Nigerian Folk Stories
Of the Pretty Stranger Who Killed the King
This sounds exactly like one of the laos folklore stories that I read last week! There is a king that everyone hates so they get a witch to kill him. She turns into a beautiful woman so the king will want to marry her and then she kills him in his sleep. No one suspects the beautiful woman. One thing that is different in this story is that the city gets invaded afterwards and because their leader is dead they lose.
Why the Fish Lives in the Water
Poor leopard! Betrayed by his best friend! I think that it is interesting that when there is a problem in these stories, they report it to the king. I guess that is part of the culture here. I would like to know how the fish got to move around on the land. Did it used to have legs?
Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky
I liked this story because it was different from the others so far. No one did anything bad and was punished for what they did. The sun and moon are in the sky because there is no room for them in the place they built the water. They were just trying to be good friends!
The Thunder and the Lightening
I never thought of thunder and lightening being a mom and her son. I think it is pretty creative that when lightening burns something the mom (thunder) get on to him very loudly. Now that I have heard that story I can relate it to reality. I might think of this instead of God bowling in heaven as the cause of the thunder and lightening.
Why Dead People are Buried
Do people in Nigeria not like dogs? Apparently because of this story dogs are disliked and not trusted as messengers. It is a shame that the dog got so carried away with the bone that it forgot to tell the people the true message of the creator. I also wonder if this creator is the God of the christians or if it is a different deity altogether.
How the Tortoise overcame the Elephant and Hippo
I am starting to see, in Nigerian folktales, the tortoise seems to be the most cunning creature. Their fox character if you will. I am kind of disappointed that no one discovered how the Tortoise outsmarted the Hippo and the Elephant. I guess if you are cunning enough, you can fool just about anyone and everyone.
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