow said one of them you hung around that dust heap goodness knows how long scratching like a hen till fortune gave you a dime you hadnt sense enough to go and buy some decent food you had to buy a gazelle now youve let the creature run away what are you crying about you brought all your trouble on yourself all this of course was very comforting to haamdaanee who slunk off to the dust heap got a few grains of millet and came back to his hut which now seemed meaner and more desolate than ever at sunset however keejeepaa came trotting in and the beggar was happy again and said ah my friend you have returned to me of course said the gazelle didnt i promise you you see i feel that when you bought me you gave all the money you had in the world even though it was only a dime why then should i grieve you i couldnt do it if i go and get myself some food ill always come back evenings when the neighbors saw the gazelle come home every evening and run off every morning they were greatly surprised and began to suspect that haamdaanee was a wizard well this coming and going continued for five days the gazelle telling its master each night what fine places it had been to and what lots of food it had eaten on the sixth day it was feeding among some thorn bushes in a thick wood when scratching away some bitter grass at the foot of a big tree it saw an immense diamond of intense brightness oho said keejeepaa in great astonishment heres property and no mistake this is worth a kingdom if i take it to my master he will be killed for being a poor man if they say to him where did you get it and he answers i picked it up they will not believe him if he says it was given to me they will not believe him either it will not do for me to get my master into difficulties i know what ill do ill seek some powerful person he will use it properly so keejeepaa started off through the forest holding the diamond in his mouth and ran and ran but saw no town that day so he slept in the forest and arose at dawn and pursued his way and the second day passed like the first on the third day the gazelle had traveled from dawn until between eight and nine oclock when he began to see scattered houses getting larger in size and knew he was approaching a town in due time he found himself in the main street of a large city leading direct to the sultans palace and began to run as fast as he could | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a long time ago a little town made up of a collection of low huts stood in a tiny green valley at the foot of a cliff of course the people had taken great care to build their houses out of reach of the highest tide which might be driven on shore by a west wind but on the very edge of the town there had sprung up a tree so large that half its boughs hung over the huts and the other half over the deep sea right under the cliff where sharks loved to come and splash in the clear water the branches of the tree itself were laden with fruit and every day at sunrise a big grey monkey might have been seen sitting in the topmost branches having his breakfast and chattering to himself with delight after he had eaten all the fruit on the town side of the tree the monkey swung himself along the branches to the part which hung over the water while he was looking out for a nice shady place where he might perch comfortably he noticed a shark watching him from below with greedy eyes can i do anything for you my friend asked the monkey politely oh if you only would thrown me down some of those delicious things i should be so grateful answered the shark after you have lived on fish for fifty years you begin to feel you would like a change and i am so very very tired of the taste of salt well i dont like salt myself said the monkey so if you will open your mouth i will throw this beautiful juicy kuyu into it and as he spoke he pulled one off the branch just over his head but it was not so easy to hit the sharks mouth as he supposed even when the creature had turned on his back and the first kuyu only struck one of his teeth and rolled into the water however the second time the monkey had better luck and the fruit fell right in ah how good cried the shark send me another please and the monkey grew tired of picking the kuyu long before the shark was tired of eating them it is getting late and i must be going home to my children he said at length but if you are here at the same time to morrow i will give you another treat thank you thank you said the shark showing all his great ugly teeth as he grinned with delight you cant guess how happy you have made me and he swam away into the shadow hoping to sleep away the time till the monkey came again for weeks the monkey and the shark breakfasted together and it was a wonder that the tree had any fruit left for them they became fast friends and told each other about their homes and their children and how to teach them all they ought to know by and bye the monkey became rather discontented with his green house in a grove of palms beyond the town and longed to see the strange things under the sea which he had heard of from the shark | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a washerman once lived in the great forest on the other side of the town and he had a donkey to keep him company and to carry him wherever he wanted to go for a time they got on very well but by and bye the donkey grew lazy and ungrateful for her masters kindness and ran away several miles into the heart of the forest where she did nothing but eat and eat and eat till she grew so fat she could hardly move one day as she was tasting quite a new kind of grass and wondering if it was as good as what she had had for dinner the day before a hare happened to pass by well that is a fat creature thought she and turned out of her path to tell the news to a lion who was a friend of hers now the lion had been very ill and was not strong enough to go hunting for himself and when the hare came and told him that a very fat donkey was to be found only a few hundred yards off tears of disappointment and weakness filled his eyes what is the good of telling me that he asked in a weepy voice you know i cannot even walk as far as that palm never mind answered the hare briskly if you cant go to your dinner your dinner shall come to you and nodding a farewell to the lion she went back to the donkey good morning said she bowing politely to the donkey who lifted her head in surprise excuse my interrupting you but i have come on very important business indeed answered the donkey it is most kind of you to take the trouble may i inquire what the business is certainly replied the hare it is my friend the lion who has heard so much of your charms and good qualities that he has sent me to beg that you will give him your paw in marriage he regrets deeply that he is unable to make the request in person but he has been ill and is too weak to move poor fellow how sad said the donkey but you must tell him that i feel honoured by his proposal and will gladly consent to be queen of the beasts will you not come and tell him so yourself asked the hare side by side they went down the road which led to the lions house it took a long while for the donkey was so fat with eating she could only walk very slowly and the hare who could have run the distance in about five minutes was obliged to creep along till she almost dropped with fatigue at not being able to go at her own pace | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a long long way off in a land where water is very scarce there lived a man and his wife and several children one day the wife said to her husband i am pining to have the liver of a nyamatsane for my dinner if you love me as much as you say you do you will go out and hunt for a nyamatsane and will kill it and get its liver if not i shall know that your love is not worth having bake some bread was all her husband answered then take the crust and put it in this little bag the wife did as she was told and when she had finished she said to her husband the bag is all ready and quite full very well said he and now good bye i am going after the nyamatsane but the nyamatsane was not so easy to find as the woman had hoped the husband walked on and on and on without ever seeing one and every now and then he felt so hungry that he was obliged to eat one of the crusts of bread out of his bag at last when he was ready to drop from fatigue he found himself on the edge of a great marsh which bordered on one side the country of the nyamatsanes but there were no more nyamatsanes here than anywhere else they had all gone on a hunting expedition as their larder was empty and the only person left at home was their grandmother who was so feeble she never went out of the house our friend looked on this as a great piece of luck and made haste to kill her before the others returned and to take out her liver after which he dressed himself in her skin as well as he could he had scarcely done this when he heard the noise of the nyamatsanes coming back to their grandmother for they were very fond of her and never stayed away from her longer than they could help they rushed clattering into the hut exclaiming we smell human flesh some man is here and began to look about for him but they only saw their old grandmother who answered in a trembling voice no my children no what should any man be doing here the nyamatsanes paid no attention to her and began to open all the cupboards and peep under all the beds crying out all the while a man is here a man is here but they could find nobody and at length tired out with their long days hunting they curled themselves up and fell asleep next morning they woke up quite refreshed and made ready to start on another expedition but as they did not feel happy about their grandmother they said to her grandmother wont you come to day and feed with us and they led their grandmother outside and all of them began hungrily to eat pebbles our friend pretended to do the same but in reality he slipped the stones into his pouch and swallowed the crusts of bread instead however as the nyamatsanes did not see this they had no idea that he was not really their grandmother when they had eaten a great many pebbles they thought they had done enough for that day and all went home together and curled themselves up to sleep next morning when they woke they said let us go and amuse ourselves by jumping over the ditch and every time they cleared it with a bound then they begged their grandmother to jump over it too end with a tremendous effort she managed to spring right over to the other side after this they had no doubt at all of its being their true grandmother and went off to their hunting leaving our friend at home in the hut as soon as they had gone out of sight our hero made haste to take the liver from the place where he had hid it threw off the skin of the old nyamatsane and ran away as hard as he could only stopping to pick up a very brilliant and polished little stone which he put in his bag by the side of the liver towards evening the nyamatsanes came back to the hut full of anxiety to know how their grandmother had got on during their absence the first thing they saw on entering the door was her skin lying on the floor and then they knew that they had been deceived and they said to each other so we were right after all and it was human flesh we smelt then they stooped down to find traces of the mans footsteps and when they had got them instantly set out in hot pursuit meanwhile our friend had journeyed many miles and was beginning to feel quite safe and comfortable when happening to look round he saw in the distance a thick cloud of dust moving rapidly his heart stood still within him and he said to himself i am lost it is the nyamatsanes and they will tear me in pieces and indeed the cloud of dust was drawing near with amazing quickness and the nyamatsanes almost felt as if they were already devouring him then as a last hope the man took the little stone that he had picked up out of his bag and flung it on the ground the moment it touched the soil it became a huge rock whose steep sides were smooth as glass and on the top of it our hero hastily seated himself it was in vain that the nyamatsanes tried to climb up and reach him they slid down again much faster than they had gone up and by sunset they were quite worn out and fell asleep at the foot of the rock no sooner had the nyamatsanes tumbled off to sleep than the man stole softly down and fled away as fast as his legs would carry him and by the time his enemies were awake he was a very long way off they sprang quickly to their feet and began to sniff the soil round the rock in order to discover traces of his footsteps and they galloped after him with terrific speed the chase continued for several days and nights several times the nyamatsanes almost reached him and each time he was saved by his little pebble between his fright and his hurry he was almost dead of exhaustion when he reached his own village where the nyamatsanes could not follow him because of their enemies the dogs which swarmed over all the roads so they returned home then our friend staggered into his own hut and called to his wife ichou how tired i am quick give me something to drink | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there lived a man who wasted all his money and grew so poor that his only food was a few grains of corn which he scratched like a fowl from out of a dust heap one day he was scratching as usual among a dust heap in the street hoping to find something for breakfast when his eye fell upon a small silver coin called an eighth which he greedily snatched up now i can have a proper meal he thought and after drinking some water at a well he lay down and slept so long that it was sunrise before he woke again then he jumped up and returned to the dust heap for who knows he said to himself whether i may not have some good luck again as he was walking down the road he saw a man coming towards him carrying a cage made of twigs hi you fellow called he what have you got inside there gazelles replied the man bring them here for i should like to see them as he spoke some men who were standing by began to laugh saying to the man with the cage you had better take care how you bargain with him for he has nothing at all except what he picks up from a dust heap and if he cant feed himself will he be able to feed a gazelle but the man with the cage made answer since i started from my home in the country fifty people at the least have called me to show them my gazelles and was there one among them who cared to buy it is the custom for a trader in merchandise to be summoned hither and thither and who knows where one may find a buyer and he took up his cage and went towards the scratcher of dust heaps and the men went with him what do you ask for your gazelles said the beggar will you let me have one for an eighth and the man with the cage took out a gazelle and held it out saying take this one master and the beggar took it and carried it to the dust heap where he scratched carefully till he found a few grains of corn which he divided with his gazelle this he did night and morning till five days went by then as he slept the gazelle woke him saying master and the man answered how is it that i see a wonder what wonder asked the gazelle why that you a gazelle should be able to speak for from the beginning my father and mother and all the people that are in the world have never told me of a talking gazelle never mind that said the gazelle but listen to what i say first i took you for my master second you gave for me all you had in the world i cannot run away from you but give me i pray you leave to go every morning and seek food for myself and every evening i will come back to you what you find in the dust heaps is not enough for both of us go then answered the master and the gazelle went when the sun had set the gazelle came back and the poor man was very glad and they lay down and slept side by side in the morning it said to him i am going away to feed and the man replied go my son but he felt very lonely without his gazelle and set out sooner than usual for the dust heap where he generally found most corn and glad he was when the evening came and he could return home he lay on the grass chewing tobacco when the gazelle trotted up good evening my master how have you fared all day i have been resting in the shade in a place where there is sweet grass when i am hungry and fresh water when i am thirsty and a soft breeze to fan me in the heat it is far away in the forest and no one knows of it but me and to morrow i shall go again so for five days the gazelle set off at daybreak for this cool spot but on the fifth day it came to a place where the grass was bitter and it did not like it and scratched hoping to tear away the bad blades but instead it saw something lying in the earth which turned out to be a diamond very large and bright oh ho said the gazelle to itself perhaps now i can do something for my master who bought me with all the money he had but i must be careful or they will say he has stolen it i had better take it myself to some great rich man and see what it will do for me directly the gazelle had come to this conclusion it picked up the diamond in its mouth and went on and on and on through the forest but found no place where a rich man was likely to dwell for two more days it ran from dawn to dark till at last early one morning it caught sight of a large town which gave it fresh courage the people were standing about the streets doing their marketing when the gazelle bounded past the diamond flashing as it ran they called after it but it took no notice till it reached the palace where the sultan was sitting enjoying the cool air and the gazelle galloped up to him and laid the diamond at his feet the sultan looked first at the diamond and next at the gazelle then he ordered his attendants to bring cushions and a carpet that the gazelle might rest itself after its long journey and he likewise ordered milk to be brought and rice that it might eat and drink and be refreshed and when the gazelle was rested the sultan said to it give me the news you have come with and the gazelle answered i am come with this diamond which is a pledge from my master the sultan darai he has heard you have a daughter and sends you this small token and begs you will give her to him to wife and the sultan said i am content the wife is his wife the family is his family the slave is his slave let him come to me empty handed i am content when the sultan had ended the gazelle rose and said master farewell i go back to our town and in eight days or it may be in eleven days we shall arrive as your guests and the sultan answered so let it be all this time the poor man far away had been mourning and weeping for his gazelle which he thought had run away from him for ever and when it came in at the door he rushed to embrace it with such joy that he would not allow it a chance to speak be still master and dont cry said the gazelle at last let us sleep now and in the morning when i go follow me with the first ray of dawn they got up and went into the forest and on the fifth day as they were resting near a stream the gazelle gave its master a sound beating and then bade him stay where he was till it returned and the gazelle ran off and about ten oclock it came near the sultans palace where the road was all lined with soldiers who were there to do honour to sultan darai and directly they caught sight of the gazelle in the distance one of the soldiers ran on and said sultan darai is coming i have seen the gazelle then the sultan rose up and called his whole court to follow him and went out to meet the gazelle who bounding up to him gave him greeting the sultan answered politely and inquired where it had left its master whom it had promised to bring back alas replied the gazelle he is lying in the forest for on our way here we were met by robbers who after beating and robbing him took away all his clothes and he is now hiding under a bush lest a passing stranger might see him the sultan on hearing what had happened to his future son in law turned his horse and rode to the palace and bade a groom to harness the best horse in the stable and order a woman slave to bring a bag of clothes such as a man might want out of the chest and he chose out a tunic and a turban and a sash for the waist and fetched himself a gold hilted sword and a dagger and a pair of sandals and a stick of sweet smelling wood now said he to the gazelle take these things with the soldiers to the sultan that he may be able to come and the gazelle answered can i take those soldiers to go and put my master to shame as he lies there naked i am enough by myself my lord how will you be enough asked the sultan to manage this horse and all these clothes oh that is easily done replied the gazelle | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time there lived a poor woman who had only one child and he was a little boy called hassebu when he ceased to be a baby and his mother thought it was time for him to learn to read she sent him to school and after he had done with school he was put into a shop to learn how to make clothes and did not learn and he was put to do silversmiths work and did not learn and whatsoever he was taught he did not learn it his mother never wished him to do anything he did not like so she said well stay at home my son and he stayed at home eating and sleeping one day the boy said to his mother what was my fathers business he was a very learned doctor answered she where then are his books asked hassebu many days have passed and i have thought nothing of them but look inside and see if they are there so hassebu looked and saw they were eaten by insects all but one book which he took away and read he was sitting at home one morning poring over the medicine book when some neighbours came by and said to his mother give us this boy that we may go together to cut wood for wood cutting was their trade and they loaded several donkeys with the wood and sold it in the town and his mother answered very well to morrow i will buy him a donkey and you can all go together so the donkey was bought and the neighbours came and they worked hard all day and in the evening they brought the wood back into the town and sold it for a good sum of money and for six days they went and did the like but on the seventh it rained and the wood cutters ran and hid in the rocks all but hassebu who did not mind wetting and stayed where he was while he was sitting in the place where the wood cutters had left him he took up a stone that lay near him and idly dropped it on the ground it rang with a hollow sound and he called to his companions and said come here and listen the ground seems hollow knock again cried they and he knocked and listened let us dig said the boy and they dug and found a large pit like a well filled with honey up to the brim | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
an old couple once lived in a hut under a grove of palm trees and they had one son and one daughter they were all very happy together for many years and then the father became very ill and felt he was going to die he called his children to the place where he lay on the floor–for no one had any beds in that country– and said to his son i have no herds of cattle to leave you–only the few things there are in the house–for i am a poor man as you know but choose will you have my blessing or my property your property certainly answered the son and his father nodded and you asked the old man of the girl who stood by her brother i will have blessing she answered and her father gave her much blessing that night he died and his wife and son and daughter mourned for him seven days and gave him a burial according to the custom of his people but hardly was the time of mourning over than the mother was attacked by a disease which was common in that country i am going away from you she said to her children in a faint voice but first my son choose which you will have blessing or property property certainly answered the son and you my daughter i will have blessing said the girl and her mother gave her much blessing and that night she died when the days of mourning were ended the brother bade his sister put outside the hut all that belonged to his father and his mother so the girl put them out and he took them away save only a small pot and a vessel in which she could clean her corn but she had no corn to clean she sat at home sad and hungry when a neighbour knocked at the door my pot has cracked in the fire lend me yours to cook my supper in and i will give you a handful of corn in return and the girl was glad and that night she was able to have supper herself and next day another woman borrowed her pot and then another and another for never were known so many accidents as befell the village pots at that time she soon grew quite fat with all the corn she earned with the help of her pot and then one evening she picked up a pumpkin seed in a corner and planted it near her well and it sprang up and gave her many pumpkins at last it happened that a youth from her village passed through the place where the girls brother was and the two met and talked what news is there of my sister asked the young man with whom things had gone badly for he was idle she is fat and well liking replied the youth for the women borrow her mortar to clean their corn and borrow her pot to cook it in and for al this they give her more food than she can eat and he went his way now the brother was filled with envy at the words of the man and he set out at once and before dawn he had reached the hut and saw the pot and the mortar were standing outside he slung them over his shoulders and departed pleased with his own cleverness but when his sister awoke and sought for the pot to cook her corn for breakfast she could find it nowhere at length she said to herself well some thief must have stolen them while i slept i will go and see if any of my pumpkins are ripe and indeed they were and so many that the tree was almost broken by the weight of them so she ate what she wanted and took the others to the village and gave them in exchange for corn and the women said that no pumpkins were as sweet as these and that she was to bring every day all that she had in this way she earned more than she needed for herself and soon was able to get another mortar and cooking pot in exchange for her corn then she thought she was quite rich unluckily someone else thought so too and this was her brothers wife who had heard all about the pumpkin tree and sent her slave with a handful of grain to buy her a pumpkin at first the girl told him that so few were left that she could not spare any but when she found that he belonged to her brother she changed her mind and went out to the tree and gathered the largest and the ripest that was there take this one she said to the slave and carry it back to your mistress but tell her to keep the corn as the pumpkin is a gift the brothers wife was overjoyed at the sight of the fruit and when she tasted it she declared it was the nicest she had ever eaten indeed all night she thought of nothing else and early in the morning she called another slave for she was a rich woman and bade him go and ask for another pumpkin but the girl who had just been out to look at her tree told him that they were all eaten so he went back empty handed to his mistress in the evening her husband returned from hunting a long way off and found his wife in tears what is the matter asked he i sent a slave with some grain to your sister to buy some pumpkins but she would not sell me any and told me there were none though i know she lets other people buy them well never mind now–go to sleep said he and to morrow i will go and pull up the pumpkin tree and that will punish her for treating you so badly so before sunrise he got up and set out for his sisters house and found her cleaning some corn why did you refuse to sell my wife a pumpkin yesterday when she wanted one he asked the old ones are finished and the new ones are not yet come answered the girl when her slave arrived two days ago there were only four left but i gave him one and would take no corn for it i do not believe you you have sold them all to other people i shall go and cut down the pumpkin cried her brother in a rage if you cut down the pumpkin you shall cut off my hand with it exclaimed the girl running up to her tree and catching hold of it but her brother followed and with one blow cut off the pumpkin and her hand too then he went into the house and took away everything he could find and sold the house to a friend of his who had long wished to have it and his sister had no home to go to meanwhile she had bathed her arm carefully and bound on it some healing leaves that grew near by and wrapped a cloth round the leaves and went to hide in the forest that her brother might not find her again for seven days she wandered about eating only the fruit that hung from the trees above her and every night she climbed up and tucked herself safely among the creepers which bound together the big branches so that neither lions nor tigers nor panthers might get at her when she woke up on the seventh morning she saw from her perch smoke coming up from a little town on the edge of the forest the sight of the huts made her feel more lonely and helpless than before she longed desperately for a draught of milk from a gourd for there were no streams in that part and she was very thirsty but how was she to earn anything with only one hand and at this thought her courage failed and she began to cry bitterly it happened that the kings son had come out from the town very early to shoot birds and when the sun grew hot he left tired i will lie here and rest under this tree he said to his attendants you can go and shoot instead and i will just have this slave to stay with me away they went and the young man fell asleep and slept long suddenly he was awakened by something wet and salt falling on his face what is that is it raining | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the hedgehog and the dog were formerly good friends and cultivated bananas together when the bananas were full grown the hedgehog used to go to look at them every day and when at last they were ripe he invited the dog to go with him and eat them when the two friends reached the foot of the banana tree the hedgehog tried in vain to reach the bunches of bananas | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a pair of wrens once built their nest in a hedge beside a highway soon after the eggs were hatched a camel happened to pass that way the little wrens saw him and said to the father bird when he returned from the fields oh papa a monstrous big animal came by here just now | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
once upon a time the lion was roaming through the jungle like a mighty chief on his own land he looked to the right he looked to the left he took two steps forward then stopped then went forward again all at once an ape saw the lion and began imitating him and making fun of him the lion was angry and said get back to your place ape and scratch yourself and stop making fun of me or i will make a meal of you but the ape who is a tricky animal swung safely onto a high branch and there continued to make the same movements and take the same steps that the lion was taking on the ground and at this the lion became very angry indeed unluckily for the ape at the very height of his grimaces and gambols he lost his balance and fell straight between the paws of the lion who seized him and was about to make an end of him with one powerful bite when the idea came to him that it would be pleasanter to eat the ape in company with a friend | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
a boar hunting for food met a chameleon at the foot of a tree hello said the boar you act as though you were half dead dragging yourself along in that lazy way dont be so proud of your strength brother boar retorted the chameleon i am a match for you any day hold your tongue you wretched little beast rejoined the boar angrily | 0 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |