A very long time ago, before man came along to upset the natural balance, all animals lived together peacefully. But in those days, none of the animals had heads of their own, except the elephant, who was the King of the animals. He had a large collection of heads in all shapes and sizes, which he kept stored in a large cave. Every time an animal wished to leave the village compound to go out into the field or the bush, he would go to the elephant first and ask to borrow a head.
Geographical Origin: Western Africa
Once upon a time, in the distant past, there was a great war between the animals who live in the sky and those that live on the ground. Nobody now remembers how the war started or what it was about, but it was a terrible time. Many animals on both sides were wounded or killed, and eventually somebody said that if they carried on like this, there would be no animals left on the earth. So some of the sky animals and some of the ground animals had a meeting, and as nobody could recall what they were fighting each other for, it was agreed that a truce should be called, and peace declared.
Why the Bat flies at Night
Once upon a time a hyena was out foraging in the bush. It was a fine sunny day and he was looking forward to catching some morsels to eat. But as he was sniffing around, he fell into a hidden trap set by a hunter. He found himself at the […]
The wisdom of the Eagle and the treachery of the ...
Once upon a time there was a chief in a village near the bush. This man had many sons, and one of them was the best hunter in the whole land. Whenever he went out hunting, he always managed to bring back much more meat than any of the other […]
The hunter and the lion
How the tortoise got its scars (second version) Once upon a time there was a wedding in the sky. The bride and groom invited all the animals in the whole land. Those who had wings and could fly obviously would have no problem attending but those animals who lived […]
How the tortoise got its scars (alternative version)
How Frog came to be King of Rivers and Marshes There was a time when animals and people lived on the earth harmoniously side by side. Each respected the other, and they went out of their way to be friendly and useful to each other. The elephant being the […]
How the frog came to be the king of the ...
In the time that all animals still lived together, there once lived a spider called Ananse. He lived in a village with his relatives and all kinds of other animals: hyena, porcupine, squirrel, guineafowl, the chameleon, the warthog and many, many more… Ananse was one of the village elders, and […]
Ananse’s Funeral
The grass shrivelled up and turned a pale grey. Rivers and pools dried up. All day long animals scurried around looking for food and finding nothing. Mr Tortoise was getting desperate. Every day he woke up to the sound of his wife and children crying. One day, while he was […]
How the tortoise got its scars
Once upon a time there lived a woman who couldn’t have children. Because of that all her husbands kept leaving her. One day she was feeling so sad, miserable and lonely that she decided to go and see a witch doctor, for him to help her have a baby. The […]
The twins
Mr Spider, who is popularly known as Ananse, is renowned to be a man of tricks. Have you ever asked yourself why he is bald? This is the story of how this came about. One afternoon, after Mr spider had enjoyed his lunch, he sat down in his yard to […]