The deep forest and broad savannah, the campsites, kraals, and villages-from this immense area south of the Sahara Desert the distinguished American folklorist Roger D. Abrahams has selected ninety-five tales that suggest both the diversity and the interconnectedness of the people who live there. The storytellers weave imaginative myths of creation and tales of epic deeds, chilling ghost stories, and ribald tales of mischief and magic in the animal and human realms. Abrahams renders these stories in a narrative voice that reverberates with the rhythms of tribal song and dance and the emotional language of universal concerns.
With black-and-white drawings throughout
Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

Preface xiii
Introduction 1
 
Part I. Tales of Wonder from the Great Ocean of Story 31
 
Introduction 33
Demane and Demazana 35
The Password 37
The Three Tests 42
Monkey Steals of Drum 56
A Man Who Could Transform Himself 57
Tale of an Old Woman 59
The King’s Daughter Who Lost her Hair 64
Profitable Amends 69
The Man and the Muskrat 71
The Hare’s Hoe 74
Why the Hare Runs Away 75
The Tortoise and the Falcon 78
Rubiya 83
The Flying Lion 86
A-Man-Among-Men 89
A Competition of Lies
 
Part II. Stories to Discuss and Even Argue About 107
 
Introduction 109
The Contest of Riddles 111
Leopard, Goat, and Yam 112
An Eye for an Eye? 113
Wondrous Powers: Mirror, Sandals, and a Medicine Bag 114
The Devil Comes Between Them 115
The Quality of Friendship 116
The Four Champions 118
Who Should He Kill? 119
Killing Virtue 120
A Spirited Contending 122
Love Caused it All 123
Killed for a Horse 127
Three Wives 129
The Five Helpers 130
Many Miracles 131
Their Eyes Came Out 133
He Starved his Own 134
The Smart Man and the Fool 136
Fembar’s Curiosity 138
A Father’s Advice 139
Is it Right that He Should Bite Me? 140
Take Me Carefully, Carefully 141
Tiger Slights the Tortoise 142
The Nature of the Beast 144
The Disobedient Sisters 145
Rich Man, Poor Man 147
Finders Keepers 149
The Leopard Woman 150
 
Part III. Tales of Trickster and Other Ridiculous Creatures: Tales to Entertain 153
 
Introduction 155
Why Monkeys Live in Trees 158
All the Little Animals 159
Why the Dog Always Chases Other Animals 165
The Story of Hlakanyana 166
Cursing the Birds 176
Saving the Rain 178
Stuffing the Hyena 180
Cutting the Elephant’s Hips 182
The Clever Wakasanke 183
The Tricksters’ Encounter 185
How Squirrel Robbed Rabbit of his Tail 187
Victims of Vanity 188
Death by Burning 189
The Ant’s Burden 190
Their Soft Crowns Discovered 192
The Pig’s Nose and the Baboon’s Rear 193
One Trick Deserves Another 193
The Pleasure of his Company 197
The Dog Eats All the Ants 198
No Longer Fear the Cock’s Comb 200
How Honey Guide Came to Have Power Over Honey 201
The Trapper Trapped 203
Medicine Came to Him 203
Friends for a Time 204
The Great Overland Trek 206
The Shundi and the Cock 209
Spider Outwits the Rich Woman 212
Softly, Over the Head of the Great 216
Treachery Repaid 219
The Great Dikithi 220
The Work Done by Itself 225
Two Friends from their Childhood 227
Talking Drums Discovered 228
 
Part IV. Tales in Praise of Great Doings 231
 
Introduction 233
Cassire’s Lute 235
The Mwindo Epic 240
 
Part V. Making a Way Through Life 295
 
Introduction 297
Salt, Sauce, and Spice, Onion Leaves, Pepper, and Drippings 299
The Old Woman with Sores 301
How it Pays Sometimes to be Small 303
The Cloth of Pembe Mirui 304
The Wooing Battle 306
The Orphan with the Cloak of Skins 309
Tungululi and the Masters 311
Chameleon into Needle 315
Mother Comes Back 316
The Three Sisters 320
The Messenger Bird 324
The Child in the Reeds 326
A Woman’s Quest 333
Never Ask Me About my Family 336
A Man Marries a Lioness 338
 
Bibliography 343
Permissions Acknowledgments 347
Index of Tales 351

selected and retold by Roger D. Abrahams