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ekpo then led his men against his brother and there was a big battle many men being killed on both sides the fighting went on all day until at last towards evening the other chiefs of calabar met and determined to stop it so they called the egbo men together and sent them out with their drums and eventually the fight stopped three days later a big palaver was held when each of the brothers was told to state his case when they had done so it was found that ama ukwa had caused the quarrel and the chiefs ordered that he should be killed his father who was a rich man offered to give the egbos five thousand rods five cows and seven slaves to redeem his son but they decided to refuse his offer the next day after being severely flogged he was left for twenty four hours tied up to a tree and the following day his head was cut off ekpo was then ordered to kill his pet cock so that it should not cause any further trouble between himself and his brother and a law was passed that for the future no one should keep a pet cock or any other tame animal | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
at this the tortoise was very glad and went joyfully home as he had found out the hippos name when the next feast was given by the hippo he made the same condition about his name so the tortoise got up and said you promise you will not kill me if i tell you your name and the hippo promised the tortoise then shouted as loud as he was able your name is isantim at which a cheer went up from all the people and then they sat down to their dinner when the feast was over the hippo with his seven wives in accordance with his promise went down to the river and they have always lived in the water from that day till now and although they come on shore to feed at night you never find a hippo on the land in the daytime | 2 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
but the people would not believe him and said we have already received the word from the creator by the sheep that all dead bodies should be buried in consequence of this the dead bodies are now always buried and the dog is much disliked and not trusted as a messenger as if he had not found the bone in the old womans house and forgotten his message the dead people might still be alive | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
she then showed him the pot with the remains of her sister and told him that her sister would come to life again in three months time quite complete but he must send away the jealous wife so that there should be no more trouble if he refused to do this the little girl said she would take the pot back to their mother and when her sister became complete again they would remain at home the husband then took the jealous wife back to her parents who sold her as a slave and paid the dowry back to the husband so that he could get another wife when he received the money the husband took it home and kept it until the three months had elapsed when the little sister opened the pot and the fat woman emerged quite as fat and beautiful as she had been before the husband was so delighted that he gave a feast to all his friends and neighbours and told them the whole story of the bad behaviour of his jealous wife ever since that time whenever a wife behaves very badly the husband returns her to the parents who sell the woman as a slave and out of the proceeds of the sale reimburse the husband the amount of dowry which he paid when he married the girl | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
it is now his turn and he has hidden his mother away in a tree at this the leopard was very angry and told the squirrel to lead him at once to the tree where the tortoises mother lived but the squirrel said the tortoise only goes at daylight when his mother lets down a basket so if you go in the morning early she will pull you up and you can then kill her to this the leopard agreed and the next morning the squirrel came at cockcrow and led the leopard to the tree where the tortoises mother was hidden the old lady had already let down the basket for her daily supply of food and the leopard got into it and gave the line a pull but except a few small jerks nothing happened as the old mother tortoise was not strong enough to pull a heavy leopard off the ground when the leopard saw that he was not going to be pulled up being an expert climber he scrambled up the tree and when he got to the top he found the poor old tortoise whose shell was so tough that he thought she was not worth eating so he threw her down on to the ground in a violent temper and then came down himself and went home shortly after this the tortoise arrived at the tree and finding the basket on the ground gave his usual tug at it but there was no answer he then looked about and after a little time came upon the broken shell of his poor old mother who by this time was quite dead the tortoise knew at once that the leopard had killed his mother and made up his mind that for the future he would live alone and have nothing to do with the other animals | 2 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
as she was very frightened she told the people all about it so they determined to set a watch on the movements of the old woman that very night the moon came down as usual and the old woman went out with her knife and basket to get her food but before she could carve any meat all the people rushed out shouting and the moon was so frightened that she went back again into the sky and never came down again to the earth the old woman was left to starve in the bush ever since that time the moon has hidden herself most of the day as she was so frightened and she still gets very thin once a month but later on she gets fat again and when she is quite fat she gives plenty of light all the night but this does not last very long and she begins to get thinner and thinner in the same way as she did when the old woman was carving her meat from her | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
at last a bush rat came near and saw the leopard tied up to the tree and asked him what was the matter so the leopard told him that he had been playing a game of tight and loose with the tortoise and that he had tied him up and left him there to starve the leopard then implored the bush rat to cut the ropes with his sharp teeth the bush rat was very sorry for the leopard but at the same time he knew that if he let the leopard go he would most likely be killed and eaten so he hesitated and said that he did not quite see his way to cutting the ropes but this bush rat being rather kind hearted and having had some experience of traps himself could sympathise with the leopard in his uncomfortable position he therefore thought for a time and then hit upon a plan he first started to dig a hole under the tree quite regardless of the leopards cries when he had finished the hole he came out and cut one of the ropes and immediately ran into his hole and waited there to see what would happen but although the leopard struggled frantically he could not get loose as the tortoise had tied him up so fast after a time when he saw that there was no danger the bush rat crept out again and very carefully bit through another rope and then retired to his hole as before again nothing happened and he began to feel more confidence so he bit several strands through one after the other until at last the leopard was free the leopard who was ravenous with hunger instead of being grateful to the bush rat directly he was free made a dash at the bush rat with his big paw but just missed him as the bush rat had dived for his hole but he was not quite quick enough to escape altogether and the leopards sharp claws scored his back and left marks which he carried to his grave ever since then the bush rats have had white spots on their skins which represent the marks of the leopards claws | 2 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
if she met people on the road she was to pass them in silence as if she saluted them they would know that she was a stranger in the spirit land and might kill her she was also not to turn round if any one called to her but was to go straight on till she reached her fathers house having thanked the skull for his kind advice the kings daughter started off and when she reached the end of the town and found the road she ran for three hours and at last arrived at the branch roads there she dropped the medicine as she had been instructed and the two roads immediately became one so she went straight on and never saluted any one or turned back although several people called to her about this time the spirit man had returned from the wood and went to the house only to find the kings daughter was absent he asked the skull where she was and he replied that she had gone out by the back door but he did not know where she had gone to being a spirit however he very soon guessed that she had gone home so he followed as quickly as possible shouting out all the time when the girl heard his voice she ran as fast as she could and at last arrived at her fathers house and told him to take at once a cow a pig a sheep a goat a dog a chicken and seven eggs and cut them into seven parts as a sacrifice and leave them on the road so that when the spirit man saw these things he would stop and not enter the town this the king did immediately and made the sacrifice as his daughter had told him when the spirit man saw the sacrifice on the road he sat down and at once began to eat when he had satisfied his appetite he packed up the remainder and returned to the spirit land not troubling any more about the kings daughter when the king saw that the danger was over he beat his drum and declared that for the future when people died and went to the spirit land they should not come to earth again as spirits to cure sick people | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the hippo had to acknowledge that the tortoise was too strong for him and reluctantly handed over the twenty thousand rods the elephant and the hippo then agreed that they would take the tortoise as their friend as he was so very strong but he was not really so strong as they thought and had won because he was so cunning he then told them that he would like to live with both of them but that as he could not be in two places at the same time he said that he would leave his son to live with the elephant on the land and that he himself would live with the hippopotamus in the water this explains why there are both tortoises on the land and tortoises who live in the water the water tortoise is always much the bigger of the two as there is plenty of fish for him to eat in the river whereas the land tortoise is often very short of food | 2 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
her father caught her at once and returned home very thankfully he never told any one however that he had recovered his daughter but made up his mind to punish the seven jealous girls so he dug a deep pit in the middle of his house and placed dried palm leaves and sharp stakes in the bottom of the pit he then covered the top of the pit with new mats and sent out word for all people to come and hold a play to rejoice with him as he had recovered his daughter from the spirit land many people came and danced and sang all the day and night but the seven jealous girls did not appear as they were frightened however as they were told that everything had gone well on the previous day and that there had been no trouble they went to the house the following morning and mixed with the dancers but they were ashamed to look akim in the face who was sitting down in the middle of the dancing ring when akims father saw the seven girls he pretended to welcome them as his daughters friends and presented each of them with a brass rod which he placed round their necks he also gave them tombo to drink he then picked them out and told them to go and sit on mats on the other side of the pit he had prepared for them when they walked over the mats which hid the pit they all fell in and akims father immediately got some red hot ashes from the fire and threw them in on top of the screaming girls who were in great pain at once the dried palm leaves caught fire killing all the girls at once when the people heard the cries and saw the smoke they all ran back to the town the next day the parents of the dead girls went to the head chief and complained that akims father had killed their daughters so the chief called him before him and asked him for an explanation akims father went at once to the chief taking the ju ju man whom everybody relied upon and the small bird as his witnesses when the chief had heard the whole case he told akims father that he should only have killed one girl to avenge his daughter and not seven so he told the father to bring akim before him when she arrived the head chief seeing how beautiful she was said that her father was justified in killing all the seven girls on her behalf so he dismissed the case and told the parents of the dead girls to go away and mourn for their daughters who had been wicked and jealous women and had been properly punished for their cruel behaviour to akim | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the seven men were then securely fastened up and brought before king agbor who held a large palaver of all the towns and the whole situation was discussed agbor said that this bad custom would necessitate all the towns separating as they could not allow their dead relations to be dug up and eaten by these greedy people and he could see no other way to prevent it agbor then gave one of the men to each of the seven towns and told some of them to go on the far side of the big river and make their towns there the others were to go farther down the river on the same side as insofan mountain and when they found suitable places they were each to kill their man as a sacrifice and then build their town all the towns then departed and when they had found good sites they built their towns there when they had all gone after a time agbor began to feel very lonely so he left the site of his old town and also went to the cross river to live so that he could see his friends after that the new yam feast was held in each town and the people still continued to kill and eat a few slaves at the feast but the bodies of their relations and friends were kept for a long time above ground until they had become rotten so that the greedy people should not dig them up and eat them this is why even at the present time the people do not like to bury their dead relations until they have become putrid | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
they were both tied up so that they could not escape and were left there to keep watch over the dead chief until they died of starvation when the cave was covered in the sons called the chiefs together and they played egbo for seven days which used up a lot of their late fathers money when the play was over the chiefs were surprised at the amount of money which the sons had been able to spend on the funeral of their father as they knew how poor he had been as a young man they therefore called him the lucky fisherman | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
as none of them could vomit the beans they all died and were declared to be witches he then had them buried at once when the remainder of his slaves saw what had happened they all came to him and begged his pardon and promised to serve him faithfully although the fifty men were buried they could not rest and troubled ayong very much and after a time he became very sick himself so he sent again for the ju ju men who told him that it was the witch men who although they were dead and buried had power to come out at night and used to suck ayongs blood which was the cause of his sickness they then said we are only three ju ju men you must get seven more of us making the magic number of ten when they came they dug up the bodies of the fifty witches and found they were quite fresh then ayong had big fires made and burned them one after the other and gave the ju ju men a big present he soon after became quite well again and took possession of his fathers property and ruled over all the country ever since then whenever any one is accused of being a witch they are tried by the ordeal of the poisonous esere bean and if they can vomit they do not die and are declared innocent but if they cannot do so they die in great pain | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
she then took emme back to her own home and hid her in her room and sent word to akpan to come to her house and to take great care that the slave woman knew nothing about the matter so akpan left the house secretly by the back door and arrived at the old womans house without meeting anybody when emme saw akpan she asked for her little sister so he sent his friend the hunter for her to the spring and he met her carrying her water pot to get the morning supply of water for the house and brought her to the old womans house with him when emme had embraced her sister she told her to return to the house and do something to annoy the slave woman and then she was to run as fast as she could back to the old womans house where no doubt the slave girl would follow her and would meet them all inside the house and see emme who she believed she had killed the little girl did as she was told and directly she got into the house she called out to the slave woman do you know that you are a wicked woman and have treated me very badly i know you are only my sisters slave and you will be properly punished she then ran as hard as she could to the old womans house directly the slave woman heard what the little girl said she was quite mad with rage and seized a burning stick from the fire and ran after the child but the little one got to the house first and ran inside the slave woman following close upon her heels with the burning stick in her hand then emme came out and confronted the slave woman and she at once recognised her mistress whom she thought she had killed so she stood quite still then they all went back to akpans house and when they arrived there akpan asked the slave woman what she meant by pretending that she was emme and why she had tried to kill her but seeing she was found out the slave woman had nothing to say many people were then called to a play to celebrate the recovery of akpans wife and when they had all come he told them what the slave woman had done after this emme treated the slave girl in the same way as she had treated her little sister she made her put her fingers in the fire and burnt her with sticks she also made her beat foo foo with her head in a hollowed out tree and after a time she was tied up to a tree and starved to death ever since that time when a man marries a girl he is always present when she comes out of the fatting house and takes her home himself so that such evil things as happened to emme and her sister may not occur again | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
as the king was so fond of adit and the two children and did not want them to be killed he gladly consented and the nsiat bird took the whole of his family as well as adit and her two children away and left the earth to live and make their home in the trees but as they had formerly lived in the town with all the people they did not like to go into the forest so they made their nests in the trees which grew in the town and that is why you always see the nsiat birds living and making their nests only in places where human beings are the black birds are the cocks and the golden coloured ones are the hens it was the beautiful colour of adit which first attracted the attention of ndarake and caused him to marry her | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
when the two boys arrived at the respective ages of eighteen and twenty their father died and they were left to look after themselves according to native custom the elder son eyo i was entitled to the whole of his fathers estate but being very fond of his younger brother he gave him a large number of rods and some land with a house immediately essido became possessed of the money he became wilder than ever gave big feasts to his companions and always had his house full of women upon whom he spent large sums although the amount his brother had given him on his fathers death was very large in the course of a few years | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
things got so bad that none of the respectable people would have anything to do with him and at last the chiefs of the country seeing the way essido was squandering his late brothers estate assembled together and eventually came to the conclusion that he was a witch man and had poisoned his brother in order to acquire his position the chiefs who were all friends of the late eyo and who were very sorry at the death as they knew that if he had lived he would have become a great and powerful chief made up their minds to give essido the ekpawor ju ju which is a very strong medicine and gets into mens heads so that when they have drunk it they are compelled to speak the truth and if they have done wrong they die very shortly essido was then told to dress himself and attend the meeting at the palaver house and when he arrived the chiefs charged him with having killed his brother by witchcraft essido denied having done so but the chiefs told him that if he were innocent he must prove it by drinking the bowl of ekpawor medicine which was placed before him as he could not refuse to drink he drank the bowl off in great fear and trembling and very soon the ju ju having got hold of him he confessed that he had poisoned his brother but that his friends had advised him to do so about two hours after drinking the ekpawor essido died in great pain the friends were then brought to the meeting and tied up to posts and questioned as to the part they had taken in the death of eyo as they were too frightened to answer the chiefs told them that they knew from essido that they had induced him to poison his brother they were then taken to the place where eyo was buried the grave having been dug open and their heads were cut off and fell into the grave and their bodies were thrown in after them as a sacrifice for the wrong they had done the grave was then filled up again ever since that time whenever any one is suspected of being a witch he is tried by the ekpawor ju ju | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
immediately he had seized the chicken the cocks began to make a great noise and the hen ran after him and tried to make him drop her child calling loudly with her feathers fluffed out and making dashes at him but he carried it off and all the fowls and chickens at once ran screaming into the houses some taking shelter under bushes and others trying to hide themselves in the long grass he then carried the chicken to the king telling him that he had returned the owlet to his parents as he did not want him for food so the king told the hawk that for the future he could always feed on chickens the hawk then took the chicken home and his friend who dropped in to see him asked him what the parents of the chicken had done when they saw their child taken away so the hawk said they all made a lot of noise and the old hen chased me but although there was a great disturbance amongst the fowls nothing happened his friend then said as the fowls had made much palaver he was quite safe to kill and eat the chickens as the people who made plenty of noise in the day time would go to sleep at night and not disturb him or do him any injury the only people to be afraid of were those who when they were injured kept quite silent you might be certain then that they were plotting mischief and would do harm in the night time | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
he came out from the room leading edet by the hand and placed the bundle of loin cloths before the chiefs the young men were very much surprised when they saw edet and wanted to leave the palaver house but when they stood up to go the chiefs told them to sit down at once or they would receive three hundred lashes they then sat down and the ju ju man explained how he had gone to the alligators home and had brought edet back to his mother he also said that he had found the seven loin cloths in the house but he did not wish to say anything about them as the owners of some of the cloths were sons of the chiefs the chiefs who were anxious to stop the bad society told him however to speak at once and tell them everything then he undid the bundle and took the cloths out one by one at the same time calling upon the owners to come and take them when they came to take their cloths they were told to remain where they were and they were then told to name their company the seven young men then gave the names of all the members of their society thirty two in all these men were all placed in a line and the chiefs then passed sentence which was that they should all be killed the next morning on the beach so they were then all tied together to posts and seven men were placed as a guard over them they made fires and beat drums all the night early in the morning at about 4 am the big wooden drum was placed on the roof of the palaver house and beaten to celebrate the death of the evildoers which was the custom in those days the boys were then unfastened from the posts and had their hands tied behind their backs and were marched down to the beach when they arrived there the head chief stood up and addressed the people this is a small town of which i am chief and i am determined to stop this bad custom as so many men have been killed he then told a man who had a sharp matchet to cut off one mans head he then told another man who had a sharp knife to skin another young man alive a third man who had a heavy stick was ordered to beat another to death and so the chief went on and killed all the thirty two young men in the most horrible ways he could think of some of them were tied to posts in the river and left there until the tide came up and drowned them others were flogged to death after they had all been killed for many years no one was killed by alligators but some little time afterwards on the road between the beach and the town the land fell in making a very large and deep hole which was said to be the home of the alligators and the people have ever since tried to fill it up but have never yet been able to do so | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
for several days this went on the voice of the odudu bird growing weaker and weaker every night until at last he could no longer reply then the little bird knew that his friend must be dead he was very sorry but could not report the matter as he was supposed to be confined inside his house when the seven days had expired the king came and had both the doors of the houses opened the nsasak bird at once flew out and perching on a branch of a tree which grew near sang most merrily but the odudu bird was found to be quite dead and there was very little left of him as the ants had eaten most of his body leaving only the feathers and bones on the floor the king therefore at once appointed the nsasak bird to be the head chief of all the small birds and in the ibibio country even to the present time the small boys who have bows and arrows are presented with a prize which sometimes takes the shape of a female goat if they manage to shoot a nsasak bird as the nsasak bird is the king of the small birds and most difficult to shoot on account of his wiliness and his small size | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
then a few would return to earth some of them badly torn and with many feathers missing at last the fishing eagle said when you have quite finished with this foolishness please tell me and if any of you fancy yourselves at all come to me and i will settle your chances of being elected head chief once and for all but when they saw his terrible beak and cruel claws knowing his great strength and ferocity they stopped fighting between themselves and acknowledged the fishing eagle to be their master essiya then declared that ituen which was the name of the fishing eagle was the head chief of all the birds and should thenceforward be known as the king bird from that time to the present day whenever the young men of the country go to fight they always wear three of the long black and white feathers of the king bird in their hair one on each side and one in the middle as they are believed to impart much courage and skill to the wearer and if a young man is not possessed of any of these feathers when he goes out to fight he is looked upon as a very small boy indeed | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
kwami told them hed seen ananses ghost stuck to a pole hed put up on his farm of course the villagers all wanted to see this so they all started running to kwamis farm there they saw for themselves the figure of ananse still glued to the pole what are you doing here they asked youre supposed to be dead we buried you not so long ago youre looking at my ghost wailed ananse who by now was getting very uncomfortable the villagers too were scared and they were about to run away when ananse cried out stop stop why are you running away im your relation arent i theres no need to be so scared and anyway i need your help i need help one of the braver men came a little closer and asked what kind of help do you need ananse brother ananse replied im stuck to this tarred pole cant you see i need help to pull me free two or three of them worked up enough courage to approach and started pulling at him ananse was giving them instructions pull here a little more on this side a little harder here but one of the villagers whod been pulling at ananses leg stood back and scratched his head wait a minute he said this is not a ghost this is the real ananse hes not dead at all they all stopped pulling and heaving yea said another how can a ghost be instructing us to pull here and pull there they started hitting him with sticks throwing mud at him and raining insults on him after a while kwami took pity on his brother and asked them to stop they pulled him loose and told him to leave the village and never to show his face again after ananse was banned all his family members were so ashamed that they too decided to leave the village and thats to this day whenever you see a spider it is always trying to hide somewhere in a crack in the floor or a dark corner because it is still ashamed of what its ancestor ananse got up to | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
there in front of him was a wide and deep ditch toad could not remember it being there before it must have been created during the last storm toad was not at all sure that he would be able to jump across in the meantime frog had caught up with him and also stopped harrooh he exclaimed a little ditch thats nothing for me he took a mighty jump using all the strength he had in his formidable hind legs and comfortably made it to the other side toad knew he had to get across so he took a deep breath and used all his strength to jump but poor toad he just did not make it he hit the side of the ditch and tumbled all the way down to the bottom so frog was the first one to reach the river bank and won the race the elephant congratulated him and he was duly crowned king of the rivers and marshes at his coronation the king of all the animals elephant made a big speech frog he said now that you are the king of the rivers and marshes your first duty is to announce the coming of the first rains so that all the farmers can get ready to start doing their important work you shall do this by singing you croo croo song as loud as you possibly can and for as long as it takes to get the message to everybody that is the reason why to this day when people hear the frogs song they are very happy because they know that the dry season is over and the rain they need to grow their crops is on its way | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
after feasting on the fruit for several hours mr tortoise had another idea he really wanted to find out exactly what he had here so he approached vulture and said vulture youre going to carry me high into the sky then i will know how big my own land is and i will see how useful it will be vulture replied yessirr hang on to my waist so mr tortoise clung on to vultures waist vulture flapped his wings gently at first and up and up and up he went it was very breezy so high up in the sky and mr tortoise was enjoying himself whoa whoa he shouted this is wonderful im enjoying this breeze its just beautiful then in his excitement he started scratching vultures armpits that was not such a wise thing to do please screeched vulture i am ticklish do do do dont do that pleeeease stop it please im sooooo ticklish unfortunately tortoise wouldnt stop in desperation vulture shook his wings so violently that mr tortoise lost his grip he went down and down and down and down and down and there was nothing at all to stop him it was mr tortoises rather bad fortune to land in a place that was covered in hard jagged rocks there was an enormous crashing sound when he made contact with he rocks cracks appeared all over the body of mr tortoise he tried to shout for help but his voice only made a very small sound luckily for mr tortoise vulture saw him lying there his body all cracked up and felt sorry for him so vulture decided to get the ambulance and they managed to get him to a hospital because he was in such a bad way and looked as if he could die any minute there and then mr tortoise was taken straight into the operating theatre and three doctors started work on him they worked for hours on end stitching stitching stitching all the cracks in his shell eventually all the sores healed and he was discharged but of course he was left with the scars and that is why every time you see a tortoise you can still see the scars on the back of his shell | 2 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
none of the other birds wanted to carry tortoise youre too big for my back youre too heavy for me youre too drunk mr tortoise youll only fall off in the end tortoise was left all by himself and he realised the only way to get back to the ground would be to jump and fall all the way down to earth he knew he could not stay up here in the clouds so he jumped hoping that his landing would be soft but he landed on some hard ground and his shell broke into many pieces in the morning his nephew and nieces came round and stuck his shell together again but now it showed many scars and cracks and that is why every time you see a tortoise you can still see the scars on the back of his shell | 2 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
he gurgled you left it at home he grinned his crooked grin at its most crooked monkey knew he had to be very careful what he said right now he knew he had to get this exactly right he could feel his heart beating in his throat and he was afraid it might just jump out right into sharks open mouth he hoped the thumping wouldnt make shark suspicious you see my friend its like this for a monkey like me the heart is the most important thing the most vital possession if a monkey loses his heart well you might as well give up living right there and then so you see im always really really careful with it and make sure its always in a safe place somewhere so i can find it when i need it i see grumbled shark grimly i see so what do we do now monkey my man well said monkey hopefully were not that far out yet are we we could race back ill jump up into my tree get the heart and we can be back here in what ten fifteen minutes at the most lets hurry lets not keep your wife waiting any longer than is strictly necessary now shark was in a real quandary was monkey telling the truth or was he having him on but of course he didnt really have a choice if he was not to arouse monkeys suspicion he had to go along with him and pretend to believe him even if he wasnt at all sure that was the right thing to do so he swooshed his tail and turned his pointed nose back towards the land ok monkey my mate lets hurry he swam as fast as he could thinking that the quicker he got this done the less time monkey would have to change his mind they got back to the mangrove in less than five minutes theyd hardly reached the first tree and shark had barely started to slow down when monkey got up and made an almighty leap from his friends back towards the nearest branch caught it then swung up and over and onto the next branch and up and over again onto the next highest one and higher and higher he swung and hurled himself until he was at the highest point in the highest tree in the middle of the mangrove then he stopped and looked down the sun had gone down completely now and the full moon shone a pale greyish yellow light over the mangrove below him monkey could see the silver dorsal fin of shark against the black water his jaws snapping at the cool night air monkey monkey where are you you promised your heart where is it where have you hidden it where is it then monkey your heart monkey couldnt help himself suddenly all the tension left him and he started jumping up and down ugh ugn ugm ugh ugh oh my friendly fiendish shark i was almost done for wasnt i the only thing that saved me is that you are even more stupid than me | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the kings only daughter owowowow a snake has bitten her owowowow the snake has run away owowowowo why is this happening owowowow people were running towards the house ajakasi shouted at them i can bring this girl back to life a soldier came up to ajakasi and shouted at him shut up youre only a common thief ajakasi pleaded with him i am sincere i can really bring the girl back to life go and tell the chief the soldier spat at him and told him again to keep quiet but as he was running to the chiefs house the soldier thought to himself what if the condemned man was telling the truth the chief would be grateful to him and he would surely be rewarded he had nothing to loose by telling the chief at first when the chief was told that ajakasi could bring his daughter back to life he didnt want to know that man is only trying to postpone his execution he thought but when he looked at the body of his dead daughter and saw his distraught wife he changed his mind after all there was nothing to be lost and everything to be gained you never know what secrets these hunters learn in the jungle so he ordered his soldiers to cut ajakasi loose and bring the man to him when ajakasi got to the dead girls bedside he asked for a bowl and some water he poured in the medicine that the snake had given him and stirred it with his fingers until it was well mixed into a smooth sauce this he mopped up with a piece of plain cotton cloth and he squeezed the liquid into the dead girls nostrils the chief and his wife and all the soldiers were watching his every move ajakasi knew very well that if the girl didnt revive he would be dead on the spot but the girl twitched her nose itchee itchee she sneezed the chief shouted she sneezed slowly the girl opened her eyes and the chief jumped up and down for joy the girls mother rushed to her side and the soldiers started to dance the girl spoke to her mother mommy where am i im hungry can you get me some fufu ah the chief and his wife were so excited a servant brought in some fufu with a wonderful soup and the girl ate everything ajakasi was carried shoulder high all around the village when things quietened down a little the chief sent for him ajakasi the chief addressed him you have done me a great service the greatest possible service so i am going to save your life but you must tell me honestly and without lying why did you have to steal all my property ajakasi replied o my great chief i really didnt steal your property as ive been trying to tell everyone he then told the chief his remarkable story what had happened in the jungle how he found the lion the snake the rat and the man in the pit and how he got them out how the lion thanked him by bringing him meat which he sold at a great profit how the rat brought him gold and diamonds and other precious minerals some of which he sold and got even more money for but his fellow human being thanked him by getting him into trouble if it had not been for the snake coming to his rescue at the last minute he would not be standing here to tell his tale the king was astonished by the tale he apologized to ajakasi for not believing him and he ordered all his possessions to be restored to him to show the chief he did not harbour any grudges ajakasi organized a big feast which went on long into the night | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
have you taken some kind of magic potion he asked tortoise didnt stop he just said to hare slow and steady thats me hare raced ahead after a few minutes he looked back there was no sign of tortoise and his self confidence returned he stopped to have a nibble at a bush he had a drink and a quick snooze to refresh himself and then set off again as fast as his strong legs could carry him the finish of the race was now in sight he looked up and to his great consternation he saw that tortoise was just about to cross the line he summoned all his strength and made himself go as fast as the wind but he crossed the line only to bump into tortoise who was sitting there waiting for him all the animals gathered were screaming and shouting hare went off by himself his ears drooping with sadness and shame tortoise and his cousins had a party to celebrate their victory | 2 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
she agreed so h took her back to the village and his fathers compound the chief thought it a bit odd that this young woman had been walking around the bush all by herself but he was so happy that his son had returned home and had not been killed by a lion as his dream predicted that he did not question her at all the son in the meantime was falling head over heels in love with this strange young woman and before the night was out he asked her to be his wife she laughed and told him that she would be very happy to be his wife but she would have to ask her fathers permission first so they agreed that the next morning they would set off early and visit her father so the next morning after eating some fruit and porridge they were read to set off the hunter was gathering his weapons but the girl asked him to leave them behind as she explained it would be rude to turn up at her fathers house so heavily armed the hunter agreed to this so they set off walking through the bush when they had gone some distance from the village the girl changed herself back into her natural lion shape and attacked the hunter who having no weapons was unable to defend himself that evening while the chief sat outside his hut waiting in vain for his sons return the animals celebrated | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the chief waited for a short while to see if anybody would come forward to help the young man and when he saw that nobody else made a move instructed his servants to lend a hand once the tree had been moved to the side of the road the chief went up to the young farmer and took him to the spot where hed buried the gold that morning the chief told him to dig there and promised him that he could keep whatever he found there the young farmer started digging in the road and very quickly uncovered the gold he was overjoyed the chief said to him all this gold is yours to keep you have deserved it and you can do with it as you please and to the lazy townspeople he said let this be a lesson to you all laziness doesnt get you anything rewards come to the person who is prepared to work hard | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
but not for long mr spider started moaning again and the woman came over to his side once more she was getting eather worried about mr spiders condition and asked him what else she might do to alleviate the pain he was in eheh mother there is just one thing that will make me better said mr spider the woman asked him to tell her what this might be mr spider coughed then he said i want you to ask your daughter to come her and lie on top of me this rather took the good woman by surprise thats impossible she exclaimed but mr spider was very tricky and he knew exactly what to say to get his way im afraid if she doesnt come and lie with me i will surely die all at once said he to the woman she was genuinely afraid that mr spider might indeed die from his injuries so she went to find her daughter she explained the situation to her and although her daughter was not at all sure that she wanted to do this eventually she let herself be persuaded by her mother she came into mr spiders room and lay on top of him on the mat two hours later mr spider burst into laughter hahahaha i am very very lucky i won this situation and i am now free wot i really took these women for a ride | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
slowly she finished the walk home and as she came up to the house the old lady was sitting outside waiting for her when the old lady saw her she asked immediately what happened to my pot where is my water akuvi answered mama zeglo i fell down on the path and your pot broke the old lady was astonished that akuvi had guessed her name correctly so she asked her how did you find out my name who told you akuvi replied that she met a crab by the river who told her the old lady jumped up she was indeed furious im going down to the riverside ill find that stupid old crab and teach him a lesson she got up took her stick and a calabash and walked briskly towards the river she fully intended to punish the crab for his indiscretion and she did indeed find the crab still rooting around in the sand on the riverbank and addressed him in an angry tone why on earth did you disclose my name to that young girl what business is it of yours the crab hardly deigned to look at the old lady why dont you bugger off he said who do you think you are cant i mention your name to anybody the old lady got even more annoyed and she raised her stick and hit the crab on the back wallop and again woosh the crab jumped sideways and shouted at the old lady hey what what are you playing at hitting me you dont know me just you wait the crab dived under the water and started scooping up white sand splashing it all over the old ladys head so that all her hair turned white she got ever more angry so angry that she just threw the calabash at the crab which landed on his back and got stuck there she tried to pull it off but try as she might it was stuck hard the crab groaned and the old lady cursed but they could not remove it thats why when you see a crab now its got a hard shell on his back and when you see an old lady her hair is white all over | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
you think about it while youre stuck there that evening kofi amero was having his supper he couldnt stop laughing to himself at the plight of the woman stuck to the tree and the two men who had fallen into his traps the more he thought about it the more he had to laugh his laughter came out in uncontrollable bursts but suddenly he stopped a sharp pain shot through his chest and kofi amero collapsed hed suffered a heart attack a few days later kofi ameros brother who worked a field next to kofis became curious about the fact that he hadnt seen his brother for some time and decided to call on him he found kofi dead on the floor of his room immediately he set about informing other members of the family and making the funeral arrangements as the body had already started to decompose this had to be done in rather a hurry kofi amero was buried without much ceremony only two of his brothers attended the funeral none of the villagers wanted to waste any of their time mourning a man they all despised so it was that kofi amero arrived at the gates of heaven to be judged he was greeted there by the angel who had appeared to him some time ago but kofi amero didnt recognize him the angel produced a large book and invited kofi amero to look at was written there about him as you can see kofi amero said the angel during your lifetime you have only ever done one good thing that is when you gave me some of your kokoyam but everything else thats written about you is about all the bad and selfish things you did to your family and your neighbours youre not qualified to enter this place you have to go to hell so kofi amero walked away from the gates of heaven and made his way to the gates of hell when he got there he found satan waiting for him satan recognized him as the man who played a nasty trick on him with a chair and flatly refused him entry so kofi amero was denied access to heaven and hell because he had failed to please either the masters of heaven or the masters of hell his soul was doomed to roam restlessly in the space in between for eternity | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
soon the twins footprints became visible to her and she followed them the twins had been resting a little further along the way when they heard the old lady approaching they didnt want the old lady to find hem so they climbed the tallest tree they could find to hide in the foliage but the old lady had spotted them and walked right up to the tree where they were hiding she hit the trunk of the tree three times with the stick the witchdoctor had given her and the whole tree began to shake violently the twins couldnt hold on and the both fell out before he fell atta managed to grab a leaf from his sack and chewed it as he was falling so that when he hit the ground he wasnt hurt but attakuma didnt move she just lay there as if dead atta took the chewed up leaf from his mouth and squeezed some of the juice in his sisters nostril upon which she immediately regained consciousness they ran away as fast as they could the old lady following at her own slow pace presently they came to a very big river they could only just make out the other side they knew that in order to escape the old woman pursuing them they would have to get across the water just then a large vulture landed on the riverbank they ran up to the bird and asked for its help were being pursued by an old witch explained attakuma and she wants to kill us we have to get to the other side of the water please help us the vulture agreed to help them and told them to climb on his back he flew up easily and was over on the other side of the river in no time after the children climbed off his back atta said to the vulture be careful if you see that old woman she might ask you to take her across as well because she appears quite determined to catch us attakuma joined in if she asks you you should say yes certainly but then make sure you drop her in the middle of the water im sure she cant swim the vulture just grinned dont you youngsters worry about me he said im quite capable of looking after myself as he flew back across the water the twins decided to stay a while and see what would happen the vulture returned to the other side of the river and there he saw the old woman carrying her grandchild on her back sitting in the sand rubbing her poor aching feet exhausted by her efforts he greeted her and asked her if she was the one chasing a boy and a girl across the bush the old woman confirmed that she was indeed the one and then explained to the vulture what they had done to her and her granddaughter and how with the help of the witchdoctors stick she had been able to follow them the vulture was shocked and agreed to help the old woman teach the twins a lesson he asked to borrow the magic stick which he took in his strong beak and went in search of a large piece of flotsam he soon found something suitable and lifted it up with his claws then he flew high up over the water carrying the stick in his beak and the flotsam in his claws when he was over the middle of the water he dropped the flotsam which landed in the water with a big splash the twins were on the other side of the water watching the vulture they saw him drop a large shape and they assumed that this was the old lady they cheered loudly and watched as the vulture made his way towards them well done vulture that taught the old hag a lesson they shouted the vulture now hovered over them with the magic stick first he hit atta on the head with it then attakuma atta shouted hey mister vulture what are you doing attakuma just screamed their legs their feet and their toes turned into roots and dug into the sand at the waters edge their bodies turned into tree trunks and their heads arms hands and fingers turned into branches as leaves started to grow on the branches a few moans were heard then all fell silent except for the leaves rustling in the wind and the sound of water lapping the roots thats how mangrove trees came to grow by the side of the river | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
so he swooped down landed on the hyenas back and with his powerful claws pulled the animal of poor monkey who was screeching in pain after hed separated the two hyena wanted to know what was going on monkey explained what had happened that he had helped hyena escape from the trap because he had promised not to attack him eagle said in order for me to understand exactly how this happened i would like you to show me exactly what you two were doing so mr hyena you get back into the trap and then we will start again hyena realised he did not have much choice but to do as he was told so he jumped back into the trap eagle the covered it again with the trap and made sure it was secure now mr hyena said eagle you can stay there and die for all i care you dont deserve the kindness of other animals if you cannot keep a simple promise with that he advised the monkey to go home to his family and he himself flew off to continue his journey leaving the hyena to his fate | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
some of the people noticed that he was nodding his head rather a lot and one of them asked dear mr spider sir why are you nodding your head so much he answered in a loud voice when its hot like this dont you all shake your head after that mr spider and his friend mr dog departed from the funeral ground on their way home ananse could not sustain the suffering the hot beans were causing to his poor head the heat was just getting too too much he finally had no choice with a great scream he removed his large black hat and the beans spilled out all over the street some people who had been walking along stopped to gaze at him and others came out of their houses attracted by the commotion one said this man he is a foolish man another said he is not normal what normal person would carry beans inside his hat and cover his head with it then mr dog said to his friend my dear spider whatever happened to your beautiful hair mr spider touched his head and noticed that all his hair had disappeared the beans had been so hot that they burned off all his hair and from that moment onwards mr spider and all his offspring went around with a bald head | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
how can he be one of us if he has wings so now the ground animals had a meeting to consider the problem and they decided that no ground animal can have wings so therefore mr bat cant be regarded as one of them so they too refused to bury mr bat poor mr bat the flying animals refused to accept him because he has teeth and the ground animals refused to accept him because he has wings and that is why the bat is still flying around every night | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
so the hippopotamus got a very large fat head the rhinocerus got a head with fierce looking eyes the giraffe got a long head to go with his long neck nobody liked the hyena very much so he got the ugliest head there was but the antelope who all thought was the most graceful of the animals got the most beautiful head this went on all morning until all the animals had their own head just as the king thanked the cockerel for his work and was about to return to his palace the crab came sauntering back where have you been hiding out asked the king im afraid all the heads have been given out and there is not a single one left for you however much the crab protested there was nothing to be done and that is the reason why to this day the crab goes through life without a head | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
in the marketplace people beat him with sticks some partner you are anansi said to the fisherman as he rubbed his bruises i took the beatings at least you could have taken the pain anansi never tried to trick the fisherman again | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
as he swam away he said i think ill spend most of my time from now on safely in the water it has been that way ever since | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
i will give the gift to my youngest child said the warrior for it is this child who saved my life a man is never truly dead until he is forgotten | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
anansi filled his jacket pockets with stones so that he would be weighted down enough to stay at the rivers bottom and eat its impolite to wear a jacket to dinner turtle said take it off but when greedy anansi took off his jacket he floated back up to the surface of the water and hungrily watched turtle eat his fill | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the cat saw that and thought oh the woman is the strongest of all she can take the hunters gun from him and he does not fight with her he does not even say a word the man sat down at the table and the woman went to the kitchen the cat went to the kitchen too she decided to stay with the woman forever thats why you always see a cat in the kitchen at a womans feet | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
try again try again our chief will be very angry if you dont carry the boards up to his house in the sky said abhilas then the soldiers went to the chief and said oh chief no man can climb up to the sky the chief thought a little and said thats right nobody can do that then abhilas said to the chief oh my chief if you know that why do you ask me to build you a house in the sky and the chief could give no answer to that abhilas went to the tree cut the string and took away the kite | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
but suddenly the cat jumped up and caught the silly mouse the other mice ran away as quickly as they could mice dont forget never believe a cat | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
you are right the chief said let us be masters of our tongue | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
they went up to the boys bed but there were only horns and bones instead of the kid oh my little kid my dear little kid your son ate it in the night i am sure said the jackal and began to cry the man said dont cry i shall give you a big goat instead of your little kid no no i dont want the goat give me your son all right go out and wait a little at the door said the man then the man brought him a big bag and said here is the boy he is in the bag good bye the jackal took the bag and went away quickly he tried to run but he couldnt run the bag was very heavy this is a very big boy the jackal thought or perhaps it is not a boy perhaps the man put stones into the bag i shall open it and see he opened the bag and two big dogs jumped out of it in a minute they tore the jackal to pieces | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
this is the nicest of all the whips they said many of the guests ask ogalussa to give them the whip but ogalussa did not give it to the guests then he began to speak long long ago i went to the forest to hunt a strong lion killed me i was dead for a long time then my sons found my bones and brought me back to life now i am here among you i am very thankful to my sons look here my dear guests i have a whip and you say it is the nicest of all the whips but i have only one whip i shall give it to the son who helped me most of all to come back from the land of the dead then all the people began to think who helped most of all it was not so easy to tell at last ogalussa said i shall give the whip to little puli his first words were where is my father thanks to him my sons went to the forest to look for me thanks to puli i am here with you and my family and he kissed the little boy all the people said ogulussa you are right and even in our days african people say a man is alive as long as you remember him | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the lion became angrier than before and said to the hare show me that lion all right said the hare let us go to him and they went to a big well the hare looked into the well and said look he is there and the hare is with him the lion looked into the well he saw himself and the hare in the water he jumped into the well to catch them and never came back the animals were happy they jumped and danced and thanked the clever hare | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
i am sorry but i must tell you that i did not buy my donkey in tripoli but in benghazi the king thanked him and told him to go away a few minutes later mahamood knocked at the door again oh my king but i told you a lie this afternoon i did not pay sixteen gold coins for the donkey i paid twenty gold coins for it oh you fool cried the angry king i shall cut off your head for your silly tales about the donkey and give your body to the jackals mahamood listened to the king and smiled oh yes i know that but before i die may i say my last wish only one wish what is your last wish asked the king my last wish is to have a good supper the king understood everything he laughed and told his servants to bring the best food to his room he sat down at the table with mahamood they ate and laughed until morning came after that mahamood was never without food and he was always happy | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
but the pot was not there the next day his mother went to the village square with the pot in the hands she stopped there and began to beat the pot with a little stick many people came to the place then she said pot pot what you did for the old man please do for me and the pot gave her food the woman spoke to the pot many times and the pot gave the food to the hungry people but when she spoke to the pot for the fiftieth time the pot melted away there was nothing on the ground in front of the poor woman anansi was very angry he decided to go to the old man again and tell him everything he will give me another pot he thought when anansi came to the seashore the little red boat was there he got into it and soon he came to the old mans house the old man listened to anansis story i have no pot to give you my boy but ill give you this stick you say the same words to it only instead of pot pot say stick anansi took the stick and ran to the boat he could not wait a minute he said quickly stick stick what you did for the old man please do for me and the stick did it beat him on the back on his fat face on his fat hands and legs it beat all his fat body he did not know what to do he jumped into the water and swam away as quickly as he could he left the boat with the stick in it he came home crying like a small child but he did not tell anybody about the stick but that was a good lesson to him people say that now everything he gets he shares with his brothers and sisters and with other people too | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
ill take my heart but the monkey did not come back the shark was swimming and swimming in the water under the tree then he shouted friend monkey where are you there was no answer the shark thought i am afraid he cant find the heart in the branches the shark waited and waited for the monkey then he shouted again monkey monkey when will you come back to me again there was no answer then the monkey began to laugh do you think i am a fool asked the little monkey do you think i want to give my heart to your big bad chief and then die but you said your heart was in the branches of the tree said the silly shark my heart is in its place in my body it is always there shouted the monkey and you go away we are not friends any more and with these words the clever monkey threw a big rotten fruit on the sharks nose | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
while the man was looking for the left shoe the hare took the right shoe untied the sheep and took it to his home when the man came back he found no sheep and no shoe he cried out what a fool i am and he was right | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
and she decided to live with the man too thats why the birds and the animals do not like the dog and the hen they left their friends in the cold for the sake of good food now you know how the dog and the hen became domestic animals | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
good morning mother of donkeys good morning my sons the old woman answered and smiled at them | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
it fell on my head but it did not kill me then the chief said from this day on our people will never kill a python that python saved our lives pythons will be sacred animals in our country even today the naayire people love pythons if you go into their houses in the rainy season you will find a python there the pythons never harm anyone they dont eat even the chickens | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
he became angry with the chicken in the well and decided to have a fight with him he jumped down into the well but there was no chicken to fight with but only water and water he cried help me help me but nobody heard him he went down under the cold water and nobody saw him again | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
he poured his bottle into the pot as other people did then he sat down at the table with all the other people and waited for the glass of palm wine which he liked so much the chief said lets drink wine dear guests all the guests took their glasses but what they drank was not palm wine but water so our man was not the only one who thought a bottle of water cannot be bad for so much wine | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the chiefs soil is here they said then the chief looked back angrily at the tree bum that tree it hid my son from me and the chiefs servants put their torches to its trunk and branches the tree began to bum and soon fell on the grass at the same time the happy father went home with his son the people ran after them with songs and dances from that day on every year in july the dagomba people have their fire festival the chief goes out of his house and the people light their torches they begin to dance and put their torches to tree trunks but today they bum only two or three branches and not the whole tree | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
well the judge said this is a very simple case the next morning the young man with his mother and the rich man with his servants came before the judge there were many people there who wanted to hear the case the judge asked for a pot of cold water then he walked forty paces from the pot and made a fire now he said we shall wait a little until the water is warm the people cried but the fire is so far away it cannot warm the water in the pot then the judge said and how could that young man warm himself at a fire forty paces away so the case was over and the young man married the rich mans daughter they lived happily for many years | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
and he stayed at home and began to cry oh where shall i go where shall i go now when you hear frogs gaou gaou gaou you will understand that it means where shall i go where shall i go go go go how bad it is to have two wives who make puddings at the same time | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
i shall weave a handkerchief and you will take it to her you will get more money for it than for the good dishes in your café i am sure the ugly old man brought down a loom and thread and the king began to work he made a beautiful handkerchief for zakia the old man took the handkerchief and went to the kings wife with it it was not easy to get to her but at last the servants let him i have a very beautiful handkerchief said the old man to the kings wife look at it please a good weaver made it will you buy it zakia understood at once that the king was in trouble yes it is a very beautiful handkerchief she said i like it and ill buy it zakia bought the handkerchief but she told her servants to follow the old man and she followed the servants on horseback they came to the cafe and went in zakia waited in the street very soon a fight began in the cafe at last the king and his two ministers were free they came out of the cafe my dear zakia said the king when he saw her you have saved my life i love you more than anyone in the world zakia was happy to hear these words and the king and his wife went home | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
she saw kalari with his hand in the pot oh oh oh she cried oh oh oh kalari ran down the hill as quickly as he could the old woman ran after him but she could not catch him kalari ran and ran and at last came home he told his parents about the old woman on the hill and her magic pot they looked at the hill and saw steam there yes we see the steam of the magic pot they said from that day on the old woman stopped coming to the market with her soup nobody went up that high hill to see her they were afraid of the old woman but now when people see clouds round the hill they say look there is the steam from the magic pot | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
and he ate and he ate and he ate at last the chief ordered him to stop till the next morning in the morning the chief asked the boy to go on with his story now what can you tell us about your mogambo he asked oh my chief he not only ate but drank too so he drank and then he ate and he ate and he ate the story teller said louder and louder and he ate and he ate and he ate the chief looked at the boy and began to laugh well my boy your story is the longest in the world have a rest now stop and the young story teller stopped his story got many presents from the chief climbed up on a camel and rode away with these words and he ate and he ate and he ate | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the magic crocodile did not let the hunters kill them and of course they said thank you to the crocodile many young men came to the cave and tried to kill the crocodile but nobody could do it with bows and arrows in those days hunters knew nothing about the guns the first hunter with a gun in his hands killed our crocodile the crocodiles magic worked only against bows and arrows it did not work against guns | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
if money can turn into small stones then a boy can turn into a monkey the neighbor understood everything he brought the money and the man let the boy go back to his father the man thanked his clever friend very much he wanted to give him a part of the money but his friend did not take it we are friends arent we he said and friends always help each other but never take money for that never never | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the woman heard the sweet song of the little red bird she took a stone and killed it the bird fell down off the tree the man was very sad but the wife said now we shall have much food every day they went home at home the woman pulled the small red feather off the bird and put it into the hot water she cooked and cooked it but the feather was just a feather and from that day on they were again always hungry | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
so the war was over then a feast at the chiefs house began saiba and eiba were at the feast too then one of the men stood up and said there are two young men here two brothers i think they are very brave soldiers but we dont know who they are the twins uncle was at the feast too he said to the chief do you remember two little twins one with a spot on his right hand and the other with two spots on his left hand eighteen years ago you told their father and mother to go away from our village as they did not want to kill the twins these are the same twins the chief stood up and asked the twins to forgive him then he sent the two young men back to their father and mother with many presents and a letter in which he asked them to come back from that day on they stopped killing twins in serki | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
so you dont want to tell me anything and i am your friend no i was your friend but i am not any more well i dont want to have such a silly friend you are a liar im not but you are very very silly then one girl went to the right and the other went to the left they did not even say good bye to each other that was the unhappy end of their long friendship | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
his movements churned the milk into butter the frog climbed on to a pat of butter and hopped out of the churn | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
but on the road they began to quarrel how shall we divide the money said one of them i must have the bigger part why did you sing that song last night because i snored so i must have the bigger part of the money and the other man said yes thats so but the people could kill you because you snored my song saved your life you must only thank me and give me the bigger part of the money they quarrelled and quarrelled and could not decide anything can you | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
then they will be ten together and we dogs shall take one antelope and we shall also be ten together the lion liked his answer and asked the dog who taught you to divide like this you are a wise dog the dog answered oh king lion you hit our brother and blinded him that blind brother taught me king lion | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
every day bizunesh brought some meat for the lion and he soon understood that the woman was his friend he was not angry and he did not roar he was happy to see her and one day bizunesh came very near to the lion and gave him the meat from her hand at the same time she tore three hairs off his back the lion was not angry bizunesh ran to the old man and showed him the hairs what must i do with them now she asked nothing he answered but you know how to go near a lion little by little step by step do the same with segab and i am sure he will love you | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
one of the brothers saw me in his looking glass and that helped to save my life his looking glass is a very useful thing and he will have it forever another brother brought all three of you here on his carpet and that helped to save me too it is also a very useful thing and he will have it forever and one of you gave me the lemon juice and now i am well again but he has no lemon now he gave all he had to save me i will be his wife and the other two brothers said yes the girl is right | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the race began the wind helped fire to run very quickly but where was rain nobody saw him the people cried look fire is quite near the finish but then rain began to fall from the sky and put out fire so fire could not finish the race the people cried rain rain is the first so the chief gave his daughter to rain and they were very happy and from that day on fire and rain are enemies | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
but soon water came up on to the roof what could the sun and the moon do where could they sit and they went up to the sky they liked the place and began to live there | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
he came to the place where the nuts were and suddenly saw a man there oh he asked the man what do you want here there was no answer who are you spider asked him again what are you doing here at night the rubber man did not speak then spider hit the rubber man on the head and cried why dont you answer me the rubber man was so sticky that spider could not pull his hand away from the mans head let me go let me go cried and hit the rubber man with the other hand and the other hand stuck to the mans head too now spider understood that it was not a man still he tried to push it away with his foot but his foot stuck to the rubber man too now spider could not move any more how silly i was he said to himself people will come in the morning and everybody will know that i am a thief poor spider in the morning the chiefs servant tore him away from the rubber man and brought him before the chief and from that day on spider hid in a dark place and did not speak to anybody because he was so ashamed and now his children and his childrens children and his childrens childrens children always hide in dark places | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
and the hunter hits the poor dog on the head with a stick the man is not good i will not live near the man i will live in the forest thats why the chameleon lives in the forest far from the home of the man when he thinks of the man and his big stick he shakes his head and says yangu yangu yangu too bad too bad too bad | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the lizard answered dont you know that the hen the turtle the lizard lay eggs as crocodiles do my dear so we all are brothers and sisters do you understand oh thank you very much said the crocodile now you know why crocodiles never eat hens | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
good morning sun the hawk said it is time for you to get up and i am here to get my money good morning the sun said who told you to come to me so early the hawk did not answer if you want to get your money you must tell me who told you to come to me so early and then the hawk said it was the cock the sun was very angry he said now the cock will pay for it with his children now all the cocks children will be yours and from that day the hawk began to carry off chickens | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the man asked again arent you warm yet please let me stay a little longer i am not quite warm yet was the dogs answer then the man came up to the dog the dog looked into his eyes and said yes i am warm now but i dont want to go back to the bush i am often cold and hungry there let me live with you in the village please i shall help you to hunt birds and animals in the bush and forest and youll give me some bones to eat all right the man said you may stay with me from that day on the dog began to live with the man and when you hear the jackal cry at night bo aa bo aa you know that he is asking the dog to come back but the dog never answers and now the jackal lives in the bush alone | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
some could not find a good tail for the hare but i know this if you must do something dont ask others to do it for you dont forget about the hare with his short little tail | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
the kite decided to take revenge and began to eat chickens and now the kite always catches chickens and eats them and when you catch a hen it cries out it was not i it was not i she wants to say i did not eat the spider not i not i | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
called one master man is after me relax said the porter no one can fight us all just then the ground quaked and they all bounced into the air the porters fell in a heap all mixed up with their bundles what was that asked the porter that was master man then run for your life and the ten porters bolted from the path shadusa ran on till he rounded a bend—then he stopped short there beside the path sat a stranger and there beside the stranger lay a huge pile of elephant bones whats your hurry growled the stranger master man is after me moaned shadusa you better not say so—cause im master man from behind shadusa came another roar and once again he bounced into the air the stranger caught him in one hand as master man ran up let me have him bellowed master man come and get him growled the stranger master man lunged but the stranger tossed shadusa into a tree then the two strong men wrapped themselves around each other and wrestled across the ground the noise of the battle nearly deafened shadusa the dust choked him the trembling of the tree nearly shook him down as shadusa watched the two men struggled to their feet still clutching each another then each gave a mighty leap and together they rose into the air higher and higher they went till they passed through a cloud and out of sight shadusa waited and waited but the men never came back down at last he climbed carefully from the tree then ran and ran and never stopped till he got home safe and sound and he never called himself master man again as for those other two theyre still in the clouds where they battle on to this day of course they rest whenever theyre both worn out but sooner or later they start up again and what a noise they make some people call that noise thunder but now you know what it really is—two fools fighting forever to see which one is master man | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
she then made a ju ju and called the winds to come and convey afiong to her home at first a violent tornado came with thunder lightning and rain but the skulls mother sent him away as unsuitable the next wind to come was a gentle breeze so she told the breeze to carry afiong to her mothers house and said good bye to her very soon afterwards the breeze deposited afiong outside her home and left her there when the parents saw their daughter they were very glad as they had for some months given her up as lost the father spread soft animals skins on the ground from where his daughter was standing all the way to the house so that her feet should not be soiled afiong then walked to the house and her father called all the young girls who belonged to afiongs company to come and dance and the feasting and dancing was kept up for eight days and nights when the rejoicing was over the father reported what had happened to the head chief of the town the chief then passed a law that parents should never allow their daughters to marry strangers who came from a far country then the father told his daughter to marry a friend of his and she willingly consented and lived with him for many years and had many children | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
where are you promptly the tortoise on guard at that spot replied im here then on he went steadily going going another stretch of about twenty miles to plantation beach still the prompt reply to antelopes call kudu where are you was im here as he started away from plantation the wearied antelope began to feel his legs tired however he pressed on to small batanga hoping for victory over his despised contestant but on his reaching the edge of balimba the tortoise was there ready with his im here finally on reaching the end of the balimba settlement antelope fell down dying froth coming from his mouth and lay dead being utterly exhausted with running but when tortoise arrived he took a magic medicine and restored antelope to life and then exulted over him by beating him and saying dont you show me your audacity another day by daring to run with me i have surpassed you so they returned separately to their homes on the campo river tortoise called together the tortoise tribe and antelope called all the antelope tribe and they met in a council of all the animals then tortoise rose and spoke all you kudu tribe mbalanga said i would not surpass him in a race but this day i have surpassed so the antelope tribe had to acknowledge yes you kudu have surpassed our champion its a great shame to us for we had not supposed that a slow fellow such as we thought you to be could possibly do it or be able to outrun a mbalanga so the council decided that of all the tribes of animals tortoise was to be held as greatest for that it had outrun antelope and the animals gave tortoise the power to rule | 2 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
but the tortoise took no notice good morning tortoise good morning but still the tortoise pretended not to hear then the jackal said to himself well to day i have only got to manage a bigger idiot than before i shall just kick him on one side and then go and have a drink so he went up to the tortoise and said to him in a soft voice tortoise tortoise but the tortoise took no notice then the jackal kicked him out of the way and went to the well and began to drink but scarcely had he touched the water than the tortoise seized him by the leg the jackal shrieked out oh you will break my leg but the tortoise only held on the tighter the jackal then took his bag and tried to make the tortoise smell the honeycomb he had inside but the tortoise turned away his head and smelt nothing at last the jackal said to the tortoise i should like to give you my bag and everything in it but the only answer the tortoise made was to grasp the jackals leg tighter still so matters stood when the other animals came back the moment he saw them the jackal gave a violent tug and managed to free his leg and then took to his heels as fast as he could and the animals all said to the tortoise well done tortoise you have proved your courage now we can drink from our well in peace as you have got the better of that thieving jackal | 2 | nigerian folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
and what was worse she did not find the little ones either now the panther was not going to let the jackal get off like that and set off at a trot to catch him the jackal however had got a good start and he reached a place where a swarm of bees deposited their honey in the cleft of a rock then he stood still and waited till the panther came up to him jackal where are my little ones she asked and the jackal answered they are up there it is where i keep school the panther looked about and then inquired but where i see nothing of them come a little this way said the jackal and you will hear how beautifully they sing so the panther drew near the cleft of the rock dont you hear them said the jackal they are in there and slipped away while the panther was listening to the song of the children she was still standing in the same place when a baboon went by what are you doing there panther i am listening to my children singing it is here that the jackal keeps his school then the baboon seized a stick and poked it in the cleft of the rock exclaiming well then i should like to see your children the bees flew out in a huge swarm and made furiously for the panther whom they attacked on all sides while the baboon soon climbed up out of the way crying as he perched himself on the branch of a tree i wish you joy of your children while from afar the jackals voice was heard exclaiming sting her well dont let her go the panther galloped away as if she was mad and flung herself into the nearest lake but every time she raised her head the bees stung her afresh so at last the poor beast was drowned altogether | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
simba the lion has passed this way and i think he must be looking for me but she replied i will not go back i will follow you my husband although greatly pleased at this proof of his wifes affection soongoora said firmly no no you have friends to go to go back so he persuaded her and she went back but he kept on following the footmarks and saw—as he had suspected—that they went into his house ah said he to himself mr lion is inside is he then cautiously going back a little way he called out how dye do house how dye do waiting a moment he remarked loudly well this is very strange every day as i pass this place i say how dye do house and the house always answers how dye do there must be some one inside to day when the lion heard this he called out how dye do then soongoora burst out laughing and shouted oho mr simba youre inside and ill bet you want to eat me but first tell me where you ever heard of a house talking upon this the lion seeing how he had been fooled replied angrily you wait until i get hold of you thats all oh i think youll have to do the waiting cried the hare and then he ran away the lion following but it was of no use soongoora completely tired out old simba who saying that rascal has beaten me i dont want to have anything more to do with him returned to his home under the great calabash tree | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
and they said yes we know you are ngombay you drink maajee the water that puts out moto the fire that burns keesoo the knife that cuts kaamba the rope that ties paaka the cat who eats paanya the rat who bores through keeyambaaza the mud wall which stopped koosee the south wind and koosee the south wind threw down the calabash that struck our teacher goso you should not have done it but ngombay said if i were so powerful would i be tormented by the fly and they caught a fly and beat it but the fly cried here i am een′zee the fly why do you beat me what have i done and they said yes we know you are eenzee you torment ngombay the ox who drinks maajee the water that puts out moto the fire that burns keesoo the knife that cuts kaamba the rope that ties paaka the cat who eats paanya the rat who bores through keeyambaaza the mud wall which stopped koosee the south wind and koosee the south wind threw down the calabash that struck our teacher goso you should not have done it but eenzee said if i were so powerful would i be eaten by the gazelle and they searched for the gazelle and when they found it they beat it but the gazelle said here i am paa the gazelle why do you beat me what have i done and they said yes we know you are paa you eat eenzee the fly that torments ngombay the ox who drinks maajee the water that puts out moto the fire that burns keesoo the knife that cuts kaamba the rope that ties paaka the cat who eats paanya the rat who bores through keeyambaaza the mud wall which stopped koosee the south wind and koosee the south wind threw down the calabash that struck our teacher goso you should not have done it the gazelle through surprise at being found out and fear of the consequences of his accidental killing of the teacher while engaged in stealing was struck dumb then the scholars said ah he hasnt a word to say for himself this is the fellow who threw down the calabash that struck our teacher goso we will kill him so they killed paa the gazelle and avenged the death of their teacher | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
said the snake i could never forget you i am neeoka whom you released from the trap you know i said save me from the rain and i will save you from the sun now you are a stranger in the town to which you are going therefore hand me your little bag and i will place in it the things that will be of use to you when you arrive there so mvoo laana gave neeoka the little bag and he filled it with chains of gold and silver and told him to use them freely for his own benefit then they parted very cordially when the youth reached the city the first man he met was he whom he had released from the trap who invited him to go home with him which he did and the mans wife made him supper as soon as he could get away unobserved the man went to the sultan and said there is a stranger come to my house with a bag full of chains of silver and gold which he says he got from a snake that lives in a well but although he pretends to be a man i know that he is a snake who has power to look like a man when the sultan heard this he sent some soldiers who brought mvoo laana and his little bag before him when they opened the little bag the man who was released from the trap persuaded the people that some evil would come out of it and affect the children of the sultan and the children of the vizir then the people became excited and tied the hands of mvoo laana behind him but the great snake had come out of the well and arrived at the town just about this time and he went and lay at the feet of the man who had said all those bad things about mvoo laana and when the people saw this they said to that man how is this there is the great snake that lives in the well and he stays by you tell him to go away but neeoka would not stir so they untied the young mans hands and tried in every way to make amends for having suspected him of being a wizard then the sultan asked him why should this man invite you to his home and then speak ill of you and mvoo laana related all that had happened to him and how the ape the snake and the lion had cautioned him about the results of doing any kindness for a man and the sultan said although men are often ungrateful they are not always so only the bad ones as for this fellow he deserves to be put in a sack and drowned in the sea he was treated kindly and returned evil for good | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
we have had nothing to eat all night and are very hungry the shepherd yawned and rubbed his eyes he is tied up to that tree go and take him so they went to the tree and unfastened the cord and turned to go back to the cave where they had slept dragging the greyhound after them when they reached the cave the jackal said to the hedgehog before i kill him let me see whether he is fat or thin and he stood a little way back so that he might the better examine the animal after looking at him with his head on one side for a minute or two he nodded gravely he is quite fat enough he is a good sheep but the hedgehog who sometimes showed more cunning than anyone would have guessed answered my friend you are talking nonsense the wool is indeed a sheeps wool but the paws of my uncle the greyhound peep out from underneath he is a sheep repeated the jackal who did not like to think anyone cleverer than himself hold the cord while i look at him answered the hedgehog very unwillingly the jackal held the rope while the hedgehog walked slowly round the greyhound till he reached the jackal again he knew quite well by the paws and tail that it was a greyhound and not a sheep that the shepherd had sold them and as he could not tell what turn affairs might take he resolved to get out of the way oh yes you are right he said to the jackal but i never can eat till i have first drunk i will just go and quench my thirst from that spring at the edge of the wood and then i shall be ready for breakfast dont be long then called the jackal as the hedgehog hurried off at his best pace and he lay down under a rock to wait for him more than an hour passed by and the hedgehog had had plenty of time to go to the spring and back and still there was no sign of him and this was very natural as he had hidden himself in some long grass under a tree at length the jackal guessed that for some reason his friend had run away and determined to wait for his breakfast no longer so he went up to the place where the greyhound had been tethered and untied the rope but just as he was about to spring on his back and give him a deadly bite the jackal heard a low growl which never proceeded from the throat of any sheep like a flash of lightning the jackal threw down the cord and was flying across the plain but though his legs were long the greyhounds legs were longer still and he soon came up with his prey the jackal turned to fight but he was no match for the greyhound and in a few minutes he was lying dead on the ground while the greyhound was trotting peacefully back to the shepherd | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
to night when it is quite dark you shall show me the place i really cant tell you answered the jackal you talk so much that you would be sure to confide the secret to somebody and then we should have had our trouble for nothing besides running the risk of our necks being broken by the farmer i can see that he is getting disheartened and very soon he will give up the search have patience just a little longer the hedgehop said no more and pretended to be satisfied but when some days had gone by he woke the jackal who was sleeping soundly after a hunt which had lasted several hours i have just had notice remarked the hedgehog shaking him that my family wish to have a banquet to morrow and they have invited you to it will you come certainly answered the jackal with pleasure but as i have to go out in the morning you can meet me on the road that will do very well replied the hedgehog and the jackal went to sleep again for he was obliged to be up early punctual to the moment the hedgehog arrived at the place appointed for their meeting and as the jackal was not there he sat down and waited for him ah there you are he cried when the dusky yellow form at last turned the corner i had nearly given you up indeed i almost wish you had not come for i hardly know where i shall hide you why should you hide me anywhere asked the jackal what is the matter with you well so many of the guests have brought their dogs and mules with them that i fear it may hardly be safe for you to go amongst them no dont run off that way he added quickly because there is another troop that are coming over the hill lie down here and i will throw these sacks over you and keep still for your life whatever happens and what did happen was that when the jackal was lying covered up under a little hill the hedgehog set a great stone rolling which crushed him to death | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
all that day and all that night they flew and in the morning they saw the ogres palace lying beneath them dear me said the cat opening her eyes for the first time that looks to me very like a rat city down there let us go down to it they may be able to help us so they alighted in some bushes in the heart of the rat city the falcon remained where he was but the cat lay down outside the principal gate causing terrible excitement among the rats at length seeing she did not move one bolder than the rest put its head out of an upper window of the castle and said in a trembling voice why have you come here what do you want if it is anything in our power tell us and we will do it if you would have let me speak to you before i would have told you that i come as a friend replied the cat and i shall be greatly obliged if you would send four of the strongest and cunningest among you to do me a service oh we shall be delighted answered the rat much relieved but if you will inform me what it is you wish them to do i shall be better able to judge who is most fitted for the post i thank you said the cat well what they have to do is this to night they must burrow under the walls of the castle and go up to the room were an ogre lies asleep somewhere about him he has hidden a stone on which are engraved strange signs when they have found it they must take it from him without his waking and bring it to me your orders shall be obeyed replied the rat and he went out to give his instructions about midnight the cat who was still sleeping before the gate was awakened by some water flung at her by the head rat who could not make up his mind to open the doors here is the stone you wanted said he when the cat started up with a loud mew if you will hold up your paws i will drop it down and so he did and now farewell continued the rat you have a long way to go and will do well to start before daybreak your counsel is good replied the cat smiling to itself and putting the stone in her mouth she went off to seek the falcon now all this time neither the cat nor the falcon had had any food and the falcon soon got tired carrying such a heavy burden when night arrived he declared he could go no further but would spend it on the banks of a river and it is my turn to take care of the stone said he or it will seem as if you had done everything and i nothing no i got it and i will keep it answered the cat who was tired and cross and they began a fine quarrel but unluckily in the midst of it the cat raised her voice and the stone fell into the ear of a big fish which happened to be swimming by and though both the cat and the falcon sprang into the water after it they were too late half drowned and more than half choked the two faithful servants scrambled back to land again the falcon flew to a tree and spread his wings in the sun to dry but the cat after giving herself a good shake began to scratch up the sandy banks and to throw the bits into the stream what are you doing that for asked a little fish do you know that you are making the water quite muddy that doesnt matter at all to me answered the cat i am going to fill up all the river so that the fishes may die that is very unkind as we have never done you any harm replied the fish why are you so angry with us because one of you has got a stone of mine– a stone with strange signs upon it–which dropped into the water if you will promise to get it back for me why perhaps i will leave your river alone i will certainly try answered the fish in a great hurry but you must have a little patience as it may not be an easy task and in an instant his scales might be seen flashing quickly along the fish swam as fast as he could to the sea which was not far distant and calling together all his relations who lived in the neighbourhood he told them of the terrible danger which threatened the dwellers in the river none of us has got it said the fishes shaking their heads but in the bay yonder there is a tunny who although he is so old always goes everywhere he will be able to tell you about it if anyone can so the little fish swam off to the tunny and again related his story why i was up that river only a few hours ago cried the tunny and as i was coming back something fell into my ear and there it is still for i went to sleep when i got home and forgot all about it perhaps it may be what you want and stretching up his tail he whisked out the stone yes i think that must be it said the fish with joy and taking the stone in his mouth he carried it to the place where the cat was waiting for him i am much obliged to you said the cat as the fish laid the stone on the sand and to reward you i will let your river alone and she mounted the falcons back and they flew to their master ah how glad he was to see them again with the magic stone in their possession in a moment he had wished for a palace but this time it was of green marble and then he wished for the princess and her ladies to occupy it and there they lived for many years and when the old king died the princesss husband reigned in his stead | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
be quick and spread the sheet over me and he laid himself on the bed and held his breath when the chamberlain came in what are you weeping for asked the man finding the wife in tears my husband is dead answered she pointing to the bed and the chamberlain drew back the sheet and beheld abu nowas lying stiff and motionless then he gently replaced the sheet and returned to the palace well have you found out this time asked the sultan my lord it is the husband who is dead but i tell you he was with me only a few hours ago cried the sultan angrily i must get to the bottom of this before i sleep let my golden coach be brought round at once the coach was before the door in another five minutes and the sultan and sultana both got in abu nowas had ceased being a dead man and was looking into the street when he saw the coach coming quick quick he called to his wife the sultan will be here directly and we must both be dead to receive him so they laid themselves down and spread the sheet over them and held their breath at that instant the sultan entered followed by the sultana and the chamberlain and he went up to the bed and found the corpses stiff and motionless i would give a thousand gold pieces to anyone who would tell me the truth about this cried he and at the words abu nowas sat up give them to me then said he holding out his hand you cannot give them to anyone who needs them more oh abu nowas you impudent dog exclaimed the sultan bursting into a laugh in which the sultana joined i might have known it was one of your tricks but he sent abu nowas the gold he had promised and let us hope that it did not fly so fast as the last had done | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
and all this time the gazelle took very little rest going all through the company from the ladies to the slaves and seeing that every one was well supplied with food and quite comfortable therefore the entire company loved him and valued him like the apples of their eyes on the fourth day during the afternoon many houses came into view and some of the folks called keejeepaas attention to them certainly said he that is our town and that house you see yonder is the palace of sultan daaraaee so they went on and all the company filed into the courtyard while the gazelle and his master went into the house when the old woman saw keejeepaa she began to dance and shout and carry on just as she did when he killed neeoka mkoo and taking up his foot she kissed it but keejeepaa said old lady let me alone the one to be made much of is this my master sultan daaraaee kiss his feet he has the first honors whenever he is present the old woman excused herself for not knowing the master and then sultan daaraaee and the gazelle went around on a tour of inspection the sultan ordered all the prisoners to be released the horses to be sent out to pasture all the rooms to be swept the furniture to be dusted and in the meantime servants were busy preparing food then every one had apartments assigned to him and all were satisfied after they had remained there some time the ladies who had accompanied the bride expressed a desire to return to their own homes keejeepaa begged them not to hurry away but after a while they departed each loaded with gifts by the gazelle for whom they had a thousand times more affection than for his master then things settled down to their regular routine one day the gazelle said to the old woman i think the conduct of my master is very singular i have done nothing but good for him all the time i have been with him i came to this town and braved many dangers for him and when all was over i gave everything to him yet he has never asked how did you get this house how did you get this town who is the owner of this house have you rented all these things or have they been given you what has become of the inhabitants of the place i dont understand him and further although i have done nothing but good for him he has never done one good thing for me nothing here is really his he never saw such a house or town as this since the day he was born and he doesnt own anything of it i believe the old folks were right when they said if you want to do any person good dont do too much do him a little harm occasionally and hell think more of you however ive done all i can now and id like to see him make some little return next morning the old woman was awakened early by the gazelle calling mother mother when she went to him she found he was sick in his stomach feverish and all his legs ached go said he and tell my master i am very ill so she went upstairs and found the master and mistress sitting on a marble couch covered with a striped silk scarf from india well said the master what do you want old woman oh my master cried she keejeepaa is sick the mistress started and said dear me what is the matter with him all his body pains him he is sick all over oh well said the master what can i do go and get some of that red millet that is too common for our use and make him some gruel gracious exclaimed his wife staring at him in amazement do you wish her to feed our friend with stuff that a horse would not eat if he were ever so hungry this is not right of you ah get out said he youre crazy we eat rice isnt red millet good enough for a gazelle that cost only a dime oh but he is no ordinary gazelle he should be as dear to you as the apple of your eye if sand got in your eye it would trouble you you talk too much returned her husband then turning to the old woman he said go and do as i told you so the old woman went downstairs and when she saw the gazelle she began to cry and say oh dear oh dear it was a long while before the gazelle could persuade her to tell him what had passed upstairs but at last she told him all when he had heard it he said did he really tell you to make me red millet gruel ah cried she do you think i would say such a thing if it were not so well said keejeepaa i believe what the old folks said was right however well give him another chance go up to him again and tell him i am very sick and that i cant eat that gruel so she went upstairs and found the master and mistress sitting by the window drinking coffee the master looking around and seeing her said whats the matter now old woman and she said master i am sent by keejeepaa he is very sick indeed and has not taken the gruel you told me to make for him oh bother he exclaimed hold your tongue and keep your feet still and shut your eyes and stop your ears with wax then if that gazelle tells you to come up here say that your legs are stiff and if he tells you to listen say your ears are deaf and if he tells you to look say your sight has failed you and if he wants you to talk tell him your tongue is paralyzed when the old woman heard these words she stood and stared and was unable to move as for his wife her face became sad and the tears began to start from her eyes observing which her husband said sharply whats the matter with you sultans daughter the lady replied a mans madness is his undoing why do you say that mistress he inquired ah said she i am grieved my husband at your treatment of keejeepaa whenever i say a good word for the gazelle you dislike to hear it i pity you that your understanding is gone what do you mean by talking in that manner to me he blustered why advice is a blessing if properly taken a husband should advise with his wife and a wife with her husband then they are both blessed oh stop said her husband impatiently its evident youve lost your senses you should be chained up then he said to the old woman never mind her talk and as to this gazelle tell him to stop bothering me and putting on style as if he were the sultan i cant eat i cant drink i cant sleep because of that gazelle worrying me with his messages first the gazelle is sick then the gazelle doesnt like what he gets to eat confound it if he likes to eat let him eat if he doesnt like to eat let him die and be out of the way my mother is dead and my father is dead and i still live and eat shall i be put out of my way by a gazelle that i bought for a dime telling me he wants this thing or that thing go and tell him to learn how to behave himself toward his superiors when the old woman went downstairs she found the gazelle was bleeding at the mouth and in a very bad way all she could say was my son the good you did is all lost but be patient and the gazelle wept with the old woman when she told him all that had passed and he said mother i am dying not only from sickness but from shame and anger at this mans ingratitude after a while keejeepaa told the old woman to go and tell the master that he believed he was dying when she went upstairs she found daaraaee chewing sugar cane and she said to him master the gazelle is worse we think him nearer to dying than getting well to which he answered havent i told you often enough not to bother me then his wife said oh husband wont you go down and see the poor gazelle if you dont like to go let me go and see him he never gets a single good thing from you but he turned to the old woman and said go and tell that nuisance of a gazelle to die eleven times if he chooses to now husband persisted the lady what has keejeepaa done to you has he done you any wrong such words as yours people use to their enemies only surely the gazelle is not your enemy all the people who know him great and lowly love him dearly and they will think it very wrong of you if you neglect him now do be kind to him sultan daaraaee but he only repeated his assertion that she had lost her wits and would have nothing further of argument so the old woman went down and found the gazelle worse than ever in the meantime sultan daaraaees wife managed to give some rice to a servant to cook for the gazelle and also sent him a soft shawl to cover him and a pillow to lie upon she also sent him a message that if he wished she would have her fathers best physicians attend him all this was too late however for just as these good things arrived keejeepaa died when the people heard he was dead they went running around crying and having an awful time and when sultan daaraaee found out what all the commotion was about he was very indignant remarking why you are making as much fuss as if i were dead and all over a gazelle that i bought for a dime but his wife said husband it was this gazelle that came to ask me of my father it was he who brought me from my fathers and it was to him i was given by my father he gave you everything good and you do not possess a thing that he did not procure for you he did everything he could to help you and you not only returned him unkindness but now he is dead you have ordered people to throw him into the well let us alone that we may weep but the gazelle was taken and thrown into the well then the lady wrote a letter telling her father to come to her directly and despatched it by trusty messengers upon the receipt of which the sultan and his attendants started hurriedly to visit his daughter when they arrived and heard that the gazelle was dead and had been thrown into the well they wept very much and the sultan and the vizir and the judges and the rich chief men all went down into the well and brought up the body of keejeepaa and took it away with them and buried it now that night the lady dreamt that she was at home at her fathers house and when dawn came she awoke and found she was in her own bed in her own town again and her husband dreamed that he was on the dust heap scratching and when he awoke there he was with both hands full of dust looking for grains of millet staring wildly he looked around to the right and left saying oh who has played this trick on me how did i get back here i wonder just then the children going along and seeing him laughed and hooted at him calling out hullo haamdaanee where have you been where do you come from we thought you were dead long ago so the sultans daughter lived in happiness with her people until the end and that beggar man continued to scratch for grains of millet in the dust heap until he died if this story is good the goodness belongs to all if it is bad the badness belongs only to him who told it | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
are you there called the shark again louder than before and in a very cross voice oh yes i am here replied the monkey but i wish you had not wakened me up i was having such a nice nap have you got it asked the shark it is time we were going going where inquired the monkey why to my country of course with your heart you cant have forgotten my dear friend answered the monkey with a chuckle i think you must be going a little mad do you take me for a washermans donkey dont talk nonsense exclaimed the shark who did not like being laughed at what do you mean about a washermans donkey and i wish you would be quick or we may be too late to save the sultan did you really never hear of the washermans donkey asked the monkey who was enjoying himself immensely why he is the beast who has no heart and as i am not feeling very well and am afraid to start while the sun is so high lest i should get a sunstroke if you like i will come a little nearer and tell you his story very well said the shark sulkily if you wont come i suppose i may as well listen to that as do nothing so the monkey began | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
bring me the creatures heart it is just what i want for supper but there is no heart answered the hare looking up at the lion with a puzzled face what nonsense said the lion as if every beast had not got a heart what do you mean this is a washermans donkey replied the hare gravely well and suppose it is oh fie exclaimed the hare you a lion and a grown up person and ask questions like that if the donkey had had a heart would she be here now the first time she came she knew you were trying to kill her and ran away yet she came back a second time well if she had had a heart would she have come back a second time now would she and the lion answered slowly no she would not so you think i am a washermans donkey said the monkey to the shark when the story was ended you are wrong i am not and as the sun is getting low in the sky it is time for you to begin your homeward journey you will have a nice cool voyage and i hope you will find the sultan better farewell and the monkey disappeared among the green branches and was gone | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
in a little while he gave another prick and big lion called again what is pricking me so this time the little hare said to himself he will find out what i am at i must try some other plan so he called out grandfather you had better put your tongue here so that the branches shall not touch you big lion did as he was bid and the little hare tied it tightly to the stakes of the wall then he went outside and shouted grandfather you can come down now and big lion tried but he could not move an inch then the little hare began quietly to eat big lions dinner right before his eyes and paying no attention at all to his growls of rage when he had quite done he climbed up on the hut and blowing his flute he chanted pii pii fall rain and hail and directly the sky was full of clouds the thunder roared and huge hailstones whitened the roof of the hut the little hare who had taken refuge within called out again big lion be quick and come down and dine with me but there was no answer not even a growl for the hailstones had killed big lion the little hare enjoyed himself vastly for some time living comfortably in the hut with plenty of food to eat and no trouble at all in getting it but one day a great wind arose and flung down the big lions half dried skin from the roof of the hut the little hare bounded with terror at the noise for he thought big lion must have come to life again but on discovering what had happened he set about cleaning the skin and propped the mouth open with sticks so that he could get through so dressed in big lions skin the little hare started on his travels the first visit he paid was to the hyaenas who trembled at the sight of him and whispered to each other how shall we escape from this terrible beast meanwhile the little hare did not trouble himself about them but just asked where the king of the hyaenas lived and made himself quite at home there every morning each hyaena thought to himself to day he is certain to eat me but several days went by and they were all still alive at length one evening the little hare looking round for something to amuse him noticed a great pot full of boiling water so he strolled up to one of the hyaenas and said go and get in the hyaena dared not disobey and in a few minutes was scalded to death then the little hare went the round of the village saying to every hyaena he met go and get into the boiling water so that in a little while there was hardly a male left in the village one day all the hyaenas that remained alive went out very early into the fields leaving only one little daughter at home the little hare thinking he was all alone came into the enclosure and wishing to feel what it was like to be a hare again threw off big lions skin and began to jump and dance singing— i am just the little hare the little hare the little hare i am just the little hare who killed the great hyaenas the little hyaena gazed at him in surprise saying to herself what was it really this tiny beast who put to death all our best people when suddenly a gust of wind rustled the reeds that surrounded the enclosure and the little hare in a fright hastily sprang back into big lions skin when the hyaenas returned to their homes the little hyaena said to her father father our tribe has very nearly been swept away and all this has been the work of a tiny creature dressed in the lions skin but her father answered oh my dear child you dont know what you are talking about she replied yes father it is quite true i saw it with my own eyes the father did not know what to think and told one of his friends who said to morrow we had better keep watch ourselves and the next day they hid themselves and waited till the little hare came out of the royal hut he walked gaily towards the enclosure threw off big lions skin and sang and danced as before— i am just the little hare the little hare the little hare i am just the little hare who killed the great hyaenas that night the two hyaenas told all the rest saying do you know that we have allowed ourselves to be trampled on by a wretched creature with nothing of the lion about him but his skin when supper was being cooked that evening before they all went to bed the little hare looking fierce and terrible in big lions skin said as usual to one of the hyaenas go and get into the boiling water but the hyaena never stirred there was silence for a moment then a hyaena took a stone and flung it with all his force against the lions skin the little hare jumped out through the mouth with a single spring and fled away like lightning all the hyaenas in full pursuit uttering great cries as he turned a corner the little hare cut off both his ears so that they should not know him and pretended to be working at a grindstone which lay there the hyaenas soon came up to him and said tell me friend have you seen the little hare go by no i have seen no one where can he be said the hyaenas one to another of course this creature is quite different and not at all like the little hare then they went on their way but finding no traces of the little hare they returned sadly to their village saying to think we should have allowed ourselves to be swept away by a wretched creature like that | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |
rice is only kept for people eh master this is not like a gazelle it is the apple of your eye if sand got into that it would trouble you my wife your tongue is long and he left the room the old woman saw she had spoken vainly and went back weeping to the gazelle and when the gazelle saw her it said mother what is it and why do you cry if it be good give me the answer and if it be bad give me the answer but still the old woman would not speak and the gazelle prayed her to let it know the words of the master at last she said i went upstairs and found the mistress and the master sitting on a couch and he asked me what i wanted and i told him that you his slave were ill and his wife asked what was the matter and i told her that there was not a part of your body without pain and the master told me to take some red millet and make you gruel but the mistress said eh master the gazelle is the apple of your eye you have no child this gazelle is like your child so this gazelle is not one to be done evil to this is a gazelle in form but not a gazelle in heart he is in all things better than a gentleman be he who he may and he answered her silly chatterer your words are many i know its price i bought it for an eighth what loss will it be to me the gazelle kept silence for a few moments then it said the elders said one that does good like a mother and i have done him good and i have got this that the elders said but go up again to the master and tell him the gazelle is very ill and it has not drunk the gruel of red millet so the old woman returned and found the master and the mistress drinking coffee and when he heard what the gazelle had said he cried hold your peace old woman and stay your feet and close your eyes and stop your ears with wax and if the gazelle bids you come to me say your legs are bent and you cannot walk and if it begs you to listen say your ears are stopped with wax and if it wishes to talk reply that your tongue has got a hook in it the heart of the old woman wept as she heard such words because she saw that when the gazelle first came to that town it was ready to sell its life to buy wealth for its master then it happened to get both life and wealth but now it had no honour with its master and tears sprung likewise to the eyes of the sultans wife and she said i am sorry for you my husband that you should deal so wickedly with that gazelle but he only answered old woman pay no heed to the talk of the mistress tell it to perish out of the way i cannot sleep i cannot eat i cannot drink for the worry of that gazelle shall a creature that i bought for an eighth trouble me from morning till night not so old woman the old woman went downstairs and there lay the gazelle blood flowing from its nostrils and she took it in her arms and said my son the good you did is lost there remains only patience and it said mother i shall die for my soul is full of anger and bitterness my face is ashamed that i should have done good to my master and that he should repay me with evil it paused for a moment and then went on mother of the goods that are in this house what do i eat i might have every day half a basinful and would my master be any the poorer but did not the elders say he that does good like a mother and it said go and tell my master that the gazelle is nearer death than life so she went and spoke as the gazelle had bidden her but he answered i have told you to trouble me no more but his wifes heart was sore and she said to him ah master what has the gazelle done to you how has he failed you the things you do to him are not good and you will draw on yourself the hatred of the people for this gazelle is loved by all by small and great by women and men ah my husband i thought you had great wisdom and you have not even a little but he answered you are mad my wife the old woman stayed no longer and went back to the gazelle followed secretly by the mistress who called a maidservant and bade her take some milk and rice and cook it for the gazelle take also this cloth she said to cover it with and this pillow for its head and if the gazelle wants more let it ask me and not its master and if it will i will send it in a litter to my father and he will nurse it till it is well and the maidservant did as her mistress bade her and said what her mistress had told her to say but the gazelle made no answer but turned over on its side and died quietly when the news spread abroad there was much weeping among the people and sultan darai arose in wrath and cried you weep for that gazelle as if you wept for me and after all what is it but a gazelle that i bought for an eighth but his wife answered master we looked upon that gazelle as we looked upon you it was the gazelle who came to ask me of my father it was the gazelle who brought me from my father and i was given in charge to the gazelle by my father and when the people heard her they lifted up their voices and spoke we never saw you we saw the gazelle it was the gazelle who met with trouble here it was the gazelle who met with rest here so then when such an one departs from this world we weep for ourselves we do not weep for the gazelle and they said furthermore the gazelle did you much good and if anyone says he could have done more for you he is a liar therefore to us who have done you no good what treatment will you give the gazelle has died from bitterness of soul and you ordered your slaves to throw it into the well ah leave us alone that we may weep but sultan darai would not heed their words and the dead gazelle was thrown into the well when the mistress heard of it she sent three slaves mounted on donkeys with a letter to her father the sultan and when the sultan had read the letter he bowed his head and wept like a man who had lost his mother and he commanded horses to be saddled and called the governor and the judges and all the rich men and said come now with me let us go and bury it night and day they travelled till the sultan came to the well where the gazelle had been thrown and it was a large well built round a rock with room for many people and the sultan entered and the judges and the rich men followed him and when he saw the gazelle lying there he wept afresh and took it in his arms and carried it away when the three slaves went and told their mistress what the sultan had done and how all the people were weeping she answered i too have eaten no food neither have i drunk water since the day the gazelle died i have not spoken and i have not laughed the sultan took the gazelle and buried it and ordered the people to wear mourning for it so there was great mourning throughout the city now after the days of mourning were at an end the wife was sleeping at her husbands side and in her sleep she dreamed that she was once more in her fathers house and when she woke up it was no dream and the man dreamed that he was on the dust heap scratching and when he woke behold that also was no dream but the truth | 2 | west african folktale | folk tale; cultural education; narrative components; storytelling |