Folklore and Fables: Some Tales from Western and Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

In the midst of many pourquoi stories, this pamphlet of 32 pages in its second edition includes several fables. "A Trial of Strength" (18) is the old (Panchatantra?) tale of the clever tortoise pitting the elephant and hippo against each other but deceiving each to think that it was tortoise "with one hand" contesting with each. "How the Tortoise got the Pattern on his shell" (21) is a version of TT. "How the Dog became Domesticated" (25) is similar to TH: a bone distracts the dog from the race. The disappointed and embarrassed dog goes to the village and gets domesticated. A variety of sizes and styles of black-and-white art work illustrates the stories. The booklet closes with a page of twenty common proverbs from Eastern Nigeria.