African Folk Tales Read online

  “Now take me to your house,” the creature said.

  The tortoise took the ugly, hairy creature back to his house, and all the people were frightened of it. It lay down in the tortoise’s room and went to sleep. While the creature slept the tortoise and his wife set fire to the room and burnt it down.

  When the fire had burnt itself out, the tortoise looked inside the room. There were blackened ruins. The creature was inside, well roasted and smelling like very good-tasting food.

  “I shall eat the roasted creature,” the greedy tortoise said.

  His wife advised him not to, but he ignored her.

  When he had finished eating the creature, the head of the tortoise began to grow larger and larger. If the walls of his burnt room had not crumbled, the tortoise would not have been able to get out because his head became larger than the little doorway.

  The head of the tortoise began to grow larger and larger.

  Now the cunning tortoise planned a way by which he could exchange his big head for a small one. He saw a ram on his way to the river to take a bath. At that time rams had very small heads. The tortoise followed the ram.

  “I too shall have a bath in the river,” said the tortoise to the ram.

  “Very well,” the ram replied.

  In those days it was the custom for animals to take off their heads and leave them on the river-bank before entering the water. The ram and the tortoise took off their heads. While the ram was bathing the tortoise quietly climbed out of the river; he fitted the ram’s small head to his neck and very quickly ran away.

  When the tortoise reached home, he and his wife put their belongings in baskets and ran away from the hill on which they lived. They went to a faraway valley.

  “We shall build our new house here,” said the tortoise, and they did.

  Meanwhile, the ram had finished his bath, but on leaving the river found that his head had been taken away. Angry as he was, he had to have a head, so he put on the big one which the tortoise had left.

  The ram ran to where the tortoise had once lived.

  “Where is that cunning tortoise?” the ram cried, but no one knew where the tortoise and his wife had gone.

  Promising himself that one day he would find and punish the tortoise, the ram went away. But he never found the tortoise and he had to keep his big head. That is why the ram’s head is big and the tortoise’s head is small: it is an exchange of heads.

  A She-goat and her Children

  ONCE UPON A TIME a she-goat told her children that they would go out into the world to seek their fortune.

  They set out and reached a cave when night came. When they entered the cave in order to find shelter for the night, they met a hyena inside.

  “Welcome to you,” said the hyena. “I will give you food and water.”

  The she-goat thanked the hyena.

  “I will go to fetch water for you,” said the hyena.

  The she-goat thanked the hyena again, but said that she and her children had decided not to drink.

  “I will grind corn for you,” said the hyena. The she-goat thanked the hyena, but said she would grind it herself.

  The she-goat started to grind corn on a stone and as she worked she sang a song.

  “My teeth are blunt,” she sang, “and my mouth is tired, because I have been eating elephant and lion today.

  Hyena, I come to you.

  What would you have me do to you?”

  When the hyena heard this song, she ran out of the cave and into the bush. Then the she-goat said to her children, “If I had not played this trick, the hyena would have killed us.”

  After eating their meal, the she-goat and her children lay down on the floor of the cave and went to sleep.

  The next morning they got up and travelled all day along the road until night came. Again they found a cave and entered it in order to shelter for the night. But inside the cave there was a lioness.

  When the lioness saw the she-goat and her children, she roared; she roared because she thought she would kill the she-goat and her children.

  Then the she-goat started to sing.

  “My teeth are blunt,” she sang, “and my mouth is tired, because I have been eating elephant and lion today.

  Lioness, I come to you.

  What would you have me do to you?”

  The children of the she-goat also started to sing.

  “To be able to fight,” they sang,

  “To fight is our great delight.

  We made the hyena run from us yesterday.”

  When the lioness heard this, she ran out of the cave and into the bush. Then the she-goat and her children ate the food of the lioness.

  “We should thank ourselves,” said the she-goat, “for playing this trick. Otherwise the lioness would have killed us.”

  They lay down on the floor of the cave and went to sleep.

  The next morning they got up and travelled all day along the road until night came, when they reached a certain town where all the women were wicked. They entered the compound of the oldest, most wicked woman in the town.

  “Welcome,” said the wicked old woman, “and spend the night in my house. I will give you food to eat and water to drink.”

  The she-goat and her children thanked the wicked old woman and entered her compound.

  “Here is guinea corn and here is a grinding stone,” said the wicked old woman. “You must grind the corn so that you will have food to eat.”

  Then the she-goat started to sing.

  “My teeth are blunt,” she sang, “and my mouth is tired, because I have been eating elephant and lion today.

  Wicked old woman, I come to you.

  What would you have me do to you?”

  The children of the she-goat also started to sing.

  “To be able to fight,

  To fight is our great delight.

  We made the lioness run from us yesterday.”

  When the wicked old woman heard this she went everywhere in the town saying that the she-goat and her children had eaten elephant and lion and had made the lioness run away. Then the wicked old woman and all the people heard the she-goat and her children sing another song:

  “Run away, run away,” they sang.

  “It is men and wicked women,

  We shall eat today.”

  The people of the town became very frightened. Then, seizing their belongings, they left the town and scattered. They left the town to the she-goat and her children.

  The she-goat said to her children, “If we had not played this trick, the wicked old woman would have killed us; she would have eaten our meat and made our skins into mats for the floor of her compound.”

  Then the she-goat and her children went to live in the deserted town, and ate the food that was there. They made their homes there, because they had succeeded in their cleverness.

  The Boy in the Drum

  LONG AGO there was a man called Yusufu who had a wife named Lade. They had only one son and his name was Hanafi. Because he was their only son, Hanafi was very much loved by his father and mother. His parents, in fact, always gave him everything he wanted and allowed him to do anything he pleased.

  As Hanafi grew older he became very fond of hunting. One evening he told his parents that he planned to go hunting that night.

  “Please do not go tonight,” his mother Lade said. “I feel that tonight is unlucky.”

  “It is very dangerous,” said his father Yusufu. “You are our only son, and we do not want you to risk death in the forest at night.”

  Hanafi refused to pay any attention to what his father and mother said. Finally they allowed him to go.

  Hanafi went into the forest with several friends. They took bows and arrows, knives and guns and also lamps. When the animals came to the light the hunters killed two deer and six hares, and Hanafi was given his share of the meat.

  As the hunters started back to their village, there was thunder and lightning in the sky. There was a great wind,
and then there was heavy rain.

  Hanafi saw a tortoise sitting in its house.

  “Please may I have shelter from the rain?” Hanafi asked the tortoise.

  “You may indeed have shelter,” the cunning tortoise replied. “Here is a big pot you may sit in.”

  It was dry in the pot, so he thanked the tortoise and crawled inside.

  As soon as Hanafi had entered the pot the tortoise took a large piece of skin and covered the mouth of the pot with it. With the skin tied on top the tortoise made the pot into a drum.

  The next day the tortoise went to the king of the village.

  “Your Majesty,” the tortoise begged as he knelt on the floor in front of where the king was sitting, “may we have a drumming competition?”

  “A drumming competition is a good idea,” said the king. “We shall see who in the village makes his drum sound the best.”

  Three days later everyone in the village assembled at the palace, and all the skilled drummers also came. With them they brought their drums.

  As the tortoise beat the drum, Hanafi, the boy inside, began to sing.

  Yusufu, the father of the boy in the tortoise’s drum, was amongst the crowd which came to the palace. As the tortoise beat the drum, Hanafi, the boy inside, began to sing. Yusufu heard the voice; he heard the boy singing his own and his father’s names.

  After the drumming was over, the king praised the tortoise, saying that the sound of his drumming was better than anyone else’s. Then Yusufu went to the tortoise.

  “Come to my house, tortoise, chief of all drummers,” he said, “and you will be given an excellent dinner.”

  The tortoise thanked Yusufu and followed him to his house at the edge of the village.

  While much good food and drink was being given to the tortoise, Yusufu told his wife to boii water. After his meal the tortoise lay down on a mat and went to sleep.

  “Quick!” whispered Yusufu to his wife, “we will make him into soup,” and they put the tortoise in the boiling water.

  “Quick!” cried Yusufu to his wife, “we must save our son Hanafi.”

  He cut the skin on the tortoise’s drum and brought out his son in time to save his life.

  Ever after, Hanafi was an obedient boy who lived happily because he followed the advice of his father and mother.

  Adamu’s Mountain

  ONCE UPON A TIME there was a very large hyena who lived on a mountain. The hyena’s dwelling-place was a cave in the mountain-side, and it was so big that a man could stand upright in it.

  At the foot of the mountain was a village of farmers and their families. All the people of the village feared the large hyena, and it was their custom to bring many presents to the cave and to treat the hyena with great respect.

  One day a man called Adamu came from another village. He asked the people why they took presents to the mountain, but they would not tell him.

  “I shall go to see for myself,” said Adamu.

  Adamu went to the mountain. Climbing the mountain-side, he found the cave and entered it. He walked far inside. Suddenly he looked back and saw the very large hyena.

  “Let me out!” cried Adamu, but there was no way out. The hyena stood between Adamu and the door of the cave.

  “Why have you entered my house?” the hyena asked in an angry voice.

  Adamu could make no reply. He was too frightened.

  “You are my prisoner,” said the hyena, and he put Adamu in the food store at the back of the cave.

  “Later I shall eat you,” said the hyena, locking the door.

  Meanwhile, Adamu’s family, who had been travelling with him, wondered where Adamu could be. But his brother had heard him planning to go up the mountain. After two days the brother went to the chief of the village.

  Suddenly he looked back and saw the very large hyena.

  “Let me go to the mountain and look for my brother,” he asked the chief.

  “We shall look for him,” the chief replied, “but we must take a present.”

  The brother gave the chief one of Adamu’s fat goats. The chief, the brother, and many people went up the mountain-side until they reached the cave. The chief took the goat to the cave, and calling in a loud voice begged the hyena to let Adamu come out. Suddenly, Adamu came out.

  No one ever saw the hyena again. When the people went back to take presents, the cave had disappeared from the side of the mountain. Ever afterwards it was called “Adamu’s Mountain.”

  The Man with Seven Dogs

  THERE ONCE lived a man called Manma who was a hunter and also a magician.

  Manma had seven dogs. Their names were Tabantagi, Guye, Tako, Tifi, Etsuegu, Tazata, and Eyeshisoko. The dogs were well trained and were useful for Manma’s hunting. Manma also had seven large black earthenware pots which he kept in his room. The pots helped him in his magic; they helped protect him from his enemies.

  As well as the seven dogs and the seven pots, Manma had a wife. Manma and his wife very much wanted to have a child, but to their sorrow they had no children. The only help which Manma could obtain from his magic pots was their advice to ask someone else what he should do, so Manma went to a friend of his who was also a magician, and asked for his advice.

  “Unless you have a lion’s skin spread in front of your wife,” the friend said, “not only will your wife have no child but she will also die.”

  Manma wasted no time. Taking his gun, he went into the forest, where he soon found a small lion, a cub, which had been left unprotected. Manma blessed his good fortune in finding a lion so quickly. He shot the lion and took the skin to his wife’s room. Manma spread the skin in front of his wife and it was not long before she bore a child.

  “We have been lucky,” Manma said to his wife. “The magic pots directed me to the right man for advice.”

  Manma went to his seven black pots and told them that they had been successful.

  Meanwhile, the lioness in the forest had discovered that her cub was missing. She heard from some monkeys in a tree that Manma had shot it and taken its skin, and she became very angry. The lioness changed herself into a beautiful princess and dressed herself in rich clothes fit for a princess. She then followed the footsteps of Manma which led her to Manma’s village.

  Manma went to a friend of his who was also a magician, and asked for his advice.

  When the lioness came near the village she met an old woman selling baskets.

  “I wish to buy a basket,” the lioness said.

  “Sixpence,” said the old woman.

  “I will give you fourpence,” the lioness replied. The old woman agreed and the lioness bought the basket.

  When she reached the village she went to the market-place where there were many people, and amongst them she saw Manma. Many people greeted the lioness, she having changed herself into the form of a beautiful princess. Many asked her to come and be a guest in their compounds.

  “I shall stay,” she replied, “in the compound of the man who can throw a stone into my basket.”

  Many people threw stones, but all missed. Manma was watching, and his companions urged him to try to throw a stone into the basket. Manma threw a stone, and in that first try it fell right into the middle of the basket.

  “I shall be your guest,” said the lioness who looked like a princess, and she followed him to his compound. The first thing which she saw in his house was the skin of her lion cub.

  Manma’s wife fed the lioness, and when night came and it was dark the lioness was given a room in which to sleep. In the middle of the night she got up in order to go and kill Manma, but Tabantagi, one of Manma’s seven dogs, stopped her.

  “We have been warned,” Tabantagi said to the lioness, for the seven black pots had spoken to the seven dogs. “If you kill our master, we will eat you.”

  The lioness went back into her room. After she had waited for a long time, she got up again, in order to go and kill Manma. Guye, however, another of Manma’s seven dogs, stopped her.


  Many people greeted the lioness, who had changed herself into the form of a beautiful princess.

  “If you kill our master we will eat you,” Guye said to the lioness.

  Again the lioness went back in to her room. Again, after waiting for a long time, she tried to go out to kill Manma. Again, one of the seven dogs stopped her. She tried seven times and seven times she was stopped by the dogs. By that time the night had passed and it was morning.

  The lioness saw no way of killing Manma on that visit.

  Remaining in the appearance of a princess, the lioness thanked Manma for having her in his house as a guest, and she told him that she would be going away.

  “I will escort you out of the village,” said Manma, and he took up a gun.

  “Are you going to shoot me?” the lioness asked.

  Manma put down the gun and took up his bow and arrows.

  “Are you going to kill me?” the lioness asked.

  Manma put down his bow and arrows and took up a whistle.

  “Let us go,” he said, and the lioness agreed that they should go.

  After Manma had escorted her for over five miles through fields and high grasses, they reached a river. Manma and the lioness said good-bye to each other and Manma began to walk back to his village. After Manma had walked for some distance, he found a locust-bean tree growing beside the path. He managed to climb up the tree just before the lioness, who had changed herself from the shape of a princess into her true shape, sprang at him in order to kill him. She had been following him.

  Manma blew very loudly on his whistle. Immediately Manma’s seven dogs appeared from the bush grass, first Tabantagi, then Guye, then Tako, followed by Tifi, Etsuegu, Tazata, and Eyeshisoko.

  Before the lioness was able to run away, the dogs jumped on her and killed her. The dogs kept the meat and Manma took the skin.