Rabbit tricks the other animals of the African plain into giving her food and other treats.
This for That
Folklore and Fairy Tales
Why the Sky Is Far Away: A Nigerian Folktale
The sky was once so close to the Earth that people cut parts of it to eat, but their waste and greed caused the sky to move far away.
The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks
In this retelling of a Masai tale, a mongoose helps an ostrich get her chicks back from the lonely lioness who has stolen them.
Peering down from her treetop perch, a lonely lioness admires the noisily cheeping clan of Mother Ostrich and thinks, “I would be happy to have just one child.” So she leaps down, gurum! and steals all four ostrich chicks. Accepting the lioness as their mother, the chicks follow right behind he. Mother Ostrich is frantic! As she chases after the lioness, she enlists the help of gazelle, hyena, jackal, and mongoose.
Tabu and the Dancing Elephants
When a young boy named Tabu is taken away by an old mama elephant while his father is sleeping, Tabu’s mother gets him back by teaching the elephants how to dance.
The King and the Tortoise
The king challenges the animals in his kingdom to prove their wisdom by making him a robe of smoke, but only the tortoise is able to satisfy him.
Koi and the Kola Nuts
An African folktale follows the son of a chief who must make his way in the world with only a sackful of kola nuts and the help of some creatures that he has treated with kindness.
Sungura and Leopard: A Swahili Trickster Tale
A small but clever hare and a fierce leopard agree to share a house, but as the hare’s family grows, he realizes that he must find a way to get rid of his bad-tempered neighbor.
The Three Little Dassies
In this adaptation of the traditional folktale, three little dassies (also called rock hyraxes) build their houses in the Namib Desert of Southern Africa, hoping for protection from the eagle that lives atop a nearby mountain.
Jackal’s Flying Lesson
With the help of a blue crane, a mother dove rescues her babies from a not-so-clever jackal.
Khoikhoi, Southern Africa
The Honey Hunters
An African folktale in which various animals peacefully follow a honey guide bird, but find that sharing the honey among themselves causes problems.