A different tortoise

I found this interesting Central African folktale about the tortoise and the eagle accompanied with nice illustrations too. The folktale described Tortoise as kind and generous - a different Tortoise from the West African folktale depictions, but not too different as this tortoise still kept his cunning ability.

Kiigbo Kiigba - a stubborn man

Kiigbo Kiigba is a Yoruba phrase meaning, "one who neither listens nor obey". That's the name of the main character in this popular Yoruba tale. In some versions of this story, he is simply known as Kiigbo. It is a tale that illustrates the importance of obedience.

How the chipmunk got its stripes

Just posted a folktale about the Chipmunk and how it got its stripes. I was told the story last week as the story of Edun in Yoruba. I asked, what is Edun and was told it's the squirrel-like creature that's got stripes. I thought "that's a chipmunk but we don't have any in West Africa" but apparently, I'm very wrong. It's a pity that all my knowledge of chipmunks came from Alvin and the Chipmunks. Anyway, I digress.

Like with every folktale I hear, I try to identify the moral of the story if there is one. I was initially simply amused that the chipmunk got away with what he did and still got to keep his pretty new stripes. Later on as I was writing the tale, I realized that the other animals reaction to the chipmunks new do was disdain and clearly not envy. So I concluded that the moral is this:

Ill-gotten wealth ends up wasted on superficial things without obvious benefit to anyone.

The ancient Yoruba (from whom this folktale originated) must have believed the chipmunk's stripes to be completely useless. Which makes me wonder..."why does the chipmunk have stripes?". Time to google...

The defeat of African folktales in a picture book world

Here I am, an individual actively (a couple of moments a month) trying to collect West African folktales (at least the ones from Nigeria), yet whenever my two and a half year old asks “mummy, tell story” I instinctively begin to narrate the three little pigs, goldilocks and the three bears, snow white and the seven dwarfs or any of a myriad of fairy tales I read as a child. All of these I remember with great clarity including the colorful illustrations in the books.

Two nights ago when my daughter reached another milestone and told me a story instead, I basked in silent glory as I struggled to pick out her words “wolf knock on the door”, “little pig said”, “chin chin chin”, “huff and puff”, “blow down house”. I was not surprised that this would be the first story she would narrate considering how often I have told it to her. But I did begin to wonder why these are the stories I always tell her even after I started out on this West African folktale collection which I should be championing. The obvious reason is that I know these fairy tales better and can tell them well. But why is that?

My first conclusion was that the human mind remembers more vividly what is seen rather than what is heard. But then, I read African folktales and stories too just like my friends who also no longer remember most of the stories, so what was different?

Maybe it was the fact that I read fairy tale books before I was introduced to folktale books. I had fairy tales read to me before I could read (just like I now read to my daughter).

This sequence occurred probably because there were several fairy tale picture books with great colorful illustrations that a child could spend hours musing over while one had to be older to enjoy books that lacked illustrations. I cannot say the same for the books on African folktales which I read when I was a little older but I hope there are some great ones out there today.

My final conclusion as to why I can hardly remember African folktales is that the culprit is a combination of:

1. lack of colorful illustrations, leading to
2. reading these books later after developing memorable favorite stories
3. smaller book selection
   

Magic Cellar reviewed, folktales wanted

I expressed a simple wish to see Magic Cellar which since my last post has won two bronze Telly awards in the “Children’ and “Use of Animation” categories. The producer, Firdaus Kharas granted my wish by sending me the first three episodes in the series. Thank you. He also let me know that he is interested in featuring West African folktales in future episodes and would welcome story suggestions from readers of allfolktales.com and this blog. So here is your opportunity to promote West African culture internationally.

Stories or story suggestions you submit as comments here may make it into Magic Cellar. Imagine that! Of course I cannot give you any guarantees being totally clueless about the selection criteria and entire movie/animation production process, but I can guarantee you that Firdaus Kharas is reading your comments. Read my Magic Cellar review over at allfolktales.com

The chimp's swollen butt

Here's a folk tale I posted about how the chimpazee's bottom became swollen and red. It's a story translated from Yoruba and provided a challenge in writing about fecal matter without sounding disgusting. The Yoruba version never seemed that way whenever the lion shouted "Su dundun", but how do you translate that into English? I had run into a similar situation with the folk tale of the three brothers and the pot of porridge but I did not hesitate in replacing any unpleasantness with stones. I couldn't perform a similar replacement here without losing the main elements of the story, so after testing alternate words and several hesitations, I thought "let's just do it".

But I wonder if I'm thinking way too much about this.

Africa’s first 3D animated series wins award

Magic Cellar, the first 3-dimensional animated series based on African folktales was awarded the prestigious Platinum REMI Award at WorldFest in April. Hopefully, this success will encourage other attempts. I have not yet seen it, I look forward to doing so and in the meantime, I accept the award as a proof of the quality of the production.

You can find out more about the characters and the animation at http://www.sabceducation.co.za/magiccellar/index.html .

How many African folktales exist?

In my first first post, I alleged that very few African folktales had been documented out of the huge collection that must exist. Now, here is a reference which I found on http://web.cocc.edu/hum299/colleen/african/ to back that claim up. It says:

"Struck has estimated the number of African folktales at nearly a quarter of a million. Klipple estimates that five thousand different African myths and tales have actually been published, although her bibliography, prepared in 1938, contains references to nine thousand....Among the thousands of tribes in Africa, there is not a single one for which a complete collection of myths and tales has been published." " The Yoruba, for example, distinguish between myths and legends (itan) which they regard as historically true, folktales (alo apagbe), riddles (alo), proverbs (owe), songs (orin), praise names (orile), curses or incantations (ofo), and the Ifa divining verses (ese).."Funk & Wagnalls,Dictionary of Folklore Mythology and Legend,pg.18).

I guess the actual number is anyone's guess, but there must be a lot.

New folk tale: Three brothers and the pot of porridge

This story of the three brothers and the pot of porridge was told to me recently.

I forgot to ask what happened to the youngest brother after he fell into the river. Did he drown, or did he get rescued and learn a lesson he would never forget? I resisted the urge to “fill in the gap” there, but could not resist creating a logical reason why the brothers declined the offer of supper in the first place because I imagine that they must have been hungry after making this long trip on foot. Also, within the context of African culture, even present day, it is perfectly normal (and expected) to share your hosts meals.

Edit:
I forgot to add this. Any Yoruba-speaking person out there able to translate this phrase?
Ki okun gbe mi si erigidi ofun

There’s also the possibility that I’ve gotten that part of the song totally wrong, so if you’ve got suggestions, they’ll be much appreciated.

Integrated blog feed into website

I discovered FeedDigest which made it amazingly easy to incorporate a feed from this blog into the website.
So here is an archive of the former content that is now replaced by the blog feed:

• 23 Apr 2006 - Added The lost heir, a folk story about a king and his barren wives.


• 22 Apr 2006 - Added glossary of African terms and a links page for folktale resources.


• 3 Apr 2006 - Thanks to Caxton Olumide Ohiomoba for contributing his versions of the stories of the tortoise and the elephant; and the tortoise, the dog and the farmer.


• 10 Mar 2006 - Newest addition is the folk tale of the tortoise and the drum


• 8 Mar 2006 - A chicken helped Oduduwa to spread the earth from his calabash, not a lizard. After friends pointed this out, the Yoruba creation myth is now updated


• 8 Mar 2006 - Added this news section to keep track of changes and events on allFolkTales.com

Introducing allfolktales.com

This is a companion blog to www.allfolktales.com - a website where I intended to post all the West African stories I can recollect from my childhood. I set up the site, got ready to write and realized to my dismay that I could hardly recollect any of the many folktales I surely know. Fragments of many different stories lay in a mangled mess in my memory, defying attempts to be put together in a proper order. I have therefore relied on family and friends to assist in the process but many find their memory in a similar condition.

I thank everyone who has offered comments, stories and suggestions. This blog is one of such and hopefully will provide an easy way to connect to anyone who is interested in contributing to this collection.

Oral story-telling, the traditional means through which folktales have been passed on for many generations, is dying. There are a few books which document stories from different parts in Africa but their numbers do not compare with the sheer volume of folktales which exist in our rich and diverse cultures. Is it too late to document them all? I do not know. But you and me, we will try.

The folktale collection today stands at a sparse 11 stories. The process is just beginning, so if you are familiar with West African folktales, please contribute your comments, stories (and story fragments) here. Thank you.