African Folktales

by ABRAHAMS, ROGER

• ISBN13: 9780394721170
• ISBN10: 0394721179
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1983-08-12
• Publisher: Pantheon

Summary

Nearly 100 stories from over 40 tribe-related myths of creation, tales of epic deeds, ghost stories and tales set in both the animal and human realms.

Author Biography

ROGER D. ABRAHAMS is the Hum Rosen Professor (Emeritus) of Folklore and Folklife at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of many books, monographs, and articles on African American, Creole, Caribbean, and American culture. A past president of the American Folklore Society, he lives in Philadelphia.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
Introduction	1	(30)
Part I. Table of Wonder from the Great Ocean of Story	31	(76)
Introduction	33	(2)
Demane and Demazana	35	(2)
The Password	37	(5)
The Three Tests	42	(3)
Monkey Steals a Drum	45	(11)
A Man Who Could Transform Himself	56	(1)
Tale of an Old Women	57	(2)
The King's Daughter Who Lost Her Hair	59	(5)
Profitable Amends	64	(5)
The Man and the Muskrat	69	(2)
The Hare's Hoe	71	(3)
Why The Hare Runs Away	74	(1)
The Tortoise and The Falcon	75	(3)
Rubiya	78	(5)
The Flying Lion	83	(3)
A Man Among-Men	86	(3)
A Competition of Lies	89	(18)
Part II. Stories to Discuss and Even Argue About	107	(46)
Introduction	109	(2)
The Contest of Riddles	111	(1)
Leopard, Goat, and Yam	112	(1)
An Eye for and Eye	113	(1)
Wondrous Powers: Mirror, Sandals, and a Medicine Bag	114	(1)
The Devil comes between them	115	(1)
The Quality of Friendship	116	(2)
The Four Champions	118	(1)
Who Should he Kill?	119	(1)
Killing Virtue	120	(2)
A Spirited Contending	122	(1)
Love Caused it All	123	(4)
Killed for a Horse	127	(2)
Three Wives	129	(1)
The Five Helpers	130	(1)
Many Miracles	131	(2)
Their Eyes Came Out	133	(1)
He Starved his Own	134	(2)
The Smart Man and the Fool	136	(2)
Fembar's Curiosity	138	(1)
A Father's Advice	139	(1)
Is It Right That He Should Bite Me?	140	(1)
Take Me Carefully, Carefully	141	(1)
Tiger Slights the Tortoise	142	(2)
The Nature of the Beast	144	(1)
The Disobedient Sisters	145	(2)
Rich Man, Poor Man	147	(2)
Finders Keepers	149	(1)
The Leopard Woman	150	(3)
Part III. Tales of Trickster and Other Ridiculous Creatures: Tales to Enter tin	153	(78)
Introduction	155	(3)
Why Monkeys Live in Trees	158	(1)
All The Little Animals	159	(6)
Why the Dog Always Chases Other Animals	165	(1)
The Story of Hlakanyana	166	(10)
Cursing the Birds	176	(2)
Saving the Rain	178	(2)
Stuffing The Hyena	180	(2)
Cutting The Elephant's Hips	182	(1)
The Clever Wakasanke	183	(2)
The Tricksters' Encounter	185	(2)
How Squirrel Robbed Rabbit of His Tail	187	(1)
Victims of Vanity	188	(1)
Death by Burning	189	(1)
The Ant's Burden	190	(2)
Their Soft Crowns Discovered	192	(1)
The Pig's Nose and The Baboon's Rear	193	(1)
One Trick Deserves Another	193	(4)
The Pleasure of His Company	197	(1)
The Dog Eats All The Ants	198	(2)
No Longer Fear the Cock's Comb	200	(1)
How Honey Guide Came to Have Power Over Honey	201	(2)
The Trapper Trapped	203	(1)
Medicine to Catch Him	203	(1)
Friends for a Time	204	(2)
The Great Overland Trek	206	(3)
The Shundi and the Cock	209	(3)
Spider Outwits the Rich Woman	212	(4)
Softly, Over the Head of the Great	216	(3)
Treachery Repaid	219	(1)
The Great Dikithi	219	(6)
The Work Done By Itself	225	(2)
Two Friends from Their Childhood	227	(1)
Talking Drums Discovered	228	(3)
Part IV. Tales in Praise of Great Doings	231	(64)
Introduction	223	(12)
Gassire's Lute	235	(5)
The Mwindo Epic	240	(55)
Part V. Making a Way through Life	295	(48)
Introduction	297	(2)
Salt, Sauce, and Spice, Onion Leaves, Pepper, and Drippings	299	(2)
The Old woman with Sores	301	(2)
How It Pays Sometimes to Be Small	303	(1)
The Cloth of Pembe Mirui	304	(2)
The Wooing Battle	306	(3)
The Orphan with the Cloak of Skin	309	(2)
Tungululi and the Masters	311	(4)
Chameleon into Needle	315	(1)
Mother Come Back	316	(4)
The Three Sisters	320	(4)
The Messenger Bird	324	(2)
The Child in the Reeds	326	(7)
A Woman's Quest	333	(3)
Never Ask Me About My Family	336	(2)
A Man Marries A Lioness	338	(5)
Bibliography	343	(4)
Permissions Acknowledgments	347	(4)
Index of Tales	351