Week 9 Reading: Nigerian Folk Stories, Part B

 The Story of the Lightning and the Thunder:

• thunder and lightning live on earth but at far end of town
• thunder=old mother sheep, lightning=son ram
• ram got angry--go burn houses and knock down trees, damage farms and kill people
• mother would call in very loud voice and not stop until damage was done
• lightning did not care and would do lots of damage when really bad temper
• people complained to king--king ordered sheep and ram leave town and live in far bush
• ram still burnt forest and flames would spread to farms still
• people complained again--king banished both to sky

(Photo of lightning storm from Pixabay)

The Affair of the Hippopotamus and the Tortoise:

• hippo=Isantim--one of biggest kings of land (second to elephant)
• hippo had 7 fat wives that he loved--threw feast to people but no one knew his name
• one feast the hippo told the people if you don't know my name then you won't eat--everyone had to leave
• tortoise asked hippo what would happen if they knew his name before the next feast--hippo said he and his family would live in water for rest of lives
• every morning hippos went to river to wash and drink--so tortoise went to river and hid
• one wife hit foot on tortoises shell and called out for his husband--tortoise now knew his name
• nest feast the tortoise knew name so they had to go to water for the rest of night and only come on shore at night

Why Dead People are Buried:

• men and animals lived together--Creator=big chief and hated when anyone died
• one day sent dog (head messenger) to go into world and tell that dead bodies would be buried and then would come alive in 24 hours
• dog tired after .5 day--went into old womans house for bone and meat then slept--forgot message
• Creator called for sheep when dog did not return but sheep ate grass and did not deliver message
• then dog remembered message and ran and told everyone--no one believed him
• everyone just buries them and the dog is not trusted

Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes:

• poor old woman in mud hot--very hungry and alone
• moon (fat woman) would go down to earth but she lived in sky
• moon was sorry for starving old woman so she offered her meat as food--got smaller and smaller as she ate
• everyone was wondering why the moon was getting so thin
• people figured out so they watched the old woman and told her no
• moon hides herself most of day and gets very thin once a month but then gets fat

Bibliography: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).