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in the old days the guinea hen and the crocodile were good friends and swam in the same waters but one day the crocodile said to his children i have eaten the flesh of all the animals on earth excepting only that of the guinea hen now i am going to do my best to eat that also so the crocodile pretended to be dead and said to his children gather together and weep and send for the guinea hen so the little crocodiles went to the guinea hen and said to her guinea hen our father ramamba the crocodile is dead and we have come to tell you because you were his oldest friend then the guinea hen gathered together all her family and said oh my children and my grandchildren gather together for we are going to the funeral of the old crocodile ramamba when all the little guinea fowls had come together the old guinea hen said the crocodile wants to eat guinea fowls when we go to the funeral be sure not to go near him until you see me go near him and dont sing until i tell you to then all the family of guinea fowls set out for the funeral of the crocodile

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

one day when there was no rice left in the rice fields the guinea fowl and the hen stole potatoes to satisfy their hunger they lighted a fire and when the potatoes were roasted the hen said i am going to carry the largest potatoes home with me and eat only the little ones here in the field and i said the guinea fowl shall be wiser than you

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

one day a cat and a rat wished to cross a river but were daunted by its width and the strength of its current the rat alone knew how to swim and both were afraid of the crocodiles as for hiring a canoe they could not think of such a thing for they would have had to hire a canoe from some man and they were afraid of men at last they decided to make a canoe for themselves cut out of a large potato while the cat held the potato between her paws the rat hollowed it out with his teeth which were sharp as hatchets when the canoe was finished they pushed it into the water and both stepped in the rat paddled because he was the younger but after a while he grew tired and threw down the paddle for it seemed as though the other side of the river was still a days journey off

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

once upon a time the elephant and the frog went courting the same girl and at last she promised to marry the elephant one day the frog said to her that elephant is nothing but my saddle horse when the elephant came to call that night the girl said to him you are nothing but the frogs saddle horse when he heard this the elephant went off at once and found the frog and asked him did you tell the girl that i am nothing but your saddle horse

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

one year during flood time when all the rivers overflowed their banks a crocodile was carried a long way from his own river and landed so deep in the jungle that he could not find his way back to water for many days he had nothing to drink or to eat and so grew very thin at last a hunter looking for deer met the crocodile and asked what are you doing here the crocodile told his story and the hunter said if you will promise not to hurt me i will carry you back to your river the crocodile promised and the hunter bound him with cord put him on his head and carried him back to the bank of the river then the crocodile said since you have brought me as far as this you may as well carry me down into the water so the hunter still carrying the crocodile waded into the river up to his knees as a favour go a little further begged the crocodile

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the rat one day said to the toad i can do more than you for you do not know how to run you do nothing but hop—that is the only way you can run when the toad heard these words of the rat he said to him we will see whether you can do more than i to morrow i will do thing if you can do it without anything happening to you then i will admit that you can do more than i the rat agreed to the toads proposal

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the ant has had from time immemorial many enemies and because he is small and destructive there have been a great many slaughters among them not only were most of the birds their enemies but anteater lived almost wholly from them and centipede beset them every time and at all places when he had the chance so now there were a few among them who thought it would be well to hold council together and see if they could not come to some arrangement whereby they could retreat to some place of safety when attacked by robber birds and animals but at the gathering their opinions were most discordant and they could come to no decision there was red ant rice ant black ant wagtail ant gray ant shining ant and many other varieties

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

hunger and want forced monkey one day to forsake his land and to seek elsewhere among strangers for much needed work bulbs earth beans scorpions insects and such things were completely exhausted in his own land but fortunately he received for the time being shelter with a great uncle of his orang outang who lived in another part of the country when he had worked for quite a while he wanted to return home and as recompense his great uncle gave him a fiddle and a bow and arrow and told him that with the bow and arrow he could hit and kill anything he desired and with the fiddle he could force anything to dance the first he met upon his return to his own land was brer wolf this old fellow told him all the news and also that he had since early morning been attempting to stalk a deer but all in vain then monkey laid before him all the wonders of the bow and arrow that he carried on his back and assured him if he could but see the deer he would bring it down for him when wolf showed him the deer monkey was ready and down fell the deer

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

tiger leopard was returning home from hunting on one occasion when he lighted on the kraal of ram now tiger had never seen ram before and accordingly approaching submissively he said good day friend what may your name be the other in his gruff voice and striking his breast with his forefoot said i am ram

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

once on a time jackal who lived on the borders of the colony saw a wagon returning from the seaside laden with fish he tried to get into the wagon from behind but he could not he then ran on before and lay in the road as if dead the wagon came up to him and the leader cried to the driver here is a fine kaross for your wife throw it into the wagon said the driver and jackal was thrown in

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

jackal and wolf went and hired themselves to a man to be his servants

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

it so happened one day that lion and jackal came together to converse on affairs of land and state jackal let me say was the most important adviser to the king of the forest and after they had spoken about these matters for quite a while the conversation took a more personal turn lion began to boast and talk big about his strength jackal had perhaps given him cause for it because by nature he was a flatterer but now that lion began to assume so many airs said he see here lion i will show you an animal that is still more powerful than you are they walked along jackal leading the way and met first a little boy is this the strong man asked lion

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

once there was a man that had an old dog so old that the man desired to put him aside the dog had served him very faithfully when he was still young but ingratitude is the worlds reward and the man now wanted to dispose of him the old dumb creature however ferreted out the plan of his master and so at once resolved to go away of his own accord after he had walked quite a way he met an old bull in the veldt dont you want to go with me asked the dog where was the reply to the land of the aged said the dog where troubles dont disturb you and thanklessness does not deface the deeds of man good said the bull i am your companion

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

not because he was exactly the most capable or progressive fellow in the neighborhood but because he always gave that idea that is why jackal slowly acquired among the neighbors the name of a progressive man the truly well bred people around him who did not wish to hurt his feelings seemed to apply this name to him instead of for instance cunning scamp or all wise rat trap as so many others often dubbed him he obtained this name of a progressive man because he spoke most of the time english especially if he thought some of them were present who could not understand it and also because he could always hold his body so much like a judge on public occasions he had a smooth tongue could make quite a favorable speech and especially with good effect could he expatiate on the backwardness of others underneath he really was the most unlettered man in the vicinity but he had perfect control over his inborn cunningness which allowed him for a long time to go triumphantly through life as a man of great ability one time for instance he lost his tail in an iron trap he had long attempted to reach the boers goose pen and had framed many good plans but when he came to his senses he was sitting in front of the goose pen with his tail in the iron trap the dogs all the time coming for him when he realized what it meant he mustered together all his strength and pulled his tail which he always thought so much of clean off this would immediately have made him the butt of the whole neighborhood had he not thought of a plan he called together a meeting of the jackals and made them believe that lion had issued a proclamation to the effect that all jackals in the future should be tailless because their beautiful tails were a thorn in the eyes of more unfortunate animals in his smooth way he told them how he regretted that the king should have the barbaric right to interfere with his subjects but so it was and he thought the sooner he paid attention to it the safer therefore he had had his tail cut off already and he should advise all his friends to do the same and so it happened that once all jackals for a long time were without tails later on they grew again it was about the same time that tiger hired jackal as a schoolmaster

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the birds wanted a king men have a king so have animals and why shouldnt they all had assembled the ostrich because he is the largest one called out no he cant fly eagle on account of his strength not he he is too ugly vulture because he can fly the highest no vulture is too dirty his odor is terrible peacock he is so beautiful his feet are too ugly and also his voice

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

lion had now caught a large eland which lay dead on the top of a high bank lion was thirsty and wanted to go and drink water jackal look after my eland i am going to get a drink dont you eat any very well uncle lion lion went to the river and jackal quietly removed a stone on which lion had to step to reach the bank on his return after that jackal and his wife ate heartily of the eland lion returned but could not scale the bank jackal help me he shouted yes uncle lion i will let down a rope and then you can climb up

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the lion and the jackal agreed to hunt on shares for the purpose of laying in a stock of meat for the winter months for their families as the lion was by far the more expert hunter of the two the jackal suggested that he himself should be employed in transporting the game to their dens and that mrs jackal and the little jackals should prepare and dry the meat adding that they would take care that mrs lion and her family should not want this was agreed to by the lion and the hunt commenced after a very successful hunt which lasted for some time the lion returned to see his family and also to enjoy as he thought a plentiful supply of his spoil when to his utter surprise he found mrs lion and all the young lions on the point of death from sheer hunger and in a mangy state the jackal it appeared had only given them a few entrails of the game and in such limited quantities as barely to keep them alive always telling them that they i e the lion and himself had been most unsuccessful in their hunting while his own family was reveling in abundance and each member of it was sleek and fat this was too much for the lion to bear

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

lion and jackal it is said were one day lying in wait for eland lion shot with a bow and missed but jackal hit and sang out hah hah lion said no you did not shoot anything it was i who hit

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

little jackal one day went out hunting when he met lion lion proposed that they should hunt together on condition that if a small antelope was killed it was to be little jackals and if a large one was killed it was to be lions little jackal agreed to this the first animal killed was a large eland lion was very glad and said to little jackal i will continue hunting while you go to my house and call my children to carry the meat home little jackal replied yes i agree to that lion went away to hunt when he had gone little jackal went to his own house and called his own children to carry away the meat he said lion takes me for a fool if he thinks i will call his children while my own are dying with hunger so little jackals children carried the meat to their home on the top of a high rock where the only way to get to their house was by means of a rope lion caught nothing more and after a time he went home and asked his wife where the meat was she told him there was no meat he said did not little jackal bring a message to my children to carry meat his wife replied no he was not here we are still dying with hunger lion then went to little jackals house but he could not get up the rock to it so he sat down by the water waiting after a time little jackal went to get some water

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

it is said once a lioness roared and the ostrich also roared the lioness went toward the place where the ostrich was they met the lioness said to the ostrich please to roar the ostrich roared then the lioness roared the voices were equal

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

crocodile was in the days when animals still could talk the acknowledged foreman of all water creatures and if one should judge from appearances one would say that he still is but in those days it was his especial duty to have a general care of all water animals and when one year it was exceedingly dry and the water of the river where they had lived dried up and became scarce he was forced to make it plan to trek over to another river a short distance from there he first sent otter out to spy he stayed away two days and brought back a report that there was still good water in the other river real sea cow holes that not even a drought of several years could dry up after he had ascertained this crocodile called to his side tortoise and alligator look here said he i need you two tonight to carry a report to lion so then get ready the veldt is dry and you will probably have to travel for a few days without any water we must make peace with lion and his subjects otherwise we utterly perish this year and he must help us to trek over to the other river especially past the boers farm that lies in between and to travel unmolested by any of the animals of the veldt so long as the trek lasts a fish on land is sometimes a very helpless thing as you all know the two had it mighty hard in the burning sun and on the dry veldt but eventually they reached lion and handed him the treaty what is going on now thought lion to himself when he had read it i must consult jackal first said he but to the commissioners he gave back an answer that he would be the following evening with his advisers at the appointed place at the big vaarland willow tree at the farther end of the hole of water where crocodile had his headquarters when tortoise and alligator came back crocodile was exceedingly pleased with himself at the turn the case had taken he allowed otter and a few others to be present and ordered them on that evening to have ready plenty of fish and other eatables for their guests under the vaarland willow

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

here was a great drought in the land and lion called together a number of animals so that they might devise a plan for retaining water when the rains fell the animals which attended at lions summons were baboon leopard hyena jackal hare and mountain tortoise it was agreed that they should scratch a large hole in some suitable place to hold water and the next day they all began to work with the exception of jackal who continually hovered about in that locality and was overheard to mutter that he was not going to scratch his nails off in making water holes when the dam was finished the rains fell and it was soon filled with water to the great delight of those who had worked so bard at it the first one however to come and drink there was jackal who not only drank but filled his clay pot with water and then proceeded to swim in the rest of the water making it as muddy and dirty as he could this was brought to the knowledge of lion who was very angry and ordered baboon to guard the water the next day armed with a huge knobkirrie baboon was concealed in a bush close to the water but jackal soon became aware of his presence there and guessed its cause knowing the fondness of baboons for honey jackal at once hit upon a plan and marching to and fro every now and then dipped his fingers into his clay pot and licked them with an expression of intense relish saying in a low voice to himself i dont want any of their dirty water when i have a pot full of delicious honey this was too much for poor baboon whose mouth began to water

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

there was a frightful drought the rivers after a while dried tip and even the springs gave no water

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

good everyone was satisfied and ready to begin instantly excepting rabbit who said i will not go and dance all of you are mad to attempt to get water from the ground by dancing other animals danced and danced and ultimately danced the water to the surface how glad they were everyone drank as much as he could but rabbit did not dance with them so it was decided that rabbit should have no water laughed at them i will nevertheless drink some of your water

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

rabbit trod with his left foot on the stone and there it stuck tortoise then put his head out ha old tortoise and its you is it thats holding me but here i still have another foot ill give you a good clout rabbit gave tortoise what he said he would with his right fore foot hard and straight and there his foot remained i have yet a hind foot and with it ill kick you rabbit drove his bind foot down this also rested on tortoise where it struck

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

every evening jackal went to the boers kraal he crept through the sliding door and stole a fat young lamb this clever jackal did several times in succession boer set a wip for him at the door jackal went again and zip there he was caught around the body by the noose he swung and swayed high in the air and couldnt touch ground the day began to dawn and jackal became uneasy on a stone kopje monkey sat when it became light he could see the whole affair and descended hastily for the purpose of mocking jackal he went and sat on the wall ha

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

lion and jackal went together a hunting they shot with arrows lion shot first but his arrow fell short of its aim but jackal hit the game and joyfully cried out it has hit lion looked at him with his two large eyes jackal however did not lose his countenance but said no uncle i mean to say that you have hit then they followed the game and jackal passed the arrow of lion without drawing the latters attention to it when they arrived at a crossway jackal said dear uncle you are old and tired stay here jackal went then on a wrong track beat his nose and in returning let the blood drop from it like traces of game i could not find anything he said but i met with traces of blood you had better go yourself to look for it in the meantime i shall go this other way

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

jackal it is said married hyena and carried off a cow belonging to the ants to slaughter her for the wedding and when he had slaughtered her he put the cowskin over his bride and when he had fixed a pole on which to bang the flesh he placed on the top of the pole which was forked the hearth for the cooking in order to cook upon it all sorts of delicious food there came also lion and wished to go up jackal therefore asked his little daughter for a thong with which he could pull lion up and he began to pull him up and when his face came near to the cooking pot he cut the thong in two so that lion tumbled down then jackal upbraided his little daughter with these words why do you give me such an old thong

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

once upon a time the animals made a kraal and put some fat in it they agreed that one of their number should remain to be the keeper of the gate the first one that was appointed was the coney imbila he agreed to take charge and all the others went away in a short time the coney fell asleep when the inkalimeva a fabulous animal went in and ate all the fat after doing this he threw a little stone at the coney the coney started up and cried out the fat belonging to all the animals has been eaten by the inkalimeva it repeated this cry several times calling out very loudly the animals at a distance heard it they ran to the kraal and when they saw that the fat was gone they killed the coney they put fat in the kraal a second time and appointed the muishond ingaga to keep the gate the muishond consented and the animals went away as before after a little time the inkalimeva came to the kraal bringing some honey with it it invited the keeper of the gate to eat honey and while the muishond was enjoying himself the inkalimeva went in and stole all the fat it threw a stone at the muisbond which caused him to look up the muishond cried out the fat belonging to all the animals has been eaten by the inkalimeva as soon as the animals beard the cry they ran to the kraal and killed the muishond they put fat in the kraal a third time and appointed the duiker impunzi to be the keeper of the gate the duiker agreed and the others went away in a short time the inkalimeva made its appearance it proposed to the duiker that they should play hide and look for the duiker agreed to this then the inkalimeva hid itself and the duiker looked for it till he was so tired that he lay down and went to sleep

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

a white man it is said met snake upon whom a large stone had fallen and covered her so that she could not rise the white man lifted the stone off snake but when he had done so she wanted to bite him the white man said stop let us both go first to some wise people

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

a dutchman was walking by himself and saw snake lying under a large stone snake implored his help but when she had become free she said now i shall eat you the man answered that is not right

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

jackal and hyena were together it is said when a white cloud rose jackal descended upon it and ate of the cloud as if it were fat when he wanted to come down he said to hyena my sister as i am going to divide with thee catch me well so she caught him and broke his fall

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

lion it is said was ill and they all went to see him in his suffering but jackal did not go because the traces of the people who went to see him did not turn back thereupon he was accused by hyena who said though i go to look yet jackal does not want to come and look at the mans sufferings

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

jackal it is said came once to dove who lived on the top of a rock and said give me one of your little ones dove answered i shall not do anything of the kind jackal said give me it at once otherwise i shall fly up to you then she threw one down to him he came back another day and demanded another little one and she gave it to him

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

cock it is said was once overtaken by jackal and caught cock said to jackal please pray first before you kill me as the white man does jackal asked in what manner does he pray

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

two powers elephant and rain had a dispute elephant said if you say that you nourish me in what way is it that you do so rain answered if you say that i do not nourish you when i go away will you not die and rain then departed elephant said vulture cast lots to make rain for me vulture said i will not cast lots then elephant said to crow cast lots who answered give the things with which i may cast lots crow cast lots and rain fell it rained at the lagoons but they dried up and only one lagoon remained

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

giraffe and tortoise they say met one day giraffe said to tortoise at once i could trample you to death tortoise being afraid remained silent then giraffe said at once i could swallow you

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

one day it is said the tortoises held a council how they might hunt ostriches and they said let us on both sides stand in rows near each other and let one go to hunt the ostriches so that they must flee along through the midst of us they did so and as they were many the ostriches were obliged to run along through the midst of them

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

one day it is said the following story happened mouse had torn the clothes of itkler the tailor who then went to baboon and accused mouse with these words in this manner i come to thee mouse has torn my clothes but will not know anything of it and accuses cat cat protests likewise her innocence and says dog must have done it but dog denies it also and declares wood has done it and wood throws the blame on fire and says fire did it fire says have not water did it water says elephant tore the clothes and elephant says ant tore them thus a dispute has arisen among them therefore 1 itkler come to thee with this proposition assemble the people and try them in order that i may get satisfaction thus he spake and baboon assembled them for trial then they made the same excuses which had been mentioned by itkler each one putting the blame upon the other so baboon did not see any other way of punishing them save through making them punish each other he therefore said

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

baboon it is said once worked bamboos sitting on the edge of a precipice and lion stole upon him baboon however had fixed some round glistening eyelike plates on the back of his head

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the baboons it is said used to disturb the zebra mares in drinking but one of the mares became the mother of a foal the others then helped her to suckle the young stallion that he might soon grow up

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

lion it is said used once to fly and at that time nothing could live before him as he was unwilling that the bones of what he caught should be broken into pieces he made a pair of white crows watch the bones leaving them behind at the kraal whilst he went a hunting but one day great frog came there broke the bones in pieces and said why can men and animals live no longer

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

it is said that when lion and gurikhoisip the only man together with baboon buffalo and other friends were playing one day at a certain game there was a thunderstorm and rain at aroxaams lion and gurikhoisip began to quarrel i shall run to the rain field said lion gurikhoisip said also i shall run to the rain field as neither would concede this to the other they separated angrily after they had parted lion went to tell his mother those things which they had both said his mother said to him my son that man whose head is in a line with his shoulders and breast who has pinching weapons who keeps white dogs who goes about wearing the tuft of a tiger tail beware of him lion however said why need i be on my guard against those whom i know lioness answered my son take care of him who has pinching weapons

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

some women it is said went out to seek roots and herbs and other wild food on their way home they sat down and said let us taste the food of the field now they found that the food picked by one of them was sweet while that of the others was bitter the latter said to each other look here this womans herbs are sweet then they said to the owner of the sweet food throw it away and seek for other so she threw away the food and went to gather more when she had collected a sufficient supply she returned to join the other women but could not find them she went therefore down to the river where hare sat lading water and said to him hare give me some water that i may drink but he replied this is the cup out of which my uncle lion and i alone may drink she asked again hare draw water for me that i may drink but hare made the same reply then she snatched the cup from him and drank but he ran home to tell his uncle of the outrage which had been committed the woman meanwhile replaced the cup and went away after she had departed lion came down and seeing her in the distance pursued her on the road when she turned round and saw him coming she sang in the following manner my mother she would not let me seek herbs herbs of the field food from the field hoo when lion at last came up with the woman they hunted each other round a shrub she wore many beads and arm rings and lion said let me put them on so she lent them to him but he afterwards refused to return them to her they then hunted each other again round the shrub till lion fell town and the woman jumped upon him and kept him there lion uttering a form of conjuration said

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the sun it is said was one day on earth and the men who were travelling saw him sitting by the wayside but passed him without notice

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

it is said that once sun was on earth and caught horse to ride it but it was unable to bear his weight and therefore ox took the place of horse aud carried sun on its back

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the wild animals it is said were once assembled at lions when lion was asleep jackal persuaded little fox to twist a rope of ostrich sinews in order to play lion a trick they took ostrich sinews twisted them and fastened the rope to lions tail and the other end of the rope they tied to a shrub when lion awoke and saw that he was tied up he became angry and called the animals together

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the moon it is said sent once an insect to men saying go thou to men and tell them as i die and dying live so ye shall also die and dying live the insect started with the message but whilst on his way was overtaken by the hare who asked on what errand art thou bound

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the moon dies and rises to life again the moon said to the hare go thou to men and tell them like as i die and rise to life again so you also shall die and rise to life again

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the moon on one occasion sent the hare to the earth to inform men that as she the moon died away and rose again so mankind should die and rise again

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the moon they say wished to send a message to men and the hare said that he would take it

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

god unknlunkulu arose from beneath the seat of the spiritual world according to the zulu idea and created in the beginning men animals and all things

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

in the beginning there were two one was blind the other was always hunting this hunter found at last a hole in the earth from which game proceeded and killed the young

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the lizard took out a yam and rolled the rock back into its place everyday the lizard would return to the cave to take a yam and would go home to eat the yam one day the lizard was carrying his yam home he came across the tortoise who asked him where he had gotten his yam he offered to tell him on the condition that the tortoise told no one the tortoise promised to keep the secret so the lizard told the tortoise to meet him the following morning and he would take him to the secret cave early the next morning before the very first cock crow the lizard and the tortoise went to the secret cave when they got there the lizard rolled the rock away to reveal the entrance to the cave the tortoise could not believe his eyes for there were more yams in there than even he could eat because the tortoise was a very greedy fellow the lizard picked a yam and started on his way home but the tortoise was not done yet he was going to carry as many yams as he could and maybe even more very soon the farmer came and found the tortoise who was still busy collecting yams by this time the lizard was home had eaten his yam and was taking a nap the farmer grabbed the tortoise and asked him how he came to be in the cave the tortoise confessed that the lizard had brought him there so the farmer took tortoise to the lizards house

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

he glued all these feathers to his back and all over his body and soon he was the most colorful bird you had ever seen on the day of the feast ijapa the tortoise joined the other birds to make the trip to the great feast in the sky the other birds could not recognize this strange colorful bird and asked him who he was he said his name was all of us when it was time for the feast all the food was laid out on a table ijapa the tortoise asked who does this food belong to and all the birds answered all of us ijapa the tortoise said that is me my name is all of us and he ate all the food while the birds had none the birds were so angry that they grabbed all of us but as they grabbed him his feathers would come off until the tortoise was revealed to punish him the birds decided to leave him in the sky they would not fly him back to land

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

dog would sing iya iya takun wa le o alu jon jonki jon gbogbo araye pa yeye re je alu jon jonki jon aja gbe ti re o dorun alu jon jonki jon iya iya takun wa le o alu jon jonki jon mother mother send down your rope chorus all have killed and eaten their mothers chorus dog has taken his mother to the sky chorus mother mother send down your rope chorus his mother would drop a rope and the dog would climb to the sky where his mother would have a feast waiting for him one day as the dog was singing for his mother to drop the rope the tortoise was passing by and he hid himself to observe what was going on

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

wanting all of it for himself he called out to the dog and told him that he had brought a message from from the king the king wishes to see you and all your family in the palace the tortoise said the dogs immediately left to see the king leaving the tortoise with the big simmering pot of yam porrigde the tortoise began to eat as fast as he could he knew that the dogs would be back soon because the king was not even at the palace and soon he heard the dogs approaching there was still a lot of porrigde left in the pot the tortoise wanted to take some home with him and looked around for something he could put some porrigde in the dogs by now were almost at the door as he was running out of time the tortoise pulled off his cap filled it with the porrigde and put it back on so nobody would know he was carrying porrigde he planned to hurry off immediately because the porridge on his head was indeed hot

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

very soon the beef stew aroma became overpowering and the tortoise thought he should take a peek into the pot inside were very large juicy chunks of meat and ijapa thought surely yorinbo cannot finish these by herself she has a small appetite i will have to help her out so he helped her to eat one big juicy chunk of meat then two and three the beef stew was really delicious ijapa thought surely the medicine man was in the wrong profession and then four soon he was no longer counting until he noticed that there was only one piece left the tortoise was shocked at what he had done he had eaten yorinbos potion but not one to dwell too long on his mistakes he shrugged it off afterall if the medicine man was as powerful as they say the remaining one piece of chunky juicy meat should be enough to make yorinbo pregnant so he covered the pot and continued on his way

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

all my hunters have failed to capture the elephant and you think you can succeed where they failed the king asked the tortoise insisted that he was up to the task and promised to deliver the elephant to the king within 48 hours the tortoise then dug a big hole big enough to hold the elephant along a path leading into the village then he covered the hole with sticks and leaves so that it was not visible unless you inspected closely when this was done the tortoise went to seek out the elephant he told the elephant you know you are the largest animal in the forest and you should be king the elephant had never considered this before but he thought it was not a bad idea the tortoise told the elephant that the villagers had decided to make the largest animal their king and were all expecting the elephant to come to the village and be crowned as their king

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

then they began their descent to earth from a rope along the way they stopped over at a feast where obatala got drunk from drinking too much palm wine oduduwa finding his master drunk picked up the calabash and the chicken and continued on the journey when oduduwa reached the earth he sprinkled earth from the calabash over the water and he dropped the chicken on the earth the chicken then ran around spreading the earth in every direction he moved until there was land oduduwa had now created earth from what used to be water

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the spirit led the tortoise into a building where there were several rows of drums along the wall and asked the tortoise to pick any one there were drums of all sizes but the tortoise picked a small drum which would be easy to carry since he had a long walk ahead of him when the tortoise returned to the forest he stopped to rest under a tree while resting he picked up his new drumstick and beat the drum with it to his astonishment a feast appeared before him there was a sample of every food that he liked he ate until he was completely stuffed then he slept under the tree for he was too full to continue his trip the following morning he woke up picked up his drum and went to his house once there he sent a message out to all the other animals to come to his house when all the animals were gathered the tortoise beat his drum and a huge feast appeared everyone was delighted and they all ate and partied until they were all exhausted the following day every animal was at the tortoises house again the tortoise beat his drum a feast appeared and they all ate they did this everyday very soon the tortoise got tired of beating the drum and appointed the elephant as his official drum beater however when the elephant beat the small drum the drum broke and there was no feast the tortoise would have to return to the spirit world to get a new drum and he immediately set off on this journey fortunately he could remember the exact spot where the palm tree stood when he got there he picked up a stick and shook some palm kernels off the tree the palm kernels fell to the ground and just lay there the tortoise picked up every one of them and threw them down the hole that led to the spirit world then he went after them when he arrived in the spirit world he found the same spirit at the same spot you again he exclaimed

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the tortoise made some akara balls bean cakes and set out into the forest in search of an elephant the wandered through the forest making enquiries of his fellow animals until the third day when he stumbled on an elephant resting under a tree tortoise elephant what are you doing here havent you heard the news elephant what news do not disturb my siesta tortoise i do not like gossip tortoise i dont believe my eyes a whole king resting in the forest under a shade elephant a king what king tortoise you the king is dead and the elders have decided to make you king over the people elephant roars with laughteryou must be a joker tortoise who would want to make an old ugly elephant like me a king tortoise there is no time for explanations preparations are already at an advanced stage in the kingdom for your coronation we must make haste see i have proof he brought out one of the akara balls and handed one over to the elephant this akara is only a small part of the delicacies being prepared for your coronation elephant putting the akara into his mouth hmmmmmthis is delicious really delicious it must be true lets make haste and so the tortoise led the elephant all the way to the village handing out the akara balls to him at intervals and singing popular coronation songs to him all the way

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the dog made way to a farm and after looking around to make sure that no one was watching started harvesting yam off the farm into his basket the tortoise then made his presence known to the dog tortoise shouting so my friend this is the secret of your rosy living and you refused to tell me dog jumping up in fright tortoise why did you follow me here well now you know my secret but if you want to come with me you must come only with me and leave before 6pm when the farmer comes tortoise i promise i promise so did the tortoise follow the dog each day to the farm and came back with a basket full of yam however each day the quantity of yam harvested by the tortoise increased and with the increase both the dog and the tortoise had left the farm for home a little later each day than the day before the dog then decided to caution the tortoise dog my good friend tortoise the quantity of yam you take home each day is becoming too much yesterday we left for home at 545pm the farmer may catch us and then we are done for tortoise dont worry my friend im storing enough yam at home for the rainy day the farmer will never catch us dog i dont think you should be greedy you could get us killed if we harvest too much yam than we can carry easily enough to escape being caught by the farmer tortoise you dare call me greedy i dont think its any of your business how much yam i carry so the next day at 530 prompt the dog announced that he was leaving for home but the tortoise pleaded for some more time to harvest yam

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

and surprisingly the third wife too started to exhibit a little bulge all three wives were pregnant time passed and the two senior wives delivered their babies they both had daughters they now started to pay attention to the third wife worried that she might have a son when she was ready to give birth to her baby the two senior wives were in attendance to help with the delivery as soon as she gave birth the baby boy was immediately taken away and replaced by a stone the two senior wives quickly raised an alarm for they were shocked by what they had just delivered a stone the stone mother soon became an outcast as the king sent her away from the palace and nobody in the village would have anything to do with her in the meantime the baby boy had been wrapped in cotton cloth and taken into the forest where he was abandoned under a tree a medicine man who lived deep in the forest and was out gathering herbs found him and took him home where he raised him into a fine gentleman many years passed and the king died still without a male heir the villagers needed to appoint another king but there was no obvious candidate so the ifa priest was called the oracle revealed that their king lived deep in the forest and would be found in the home of a powerful medicine man a delegate was dispatched to go and fetch the would be king the would be kings return to the village was welcomed by all but his origin was a mystery to everybody the oracle had said that the boys mother resides in the village but who could it be every woman in the village hoped that she was the mother no matter how unlikely it seemed the mystery of kings mother needed to be solved before the coronation took place the oracle advised that every woman should cook a pot of stew and bring it to the village square the boy would taste from every pot and from the taste he would identify his mother grand preparations began in every home

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

sometime in the night the youngest of the three brothers woke up and he was very hungry his older brothers had declined the offer of some supper and he had just gone along but he was really hungry so he went out into the kitchen to see if any of the porridge remained and indeed there was enough porridge in there for one person it appeared that the old woman had not eaten any of it she must have been keeping it for the next day it wouldnt harm anybody if he ate just a little bit of it and it would certainly do him a lot of good so he ate a little bit then a little bit more and even more until it was all gone realizing his folly he decided to cover it up and went out to pick some stones to put in the pot he hoped the old woman would not notice the three brothers were up early the next morning to continue on their journey they bade farewell to the old woman and thanked her for her kindness the old woman discovered the stones in her pot soon after the brothers left and immediately set out after them even though she was very old she could move as fast or maybe even faster than any young man since she was able to catch up with the three young men she accused them of stealing her porridge and filling her pot with stones at which the eldest brother who spoke for them sincerely denied the old woman though was certain that one of them performed the deed so she challenged them to take a test they went to a nearby river which had a log laying across it each one of them would walk across the river on the log while singing a song which the woman taught to them

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

he decided to hide the gourd at the top of a very tall palm tree to get to the top he hung the gourd on his neck and tied a rope around himself and the tree to haul himself up but the gourd was between him and the tree trunk making it difficult to climb he would make a little progress and slide right back down meanwhile a snail who was passing by had stopped to watch the tortoise after watching the tortoise slide down the tree yet again the snail suggested why dont you throw the gourd behind you instead of hanging it in front the tortoise tried this and easily climbed to the top of the tree

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

tortoise went home to prepare some akara into which he added some fresh honey when he was done he put the akara in a basket and took it to lions house where he placed it just outside his door and left to hide behind a tree the akara was warm and its aroma hung in the air so that lion soon came out to see where it was coming from he picked one ball of akara and ate it and this akara was sweeter than any akara he had ever eaten before he ate another one and then another one until all the akara was gone lion had a huge appetite and this was the best akara he had ever had so he wanted some more who brought these akara he bellowed but there was no answer he searched the surrounding area and quickly found tortoise he grabbed tortoise by the neck and asked him how did these akara get here tortoise quivered and shook and frighteningly said i promised not to tell but lion insisted he tell or else so tortoise confessed that it came from monkey but it is a secret he told lion that that was no akara at all but monkeys feces which he keeps a secret

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

so he took to the trees and hopped and jumped from branch to branch without touching the ground hes sure to come down sooner or later said one of the other animals then he will have to pay the tax at this the animals dispersed and went about their business days passed and the chipmunk had still not touched the ground all the other animals even the famously cunning tortoise had paid their taxes but the chipmunk still would not come down some began to feel sorry for him perhaps he has no money for why else would he suffer and confine himself to a lifetime of hopping on trees they said it is painful to see one of us land animals reduced to such a lifestyle and they set up a collection fund to help the chipmunk they placed a gourd under an iroko tree where any animal who wished to help the chipmunk could put some cowries for that was the currency at the time until there was enough to pay his tax a bird told the chipmunk about this and the chipmunk was thoroughly amused you mean they have nothing better to do with their money than to pay my tax he asked when night fell he secretly made his way to the iroko tree under which the collection gourd lay climbed down the tree and made away with the gourd

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

once there he began to till the land in preparation for planting his yams he had been working for a while when he heard ethereal voices booming out from around him saying who are you and what are you doing he answered i am kiigbo kiigba and i am tilling my land alright we will help you the voices boomed back and suddenly hundreds of hoes appeared and started to till the land in a little jiffy the entire farm was tilled and kiigbo went back home on the second day that people were asked to stay home while the spirits were out kiigbo kiigba chose to go to his farm to begin planting his yams he had barely started when the voices boomed out saying who are you and what are you doing he answered i am kiigbo kiigba and i am planting my yams alright we will help you the answer came and in a jiffy all the yam seedlings had been planted in neat heaps kiigbo went back home the third time when people were asked to stay home kiigbo kiigba headed to his farm to harvest his yams as he started to dig up the first yam the now familiar voices boomed out saying who are you and what are you doing he answered i am kiigbo kiigba and i am harvesting my yams alright we will help you the voices said and in a jiffy all the yams in the farm had been dug up and placed in a big heap

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

ranti would wake up early in the morning before the cocks crowed place a large clay water pitcher on her head while carrying another in her arms and walk to the river to fetch water for the familys use it required several trips back and forth before the huge water pot in the compound was filled then she would sweep the compound with a broom made of dried palm fronds before peeling yams for breakfast her list of chores stretched out until dusk by which time she would be exhausted and just collapse to sleep on her raffia mat she was too busy to even feel sorry for herself and everyday this process was repeated one morning as she made her daily trip to the river she saw an old man sitting by the river bank he appeared to be covered in sores and he looked really pitiful ranti went to meet him baba are you alright can i get you anything she asked he wanted some water which she gave to him then she washed his sores my child you have a wonderful heart and you deserve wonderful things he told her he directed her to go to a garden just beyond the river he told her she would find two trees one with golden fruit which she was not to touch and the other one with rotten fruit he told her to take one of the rotten fruits home and once she gets home she should break open the fruit she did as the old man instructed when she broke the fruit riches beyond her wildest imagination appeared filling every inch of her bedroom when bisi discovered this she insisted that ranti tell her where she got the riches from the following morning after several cock crows bisi got up from bed

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

she was so desperate for a child that when the iroko tree spirit asked her what she would give in return for a child she eagerly offered her first born child before a year ran out many of the women had given birth to children and returned to the iroko tree to fulfill their various promises when it was time for oluronbi to fulfill her promise she went to the iroko tree to plead her case she could offer the iroko tree everything anything else but not her child but the tree spirit would not be swayed and took the child despite oluronbis cries and pleas since then villagers have sang this song as a reminder of the eventoníkálukú jèjé ewúré others offered sheep oníkálukú jèjé àgùtàn àgùtàn bòlòjò others offered goats olúrónbí èjé omo re

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

kweku ananse then tied the pot of wisdom around his neck with a strong vine rope and let the pot hang in front of him but then he was afraid that someone would find the pot of wisdom and steal it what shall i do with my pot of wisdom he thought and thought and at last he said i shall hide the pot on top of the the tallest tree in the forest so he searched the forest until he found the tallest tree which happened to be the thorny silk cotton tree and brought the pot of wisdom to the tree while ananse was trying to climb the thorny silk cotton tree his son was watching him father he said what are you doing well said ananse i have in this clay pot all the wisdom of the world and i am going to hang it on the top of the tallest tree away from everybody then i will be the wisest in the whole wide world i have an idea said his son why not hang the pot behind you instead of in front of you then you will be able to climb the tree well the sly one ananse hung the pot behind him and to his surprise he was able to climb to the top of the tree with his pot

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

who goes there croaked frog no one but me answered baboon and who is this with you replied frog well said baboon this is kweku ananse he is my best friend and what are you two doing here asked frog yes added turtle why are you disturbing us here we need our rest in the sun you know sorry frog and sorry turtle we dont mean to disturb the two of you they replied then shouted frog then why are you crossing the marsh we have seen a banana tree with its ripe bananas on the other side we all know that baboon just loves bananas and we hope to get some for ourselves they said frog and turtle said ok you may cross over for all we care you can take the whole tree away thank you thank you thank you said baboon and thank you again on behalf of my friend kweku ananse we are going to share the bananas this is because bananas are not part of frogs and turtles diet and so the two old friends took the bananas back presumably to share well that is there the trouble started

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

thief he cried so it is you who steal my honey and eat it i said bola i have stolen your honey to eat i tortoise then tied bola with a rope and started to lead her back to the palace singing bola stole honey to eat kayin kayin bola is a cunning cheat kayin kayin bola is a shameless thief kayin kayin to this bola sang in response into the wood of the elephant i went with the elephant kayin kayin

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

she screamed she ran back and forth looking for her baby crying and yelling but couldnt find her baby anywhere then she looked up and she saw a bird perched high up in the tree holding her baby in its clutches you bird up in tree give me back my baby she called to the bird the bird threw down a bundle and the iyawo quickly ran to get it but it was not her baby it was a bag of coral beads she once again appealed to the bird i want my baby what will i do with coral beads please give me back my baby the bird sang to her saying that corals are worth more than her baby but the iyawo would not hear of this she insisted on her baby the bird threw down another bundle and the iyawo ran to get it but again it was not her baby it was a bag of gold she cried to the bird i want my baby what will i do with gold please give me back my baby this scene was repeated again with the bird throwing down precious stones but the iyawo refused to take these in place of her baby finally the bird flew down and placed the baby on the ground heres your baby and as you have proven not to be a greedy person you can have all that i have offered you now the iyawo had not only her baby but also the bag of corals the bag of gold and the precious stones when the iyale saw her come home with all these items she demanded to know how the iyawo had come into possession of such expensive goods the iyawo told her story and the iyale decided to get her own goods too since she could not be satisfied with sharing these with the iyawo she needed to have more than the iyawo did the following morning the mean senior wife the iyale took her baby into the forest and laid the baby under the same tall tree from which the iyawos baby had been taken

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

he roamed the forest for days going ever deeper into the thick dark forest but still he found no animal to kill then he spotted a bird a tiny bird perched on a low branch normally he would have ignored an animal so small as there was too little meat to be found in it but this day was different ajadi was desperate and he was determined to make his first kill in days he took aim at the bird getting ready to fell it from the branch when the bird began to sing tín tín to jantó mo gbé ye kékeré tó lóun ó pa mí i hear a bird saying he would kill me tín tín to jantó the bird sang so beautifully ajadi had never heard such beautiful music in his entire life and he was almost certain that his parents hadnt either he had to get that bird home to his parents being the skillful hunter that he was he caught the bird without hurting it and put it in his sack which he slung over his shoulders and headed home when ajadi got home he removed the bird from his sack and the bird immediately began to sing tín tín to jantó mo gbé ye kékeré tó lóun ó pa mí tín tín to jantó ajadis father and mother had indeed never heard such beautiful music and they broke out into a dance they danced and danced and then danced some more until ajadi put the bird back into his sack when ajadis father got his breath back he had an idea the king of their village had been in a depressed state for several years the best poets musicians dancers and jesters had come from far away villages to cheer him up but to no avail maybe this tiny bird would do the trick and make their king smile so off to the palace ajadi and his father set off when the got to the palace the guards stopped them at the gate what is your business here they asked we would like to see the king the farmer replied is the king expecting you the guards asked the farmer answered no but then you cannot see him the guards interrupted the farmer pleaded but one of the guards told him if i were you i would go away for the king is in a foul mood and you do not want to risk his anger the farmer started to turn back but ajadi brought the bird out of his sack and the guards began to dance

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

when the child arrived at the monsters house the following exchange too place as a song in yoruba monster kí lo wá se child mo wá mú ná èru bà mí monster èru kí ni child èru eyín re ó wá fi sénu káló monster what do you want c im here to tap fire but i am afraid m afraid of what c afraid of your teeth then he swallowed the child the father waited for his first child and after a while he sent his second child to go after the first one when the second child arrived at the monsters house the same exchange took place monster kí lo wá se child mo wá mú ná èru bà mí monster èru kí ni

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

ìyá re nkó téré nò nò jantakò where is your mother tojo would answer i`yá mi òrájà lo sójà téré nò nò jantakò my mother the trader has gone to the market olómúroro would ask bàbá re nkó téré nò nò jantakò where is your father the boy tojo would answer bàbá mi òlókò lo sókò téré nò nò jantakò my father the farmer has gone to the farm the song would continue with olómúroro asking the boy where his food was and tojo would show the creature where his mother kept his breakfast and lunch olómúroro would then gobble up all of tojos food leaving not even a tiny bit for tojo to eat the days went by and tojo got thinner and thinner his parents noticed and they were worried tojo looked like he needed some more food so his mother increased the number of akara she made him for breakfast she also gave him a bigger bowl of fufu and egusi for lunch but still tojo got thinner the parents were baffled because everyday they found tojos breakfast and lunch bowls licked clean and yet tojo was getting thinner if tojo got any thinner he would become very sick

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

so she took her bowl of eba and headed over to her neighbor who was busy stirring a big pot of egusi soup please may i have a little soup for my eba the poor woman asked the woman stirring the egusi soup looked up to see her raggedy looking neighbor and replied if you cant make your own egusi soup then you dont deserve to have any the poor woman went back to her own hut and sat outside her doorsteps where the aroma from her neighbors egusi was very strong she would scoop some eba with her hands inhale a big dose of egusi soup aroma while she swallowed the lump of eba the egusi woman seeing this destitute neighbor eating her soups aroma got very angry she ran out and yelled at the woman stop eating the aroma from my soup but the poor woman did not stop she kept inhaling the aroma from the egusi soup while she ate her eba she found the aroma from the soup very satisfying everyday whenever the rich aroma of egusi soup wafted into the poor womans hut she would quickly make a little bowl of eba and go outside to inhale the pleasant aroma the egusi woman was getting very furious and she decided to take her case to the oba the king of their village this woman steals the aroma from my egusi to eat her eba she must be punished

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

i make huge lumps of iyan i make huge lumps of eba such that the whole world eats and yet leaves leftovers the tortoise family feasted for the entire day on the food that appeared they ate until they could eat no more by this time tortoise was thinking of the fame the igbako could bring him he needed to show off his magic to the entire animal kingdom so tortoise went to the palace and told the oba he had a solution to the famine he convinced the oba to send for every animal in the forest and soon all the animals were assembled at the obas palace tortoise posed on stage in front of all the animals while he asked the igbako igbako what is your duty the igbako replied as usual i make huge lumps of iyan i make huge lumps of eba such that the whole world eats and yet leaves leftovers a huge feast appeared and all the animals ate until the sun set and they had to go to sleep the following day tortoise asked the igbako its duty and the feast was repeated everyday the animals ate while they chanted praises of the tortoise but they were just getting used to eating everyday when the igbako broke and would not respond to tortoises question anymore tortoise promised to get another igbako so he borrowed some more feathers from bird and flew over several rivers till he reached the ocean where the water goddess lived great one he called out to the water goddess my igbako broke and i have come to ask for a new one perhaps you worked the igbako too hard feeding the entire kingdom the water goddess said oh no it was just me and my family i have no idea how it broke but please give me a new one lest my family starve to death tortoise pleaded the water goddess gave tortoise another igbako but this time it was a tiny igbako remember share this only with your immediate family the water goddess reminded him of course i would never do otherwise tortoise promised and the water goddess returned to the sea igbako what is your duty tortoise asked the tiny igbako the tiny igbako replied i make tiny lumps of iyan i make tiny lumps of eba such that the whole world eats but is never full miniature pieces of food appeared perhaps better suited for an ant tortoise nibbled at the little pieces and before he knew it all the food was gone he called out for the water goddess but she did not answer so he picked up his feathers and the tiny igbako and flew back home at home his family gathered as he asked the igbako igbako what is your duty the tiny igbako replied i make tiny lumps of iyan i make tiny lumps of eba such that the whole world eats but is never full the tortoise family nibbled at what little food there was but no one was satisfied tortoise said when i had plenty of food everyone ate of it now i have food that does not satisfy everyone must share in the dissatisfaction so he set off for the palace and asked the oba to assemble all the animals when all the animals were gathered anticipating a huge feast tortoise brought out his tiny igbako and said igbako what is your duty the igbako replied i make tiny lumps of iyan i make tiny lumps of eba such that the whole world eats but is never full the animals grumbled as they struggled for the little pieces of food that appeared ask igbako to make more food they yelled and tortoise asked igbako to do its duty again and again until the tiny igbako broke and there was still not enough food

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

and there was such an impressive array of skills that ear had a difficult time making a decision then along came mosquito i would like you to be my wife proposed mosquito ear was so offended by this affront look around you she cried of all the people and creatures in the whole world what makes you think i can entertain such a thought ear was distressed marry you she continued you will be dead before the week is over youre not strong youre weak and i will never marry you ear was exhausted from this tirade and she fell into her seat fanning herself vigorously like she was trying to get any image of mosquito out of her head meanwhile mosquito was really hurt by all that ear said

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the day of the race came and several animals came to witness the start of the race there were also several animals waiting at the finish line the race began and hare bounded away eager to get the race over with he still thought it was ridiculous to be competing against tortoise in a race but what hare didnt know was that tortoise had positioned his cousins along the race path while tortoise himself waited near the finish line as hare turned the corner around the forest path he saw tortoise walking ahead of him this is impossible he exclaimed how did you get here he asked though i walk slowly when i run fast i run so fast you dont even see me pass you tortoise replied impossible muttered hare as he ran past tortoise hare started to run faster as he turned another corner in the forest path he again saw tortoise walking ahead of him youve got to be kidding me said hare as he approached tortoise how did you get in front of me again hare asked though i walk slowly when i run fast i run so fast you dont even see me pass you tortoise replied as he slowly walked along impossible

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

as he waited for the cow to dry he dozed offthe father came by to see how his cow was doing have you eaten the man asked the cow hmm the cow replied your wicked son took me to the wilderness where no grass grows then he tied me up and went to sleep the man was again very angry he grabbed a big stick and woke his son up then he chased him away the second son wandered for days until he came upon the house of a blacksmith the blacksmith taught him how to make hoes and matchets for farming as well as bows and arrows for hunting the blacksmith told the boy one day i will have to send you back to your father so you can teach him how to make these tools then he can depend less on that wicked cow the father had now called his third and favorite son go and graze the cow be sure to take good care of her for it will break my heart to send you away like your brothers he warned his son the son took the cow to the green fields where she grazed and bathed then he tied her to a tree to dry just then the father arrived cow he asked did you have enough to eat hmm the cow replied your favorite son is just as wicked as his brothers he took to the wilderness where no grass grows then he tied me up here to die the man was very sad to hear this but he wouldnt listen to his sons pleas he sent him away just like his brothers before himthe third son wandered for many days until he reached the house of a great scholar there he learned to read and write the father who was now alone took the cow grazing he took the cow to a pasture where she ate plenty of lush grass and drank plenty of water while the man dozed under a tree when the man woke up he asked the cow are you full the cow laughed youre a hyprocrite like your sons you took me into the wilderness you gave me no food and no water

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

anansi he thereupon explained to them that nyankupon and he had had a great dispute nyankupon had said the bees could not fly into the jar—anansi had said they could the bees immediately declared that of course they could fly into the jar—which they at once did as soon as they were safely inside anansi sealed up the jar and sent it off to nyankupon next day he took a long stick and set out in search of a boa constrictor when he arrived at the place where one lived he began speaking to himself again he will just be as long as this stick—no he will not be so long as this—yes he will be as long as this these words he repeated several times till the boa came out and asked him what was the matter oh we have been having a dispute in nyankupons town about you nyankupons people say you are not as long as this stick i say you are please let me measure you by it the boa innocently laid himself out straight and spider lost no time in tying him on to the stick from end to end he then sent him to nyankupon the third day he took a needle and thread and sewed up his eye he then set out for a den where he knew a tiger lived as he approached the place he began to shout and sing so loudly that the tiger came out to see what was the matter

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

this he carefully sealed and determined to put it in a spot where no human being could reach it now father anansi had a son whose name was kweku tsin this boy began to suspect his father of some secret design so he made up his mind to watch carefully next day he saw his father quietly slip out of the house with his precious pot hung round his neck kweku tsin followed father anansi went through the forest till he had left the village far behind then selecting the highest and most inaccessible looking tree he began to climb the heavy pot hanging in front of him made his ascent almost impossible again and again he tried to reach the top of the tree where he intended to hang the pot there he thought wisdom would indeed be beyond the reach of every one but himself he was unable however to carry out his desire at each trial the pot swung in his way for some time kweku tsin watched his fathers vain attempts at last unable to contain himself any longer he cried out father why do you not hang the pot on your back

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

the poor girl was laughed at very heartily by anansis wives for choosing such a beggar as nothing appeared to be she wisely took no notice of their scorn the party set off for home when they reached the cross roads leading to their respective houses the women were astonished the road leading to anansis house was only half cleared the one which led to nothings palace was of course wide and well made not only so but his servants had strewn it with beautiful skins and carpets in preparation for his return servants were there awaiting him with fine clothes for himself and his wife no one was waiting for anansi nothings wife was queen over the whole district and had everything her heart could desire anansis wives could not even get proper food they had to live on unripe bananas with peppers the wife of nothing heard of her friends miserable state and invited them to a great feast in her palace they came and were so pleased with all they saw that they agreed to stay there accordingly they refused to come back to anansis hut he was very angry and tried in many ways to kill nothing but without success finally however he persuaded some rat friends to dig a deep tunnel in front of nothings door when the hole was finished anansi lined it with knives and broken bottles he then smeared the steps of the palace with okro to make them very slippery and withdrew to a little distance when he thought nothings household was safely in bed and asleep he called to nothing to come out to the courtyard and see something

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

from the latter came an old man who asked anansi what he wanted so badly that he had come to thunders cottage to seek it anansi told his tale of woe and thunder showed himself most sympathetic he went into the cottage and fetched a fine cooking pot which he presented to anansi—telling him that he need never be hungry again the pot would always supply enough food for himself and his family anansi was most grateful and left thunder with many thanks being anxious to test the pot at once anansi only waited till he was again seated in the old boat to say pot pot what you used to do for your master do now for me immediately good food of all sorts appeared anansi ate a hearty meal which he very much enjoyed on reaching land again his first thought was to run home and give all his family a good meal from his wonderful pot a selfish greedy fear prevented him what if i should use up all the magic of the pot on them and have nothing more left for myself better keep the pot a secret—then i can enjoy a meal when i want one so his mind full of this thought he hid the pot he reached home pretending to be utterly worn out with fatigue and hunger there was not a grain of food to be had anywhere his wife and poor children were weak with want of it but selfish anansi took no notice of that he congratulated himself at the thought of his magic pot now safely hidden in his room there he retired from time to time when he felt hungry and enjoyed a good meal his family got thinner and thinner but he grew plumper and plumper they began to suspect some secret and determined to find it out his eldest son kweku tsin had the power of changing himself into any shape he chose so he took the form of a tiny fly and accompanied his father everywhere at last anansi feeling hungry entered his room and closed the door next he took the pot and had a fine meal having replaced the pot in its hiding place he went out on the pretence of looking for food as soon as he was safely out of sight kweku tsin fetched out the pot and called all his hungry family to come at once they had as good a meal as their father had had when they had finished mrs anansi—to punish her husband—said she would take the pot down to the village and give everybody a meal this she did—but alas in working to prepare so much food at one time the pot grew too hot and melted away what was to be done now anansi would be so angry his wife forbade every one to mention the pot anansi returned ready for his supper and as usual went into his room carefully shutting the door he went to the hiding place—it was empty he looked around in consternation

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

he then visited his friend the lizard to get him to act as herald at the court next day he told lizard the three names and the latter was to sound them through his trumpet when the time came early next morning the king and his court were assembled as usual all the great men of the town appeared as anansi had requested anansi stated his business reminding the king of his promise to give his three daughters to the man who had found out their names the king demanded to hear the latter whereupon lizard sounded them on his trumpet the king and courtiers were much surprised his majesty however could not break the promise he had made of giving his daughters to the man who named them he accordingly gave them to mr lizard anansi was very angry and explained that he had told the names to lizard so that he ought to get at least two of the girls while lizard could have the third the king refused anansi then begged hard for even one but that was also refused he went home in a very bad temper declaring that he would be revenged on lizard for stealing his wives away he thought over the matter very carefully but could not find a way of punishing lizard at last however he had an idea he went to the king and explained that he was setting off next morning on a long journey he wished to start very early and so begged the kings help the king had a fine cock which always crowed at daybreak to waken the king if he wished to get up early anansi begged that the king would command the cock to crow next morning that anansi might be sure of getting off in time this the king readily promised as soon as night fell anansi went by a back way to the cocks sleeping place seized the bird quickly and killed it he then carried it to lizards house where all were in bed there he quietly cooked the cock placed the feathers under lizards bed and put some of the flesh on a dish close to lizards hand the wicked anansi then took some boiling water and poured it into poor lizards mouth thus making him dumb when morning came anansi went to the king and reproached him for not letting the cock crow the king was much surprised to hear that it had not obeyed his commands he sent one of his servants to find and bring the cock to him but of course the servant returned empty handed

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

next morning as kweku set out for the forest he threw the bag as usual over his shoulder unknown to him at each step the ashes were sprinkled on the ground consequently when anansi set out an hour later he was easily able to follow his son by means of the trail of ashes he too arrived at the animals home in the forest and found kweku there before him he immediately drove his son away saying that by the law of the land the place belonged to him kweku saw how he had been tricked and determined to have the meat back he accordingly went home—made a tiny image and hung little bells round its neck he then tied a long thread to its head and returned toward the hunting place when about half way there he hung the image to a branch of a tree in the path and hid himself in the bushes near by—holding the other end of the thread in his hand the greedy father in the meantime had killed as many animals as he could find being determined to become rich as speedily as possible he then skinned them and prepared the flesh—to carry it to the neighbouring villages to sell taking the first load he set off for his own village half way there he came to the place where the image hung in the way thinking this was one of the gods he stopped as he approached the image began to shake its head vigorously at him he felt that this meant that the gods were angry to please them he said to the image may i give you a little of this meat again the image shook its head may i give you half of this meat he then inquired the head shook once more do you want the whole of this meat he shouted fiercely this time the head nodded as if the image were well pleased i will not give you all my meat anansi cried at this the image shook in every limb as if in a terrible temper

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

when they reached this tree they hid themselves very carefully behind it and waited for him as he passed the place they shook the tree and uttered frightful noises this so frightened mr spider that he dropped his load and ran away the two gentlemen opened the bundle and to their great joy discovered the flesh of the antelope in it they carried it off to their own home and began to prepare supper when mr spider recovered from his fear he began to wonder who could have been at the tree to make the noises he decided that his enemies must be wolf and leopard he made up his mind he would get his meat back from them he took a small lizard and filed his teeth to fine sharp points he then sent him to spy upon the wolf and leopard—by begging fire from them he was to get the fire and quench it as soon as he left their cottage he could then return and ask a second time if they asked him questions he must smile and show his teeth the lizard did as he was told and everything turned out just as spider had expected wolf and leopard eagerly asked the lizard where he had had his teeth filed so beauti fully he replied that filing spider had done it for him wolf and leopard discussed the matter and decided to have their teeth filed in the same way they could then easily break the bones of their food accordingly they went to the house of the disguised spider and asked him to make their teeth like lizards spider agreed but said that to do it properly he would first have to hang them on a tree they made no objection to this when he had them safely hung spider and his family came and mocked them spider then went to their cottage and brought away the body of the antelope the whole village was invited to the feast which was held in front of the two poor animals on the tree during this festival every one made fun of the wolf and leopard next morning white ant and his children passed the place on their way to some friends

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

when they were about half way there a terrible storm came on they were obliged to put down their burdens by the roadside and run for shelter when the storm had passed they returned to pick up their loads as they approached the spot they found a great black crow there with his broad wings outspread to keep the bundles dry spider went to him and very politely thanked him for so kindly taking care of their property your property replied father crow who ever heard of any one leaving bundles of corn by the roadside nonsense these loads are mine so saying he picked them up and went off with them leaving spider and his children to return home sorrowful and empty handed their thieving ways had brought them little profit why we see ants carrying bundles as big as themselves kweku anansi and kweku tsin—his son—were both very clever farmers generally they succeeded in getting fine harvests from each of their farms one year however they were very unfortunate they had sown their seeds as usual but no rain had fallen for more than a month after and it looked as if the seeds would be unable to sprout kweku tsin was walking sadly through his fields one day looking at the bare dry ground and wondering what he and his family would do for food if they were unable to get any harvest to his surprise he saw a tiny dwarf seated by the roadside the little hunchback asked the reason for his sadness and kweku tsin told him the dwarf promised to help him by bringing rain on the farm he bade kweku fetch two small sticks and tap him lightly on the hump while he sang o water go up o water go up and let rain fall and let rain fall to kwekus great joy rain immediately began to fall and continued till the ground was thoroughly well soaked in the days following the seeds germinated and the crops began to promise well anansi soon heard how well kwekus crops were growing—whilst his own were still bare and hard he went straightway to his son and demanded to know the reason kweku tsin being an honest fellow at once told him what had happened anansi quickly made up his mind to get his farm watered in the same way and accordingly set out toward it as he went he cut two big strong sticks thinking my son made the dwarf work with little sticks i will make him do twice as much with my big ones he carefully hid the big sticks however when he saw the dwarf coming toward him as before the hunchback asked what the trouble was and anansitold him take two small sticks and beat me lightly on the hump said the dwarf i will get rain for you but anansi took his big sticks and beat so hard that the dwarf fell down dead the greedy fellow was now thoroughly frightened for he knew that the dwarf was jester to the king of the country and a very great favourite of his he wondered how he could fix the blame on some one else he picked up the dwarfs dead body and carried it to a kola tree there he laid it on one of the top branches and sat down under the tree to watch by and by kweku tsin came along to see if his father had succeeded in getting rain for his crops did you not see the dwarf father he asked as he saw the old man sitting alone oh yes replied anansi but he has climbed this tree to pick kola i am now waiting for him i will go up and fetch him said the young man—and immediately began to climb as soon as his head touched the body the latter of course fell to the ground oh what have you done you wicked fellow cried his father you have killed the kings jester that is all right quietly replied the son who saw that this was one of anansis tricks the king is very angry with him and has promised a bag of money to any one who would kill him

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

said he there was no answer he repeated his question with the same result anansi then became very angry and dealt the figure a blow on the cheek with his right hand of course his hand stuck fast to the rubber how dare you hold my hand he exclaimed let me go at once or i shall hit you again he then hit the figure with his left hand which also stuck he tried to disengage himself by pushing against it with his knees and body until finally knees body hands and head were all firmly attached to the rubber man there egya anansi had to stay till daybreak when his son came out with the other villagers to catch the robber they were astonished to find that the evil doer was anansi himself he on the other hand was so ashamed to be caught in the act of greediness that he changed into a spider and took refuge in a dark corner of the ceiling lest any one should see him since then spiders have always been found in dark dusty corners where people are not likely to notice them anansi and the blind fisherman anansi in his old age became a fisherman very soon after that his sight began to fail finally he grew quite blind however still being very strong he continued his fishing—with the help of two men the latter were exceedingly kind to him and aided him in every possible way they led him each morning to the beach and into the canoe they told him where to spread his net and when to pull it in when they returned to land they told him just where and when to step out so that he did not even get wet day after day this went on but anansi—instead of being in the least grateful to them—behaved very badly when they told him where to spread his net he would reply sharply i know i was just about to put it there when they were directing him to get out of the boat he would say oh i know perfectly well we are at the beach i was just getting ready to step out this went on for a long time anansi getting ruder and ruder to his helpers every day until they could bear his treatment no longer they determined when opportunity offered to punish him for his ingratitude the next day as usual he came with them to the beach when they had got the canoe ready they bade him step in do you think i am a fool said he i know the canoe is there they made no answer but got in and patiently pulled toward the fishing place when they told him where to spread his net he replied with so much abuse that they determined there and then to punish him by this time the canoe was full of fish so they turned to row home when they had gone a little way they stopped and said to him here we are at the beach he promptly told them that they were very foolish—to tell him a thing he knew so well he added many rude and insulting remarks which made them thoroughly angry he then jumped proudly out expecting to land on the beach to his great astonishment he found himself sinking in deep water the two men rowed quickly away leaving him to struggle like all the men of that country he was a good swimmer but of course being blind he was unable to see where the land lay so he swam until he was completely tired out—and was drowned adzanumee and her mother there once lived a woman who had one great desire she longed to have a daughter—but alas she was childless she could never feel happy because of this unfulfilled wish even in the midst of a feast the thought would be in her mind—ah if only i had a daughter to share this with me one day she was gathering yams in the field and it chanced that she pulled out one which was very straight and well shaped ah she thought to herself if only this fine yam were a daughter how happy i should be to her astonishment the yam answered if i were to become your daughter would you promise never to reproach me with having been a yam she eagerly gave her promise and at once the yam changed into a beautiful well made girl the woman was overjoyed and was very kind to the girl she named her adzanumee the latter was exceedingly useful to her mother she would make the bread gather the yams and sell them at the market place

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

this he was most unwilling to do—knowing his cousins wicked ways he felt sure that when anansi saw the stone he would not be content to take only what he needed however anansi troubled him so much with questions that at last he promised he told anansi that they would start next morning as soon as the women set about their work anansi was too impatient to wait in the middle of the night he bade his children get up and make a noise with the pots as if they were the women at work spider at once ran and wakened his cousin saying quick it is time to start his cousin however saw he had been tricked and went back to bed again saying he would not start till the women were sweeping no sooner was he asleep again than spider made his children take brooms and begin to sweep very noisily he roused kofi once more saying it is time we had started once more his cousin refused to set off—saying it was only another trick of spiders he again returned to bed and to sleep this time spider slipped into his cousins room and cut a hole in the bottom of his bag which he then filled with ashes after that he went off and left kofi in peace when morning came the cousin awoke seeing no sign of spider he very gladly set off alone to the forest thinking he had got rid of the tiresome fellow he was no sooner seated by the stone however than anansi appeared having followed him by the trail of ashes aha cried he here is plenty of food for all no more need to starve hush said his cousin you must not shout here the place is too wonderful sit down quietly and eat they had a good meal and kofi prepared to return home with enough for his family no no cried anansi

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

i certainly will not pay any money for her funeral the messenger came next to the second man his name was wit the latter at once said oh dear no i shall not pay any money for her funeral expenses her father did not even let me know she was ill so he refused to go thinker the third young man—when he received the message—at once got ready to start certainly i must go and mourn for morning sunrise said he had she lived surely she would have been my wife so he took money with him and set out for her home when he reached it her father called out morning sunrise morning sunrise come here this is your true husband that very day the betrothal took place and soon after the wedding followed thinker and his beautiful wife lived very happily together why the sea turtle when caught beats its breast with its forelegs many centuries ago the people of this earth were much troubled by floods the sea used at times to overflow its usual boundaries and sweep across the low sandy stretches of land which bordered it time and again this happened many lives being lost at each flood mankind was very troubled to find an escape from this oft repeated disaster he could think of no way of avoiding it fortunately for him the wise turtle came to his help take my advice said she and plant rows of palms along the sea coast

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

he was then to boil the rind and while boiling it would become yam it did actually do so and they sat down to eat some of it before beginning their meal the old woman requested kweku not to look at her while she ate being very polite and obedient he did exactly as he was told in the evening the old woman sent him into the garden to choose one of the drums which stood there she warned him if you come to a drum which says ding ding on being touched—take it but be very careful not to take one which sounds dong dong he obeyed her direction in every detail when he showed her the drum she looked pleased and told him to his great delight that he had only to beat it if at any time he were hungry that would bring him food in plenty he thanked the old woman heartily and went home as soon as he reached his own hut he gathered his household together and then beat the drum immediately food of every description appeared before them and they all ate as much as they wished the following day kweku tsin gathered all the people of the village together in the assembly place and then beat the drum once more in this way every family got sufficient food for their wants and all thanked kweku very much for thus providing for them kwekus father however was not at all pleased to see his son thus able to feed the whole village anansi thought he too ought to have a drum then the people would be grateful to him instead of to kweku tsin accordingly he asked the young man where the wonderful drum had come from his son was most unwilling to tell him but anansi gave him no peace until he had heard the whole story he then wasted no time but set off at once toward the entrance hole he had taken the precaution to carry with him an old nut which he pretended to crack then throwing it into the hole he jumped in after it and hurried along to the silent village arrived at the first house he shouted is there no one in this town the old woman answered as before and anansi entered her house he did not trouble to be polite to her but addressed her most rudely saying hurry up old woman and get me something to eat the woman quietly directed him to go into the garden and choose the yam which should say do not dig me out anansi laughed in her face and said you surely take me for a fool if the yam does not want me to dig it out i will certainly not do so i will take the one which wants to be gathered this he did when he brought it to the old woman she told him as she told his son to throw away the inside and boil the rind again he refused to obey who ever heard of such a silly thing as throwing away the yam i will do nothing of the sort i will throw away the peel and boil the inside he did so and the yam turned into stones he was then obliged to do as she first suggested and boil the rind the latter while boiling turned into yam anansi turned angrily to the old woman and said you are a witch she took no notice of his remark but went on setting the table she placed his dinner on a small table lower than her own saying you must not look at me while i eat

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

minu replied the man to the honourable minu also he is the richest man i ever heard of cried the akim man having finished his business the akim man set out for home as he passed down one of the streets of the town he met men carrying a coffin and followed by a long procession all dressed in black he asked the name of the dead person and received the usual reply minu poor mr minu cried the akim man so he has had to leave all his wealth and beautiful houses and die just as a poor person would do well well—in future i will be content with my tiny house and little money and the akim man went home quite pleased to his own hut why the moon and the stars receive their light from the sun once upon a time there was great scarcity of food in the land father anansi and his son kweku tsin being very hungry set out one morning to hunt in the forest in a short time kweku tsin was fortunate enough to kill a fine deer—which he carried to his father at their resting place anansi was very glad to see such a supply of food and requested his son to remain there on guard while he went for a large basket in which to carry it home an hour or so passed without his return and kweku tsin became anxious fearing lest his father had lost his way he called out loudly father father to guide him to the spot to his joy he heard a voice reply yes my son and immediately he shouted again thinking it was anansi instead of the latter however a terrible dragon appeared this monster breathed fire from his great nostrils and was altogether a dreadful sight to behold kweku tsin was terrified at his approach and speedily hid himself in a cave near by the dragon arrived at the resting place and was much annoyed to find only the deers body he vented his anger in blows upon the latter and went away soon after father anansi made his appearance he was greatly interested in his sons tale and wished to see the dragon for himself he soon had his desire for the monster smelling human flesh hastily returned to the spot and seized them both they were carried off by him to his castle where they found many other unfortunate creatures also awaiting their fate all were left in charge of the dragons servant—a fine white cock—which always crowed to summon his master if anything unusual happened in the latters absence the dragon then went off in search of more prey kweku tsin now summoned all his fellow prisoners together to arrange a way of escape all feared to run away—because of the wonderful powers of the monster his eyesight was so keen that he could detect a fly moving miles away not only that but he could move over the ground so swiftly that none could outdistance him kweku tsin however being exceedingly clever soon thought of a plan knowing that the white cock would not crow as long as he has grains of rice to pick up kweku scattered on the ground the contents of forty bags of grain which were stored in the great hall while the cock was thus busily engaged kweku tsin ordered the spinners to spin fine hempen ropes to make a strong rope ladder one end of this he intended to throw up to heaven trusting that the gods would catch it and hold it fast while he and his fellow prisoners mounted

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

this third attempt however met with no better result than the two previous ohia went home in despair his wife was of the opinion that they should give up trying to overcome their evil fortunes it was quite evident that they could never attain success the husband however determined that at least he would find and punish the culprit if that were possible accordingly he bravely set his pots in order for the last time when night came he remained on guard among the trees midnight passed and nothing happened but toward two oclock in the morning a dark form glided past him to the nearest palm tree a moment after he heard the sound of a breaking pot he stole up to the form on approaching it he found that the thief was a bush deer carrying on its head a large jar into which it was pouring the wine from ohias pots as it emptied them it threw them carelessly on the ground breaking them in pieces ohia ventured a little nearer intending to seize the culprit the latter however was too quick for him and escaped dropping his great pot on the ground as he ran the deer was very fleet but ohia had fully determined to catch him—so followed the chase continued over many miles until mid day arrived at which time they had reached the bottom of a high hill the deer immediately began to climb and ohia—though almost tired out—still followed finally the summit of the hill was reached and there ohia found himself in the midst of a great gathering of quadrupeds the deer panting threw himself on the ground before king tiger footnote tiger in west african stories is a leopard his majesty commanded that ohia should be brought before him to be punished for this intrusion into such a serious meeting ohia begged for a hearing before they condemned him he wished to explain fully his presence there king tiger after consulting with some of the other animals agreed to listen to his tale thereupon ohia began the story of his unfortunate life he told how one trial after another had failed and how finally he had thought of the palm wine he described his feelings on discovering the first theft after all his labour he related his second third and fourth attempts with the result of each he then went on to tell of his chase after the thief and thus explained his presence at their conference the quadrupeds listened very attentively to the recital of ohias troubles at the conclusion they unanimously agreed that the deer was the culprit and the man blameless the former was accordingly sentenced to punishment while the latter received an apology in the name of the entire conference king tiger it appeared had each morning given deer a large sum of money wherewith to purchase palm wine for the whole assembly the deer had stolen the wine and kept the money to make up to ohia for his losses king tiger offered him as a gift the power of understanding the conversation of all animals this said he would speedily make ohia a rich man but he attached one condition to the gift ohia must never—on pain of instant death—tell any one about his wonderful power the poor man much delighted set off for home when it was reached he lost no time in setting to work at his palm trees again from that day his troubles seemed over his wine was never interfered with and he and awirehu became more and more prosperous and happy one morning while he was bathing in a pool quite close to his house he heard a hen and her chickens talking together in his garden he listened and distinctly heard a chicken tell mother hen about three jars of gold buried in ohias garden the hen bade the chicken be careful lest her master should see her scraping near the gold and so discover it ohia pretended to take no notice of what they were saying and went away presently when mother hen and her brood had gone he came back and commenced digging in that part of the garden to his great joy he soon found three large jars of gold they contained enough money to keep him in comfort all his life he was careful however not to mention his treasure to any one but his wife he hid it safely inside his house soon he and awirehu had become one of the richest couples in the neighbourhood and owned quite a large amount of property ohia thought he could afford now to keep a second wife so he married again unfortunately the new wife did not at all resemble awirehu the latter had always been a good kind honest woman the new wife was of a very jealous and selfish disposition in addition to this she was lame and continually imagined that people were making fun of her defect

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

he replied i was sent by his majesty mauri the ruler of the world to buy him palm wine whether hes ruler of the world or not answered koklovi no one can buy my wine with money if you want it you must fight for it if you win you can have it all and the palm trees too this answer delighted klo as he was a very strong fighter koklovi was the same so that the fighting continued for several hours before klo was able to overcome koklovi he was at last successful however and securely bound koklovi before he left him then taking his great pot he filled it with wine finding that there was more wine than the pot would hold klo foolishly drank all the rest he then piled the palm trees on his back and set out for the palace with the pot of wine the amount which he had drunk however made him feel so sleepy and tired that he could not walk fast with his load added to this a terrible rain began to fall which made the ground very slippery and still more difficult to travel over by the time klo succeeded in reaching his masters palace the gates were shut and locked mauri finding it so late had concluded that every one was inside there were many people packed into the great hall and all were singing and dancing the noise of the concert was so great that no one heard klos knocking at the gate and there he had to stay with his great load of wine and palm trees the rain continued for nearly two months and was so terrible that the people all remained in the palace till it had finished by that time klo had died under the weight of his load—which he had been unable to get off his back

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

at last he persuaded her to let him carry her back to his hut that he might enjoy her singing daily in comfort this she permitted only on the understanding that she sang to him alone the hunter did not rest long content with this arrangement however soon he began to wish that he could show off this wonderful tortoise to all the world and thereby thought he would gain great honour he told the secret first to one then to another until finally it reached the ears of the chief himself the hunter was commanded to come and tell his tale before the assembly when however he described the tortoise who sang and played on the harp the people shouted in scorn they refused to believe him at last he said if i do not speak truth i give you leave to kill me to morrow i will bring the tortoise to this place and you may all hear her if she cannot do as i say i am willing to die good replied the people and if the tortoise can do as you say we give you leave to punish us in any way you choose the matter being then settled the hunter returned home well pleased with the prospect as soon as the morrow dawned he carried tortoise and harp down to the assembly place—where a table had been placed ready for her every one gathered round to listen but no song came the people were very patient and quite willing to give both tortoise and hunter a chance hours went by and to the hunters dismay and shame the tortoise remained mute he tried every means in his power to coax her to sing but in vain the people at first whispered then spoke outright in scorn of the boaster and his claims night came on and brought with it the hunters doom

nigerian folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling

when he was about ten years old his father also died kwofi had now no relative but his stepmother for whom he had to work as he grew older she saw how much more clever and handsome he was than her own children and grew very jealous of him he was such a good hunter that day after day he came home laden with meat or with fish every day she treated him in the same way she cooked the meat then portioned it out she gave to each a large helping but when it came to kwofis turn she would say oh my son kwofi there is none left for you you must go to the field and get some ripe paw paw kwofi never complained never once did he taste any of the meat he had hunted at every meal the others were served but there was never enough for him one evening when the usual thing had happened kwofi was preparing to go to the field to fetch some paw paw for his supper

west african folktale

folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling