Sources:
http://www.mrdowling.com/609-sundiata.html

http://quattro.me.uiuc.edu/~fog/tales.html

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African Empires…
Lesson Plan

      West Africa has a great oral tradition.  A griot is a learned storyteller, entertainer, and historian.  Often a griot will memorize the genealogy, or family history, of everyone in a village going back centuries.

In the time of Sundiata, griots tutored princes and gave council to kings. They were educated and wise, and they used their detailed knowledge of history to shed light on present-day dilemmas. Long after the fall of the Malian Empire in 1468, a Manding family of means would have their own griot to advise them and help them negotiate matters with other families. Griots arranged the terms of marriages and mediated disputes, always relying on their understanding of each family's history.

 

Ghana (AD300-AD1100)

      The ancient African civilization we call Ghana existed in West Africa between the Niger and the Senegal Rivers.  The rivers were important to Ghana because their economy was based on trade, and before the modern age, rivers were the fastest was to carry goods.  Ghana became wealthy by collecting taxes from traders who passed through the kingdom. The people called their nation Wagadu; we know it as Ghana because that was the name of their war chief.
 

      Ghana managed the gold trade despite the fact that the empire had few natural resources of their own.  The gold and salt mines all lay beyond the borders of the empire, but the power of Ghana was based on their superior skill in working iron.  Ghana used iron tipped spears to subdue the neighbors, who fought with less efficient weapons made of stone, bone, and wood.
 

      Muslim warriors known as the Almoravids called a jihad (“holy war” in Arabic) on Ghana because the people of Ghana kept their traditional beliefs.  The Almoravids were successful in weakening, but not destroying the empire.  Ghana remained a shadow of itself for more than a century, and warriors from throughout the region formed many small states that threatened the vital trade routes through West Africa.

 

Sundiata

 

 

Samanguru was a warrior that managed to conquer a great deal of West Africa once Ghana was weakened.  Samanguru was hostile to the Mandinka people who lived in the region.  His taxes were high, he felt it was his privilege to carry off Mandinka women, and he failed to maintain law and order along the trade routes. 

      The griots of West Africa still speak of the story of the sickly young boy who grew up to become a great warrior.  Sundiata was one of twelve brothers who were the children of a Mandinka warrior.  Samanguru killed the twelve brothers, but spared Sundiata because he believed the boy would die anyway.  That was a mistake that would lead to Samanguru’s downfall, because the sickly boy recovered eventually assembled an army to confront Samanguru.  Sundiata’s forces killed Samanguru and destroyed his forces in the Battle of Kirina in 1235.  Sundiata then became mansa, or king of a new empire which we know today as Mali, or “where the king resides.”

      Sundiata proved himself a great warrior, but he was only interested in removing Samanguru and once again making West Africa a safe place to travel and trade.  He converted to Islam, but only as a gesture of goodwill to the merchants and traders.  To his own people, Sundiata presented himself as a champion of traditional West African religion.

Most of what we know about Sundiata comes from stories handed down from generation to generation from griots, West African storytellers.  The legend of Sundiata includes many supernatural stories.

 

The Legend of Sundiata

Listen to Music Inspired by Sundiata

Part I: An Extraordinary Childhood

Naré Fa Maghan, ruled over the small kingdom of Mali, beginning in the year 1200. King Maghan was the son of a long lineage of distinguished hunters, known for their bravery, skill and their ability to communicate with jinns, spirits that hold influence over human lives. At this time, Manding rulers like Maghan had adapted the religion of Islam, but the new faith from the north had not altered their belief in the world of spirits. So when a hunter from the north came to Maghan and made a prophecy, the king and his griot took it very seriously. The prophecy said that two hunters would come to the king with a very ugly woman. Despite her ugliness, the hunter said, the king must marry this woman, for she would bear him Mali's greatest king ever.

Sure enough, two hunters later appeared with a hunchbacked woman. They explained to the king that this woman, Sogolon Kedju, was in fact the human double of a buffalo that had ravaged the land of Do, killing hunters and citizens alike. Armed with secret knowledge, these two hunters had felled the buffalo and brought the woman to Mali. Hideous and wild, Sogolon was also endowed with extraordinary powers. She had been the hunter's prize, and now they were offering her to the king of Mali. Honoring the prophecy, Maghan quickly married Sogolon, and they conceived a child.

King Maghan's first wife, Sassouma, was jealous. She has always assumed that her son, Dankaran Touman, would claim the crown of Mali. Now this interloper stood to threaten what she felt was her son's destiny. Sassouma plotted to kill Sogolon, but the buffalo woman's powers were too great, and the boy was born. He was named Mari Diata, but as the son of Sogolon, people later took to calling him Sogolon Diata, and eventually, Sundiata.

 

Having feared the new arrival, Sassouma was relieved when the new child turned out to be lazy, gluttonous and ugly. At three years old, Sundiata could not walk and rarely spoke. Even at seven, the boy still crawled, spent all his time eating, and had no friends. The king was deeply disturbed. How could this pathetic child become a great king? Still, honoring the hunter's prophecy, the dying king gave his seemingly crippled son a gift that signified his desire that the boy should become king after all. That gift was a griot named Balla Fasséké, the son of the king's own griot.

However, when king died, his first wife saw to it that her son, Dankaran, claimed the throne instead. Sundiata, still on all fours, could do nothing about it. One day, Sundiata's mother needed some leaves from the mighty baobob tree for her cooking, and she asked Sassouma if she could borrow some. Sassouma agreed, taking the opportunity to insult Sogolon's useless son. At last, Sogolon could take no more. She returned to her son, crying and angry, and told him about Sassouma's insult. Looking up, her son then said, "Cheer up, Mother. I am going to walk today." Sundiata then told a blacksmith to make for him the heaviest possible iron rod, and then, with trembling legs and a sweaty brow, he proceeded to lift himself up, bending the rod into a bow in the process. Before a crowd of amazed onlookers, Sundiata thus transformed himself. And his griot composed and sung "The Hymn to the Bow," on the spot. That hymn remains a part of the Sundiata musical epic still sung by griots over eight hundred years later.

Part II: Exile

Now that Sundiata was fit to claim the throne as his father had wished, he represented a great threat to the false king Dankaran, and his plotting mother Sassouma. Sundiata's mother decided to take her son into exile for their safety, but before they could leave, Dankaran sent Balla Fasséké, Sundiata's griot, and also Sunditata's half-sister, on a mission to the sorcerer king, Soumaoro Kanté. Soumaoro was the king of the Sosso, and he had been threatening all the kingdoms in the region with his growing army.

Sundiata was furious at the loss of his griot, but his mother convinced him that the time to set things right would come later. Promising he would return to claim his crown, Sundiata went into exile with a small entourage, not to return for many years. Sundiata came to manhood while traveling through kingdoms hundreds of miles from his home. Along the way, he learned to hunt, to fight, and to wield proverbs containing the wisdom of his ancestors.

One day, in the far off kingdom of Mema, Sundiata discovered people selling baobob leaves in the market. They had to be from Mali, for there were no baobob trees in Mema. The baobob sellers came to Sundiata's home and told him that the evil Sosso kin Soumaoro had conquered Mali, sending timid Dankaran into exile. At once, Sundiata began to gather a force of fighters, the core of his future army. Sundiata was determined to reclaim his kingdom, Mali. Sadly, on the eve of his departure from Mema, his mother Sogolon, the once powerful buffalo woman, died.

 

Meanwhile, Sundiata's griot and his half-sister remained captives in Soumaoro's court at Sosso. The brave griot, Balla Fasséké one day dared to enter the sorcerer king's secret chamber while the king was away. There, the griot found poisonous snakes writhing in urns, and owls standing watch over the severed heads of the nine kings Soumaoro had beaten. In the midst of this ghoulishness, stood the biggest balafon that Balla Fasséké had ever seen. Any ordinary mortal would have died instantly in this chamber, but the young griot had sorcery of his own, and even ventured to play the king's balafon, which produced a magnificent sound that charmed even the snakes and owls.

Soumaoro returned livid to find the griot in his chamber, but Balla Fasséké, thinking fast, improvised a praise song to Soumaoro that was so clever it disarmed the evil king. Soumaoro then declared Balla his griot, making war between Soumaoro and Sundiata inevitable.

Part III: Return of the King

As Sundiata made his way homeward, he passed through all the kingdoms he had come to know during his exile, gathering fighters, archers and horsemen as he went. At Tabon, near the Malian city of Kita, Sundiata's army launched a surprise attack on Soumaoro's forces. Though a smaller force, Sundiata's side prevailed, sending the Sosso army into retreat. At the next battle, Sundiata and Soumaoro came face to face. Again, Sundiata's forces dominated the field through superior tactics, but Soumaoro escaped using his own formidable magic. One moment, the Sosso king stood before Sundiata on his black-coated horse, his tall helmet bristling with horns. But a mere instant later, Soumaoro stood on a far distant ridge. Sundiata despaired, feeling that his enemy's magic made him invincible.

Even as Sundiata's army grew, he knew he would need more that might to defeat Soumaoro. So he summoned soothsayers to council him on harnessing supernatural powers. Following their advice, Sundiata ordered the sacrifice of 100 white oxen, 100 white rams, and 100 white cocks. As the ritual slaughter began, Sundiata's griot and his half-sister arrived at his camp. They had escaped captivity in Soumaoro's city.

 

Sundiata's half-sister then told him that she had been forced to be Soumaoro's wife, but that in doing so, she had learned the secret of his magic. Soumaoro's totem, his sacred animal, and so the source of his amazing power, was the cock. This animal had the power to destroy Soumaoro. Like Samson losing his long hair and with it his strength, like Achilles with his vulnerable heel, Soumaoro too had a weakness that his enemy could exploit. Armed with this knowledge, Sundiata fashioned a wooden arrow with a white cock's spur as its tip.

The great showdown between Soumaoro and Sundiata came at the battle of Kirina. On the eve of the battle, the two men observed the ritual of declaring war. Each sent an owl to the other's encampment, and the owls delivered messages of bravado. "I am the wild yam of the rocks," boasted Soumaoro, "Nothing will make me leave Mali."

Sundiata replied, "I have in my camp seven master smiths who will shatter the rocks. Then, yam, I will eat you."

 

The verbal jousting continued. Soumaoro said, "I am the poisonous mushroom that makes the fearless vomit."

And Sundiata replied, "I am the ravenous [rooster]. The poison does not matter to me."

 

"Behave yourself, little boy, or you will burn your foot, for I am the red-hot cinder."

"But me, I am the rain that extinguishes the cinder; I am the boisterous torrent that will carry you off."

 

"I am the mighty silk cotton tree that looks from on high on the tops of other trees."

"And I, I am the strangling creeper that climbs to the top of the forest creeper."

 

Having thus declared their intentions, Sundiata and Soumaoro made war at Kirina. In the midst of full battle, Sundiata aimed his special arrow and fired. The rooster's spur grazed Soumaoro's shoulder, and all was lost for the Sosso king. By the time Sundiata's victorious forces entered Soumaoro's city and opened his secret chamber, the snakes there were almost dead and the owls lay flopping on the ground.

Victorious, Sundiata invited the leaders of all the 12 kingdoms of the savanna to come to Kaba, a city in old Mali. There, he told them they could keep their kingdoms, but that all would now join in a great, new empire. From that day forth, Sundiata's word became the law respected throughout the 12 kingdoms. The Empire of Mali was born, stretching from the forests of the south far into the Sahara Desert, north of the great Niger River bend. Sundiata ruled over this massive, thriving empire until his death in the year 1255. His empire survived for more than two centuries.

"Mali is eternal," says the griot Mamadou Kouyaté, concluding his account of the Sundiata epic. "But never try, wretch, to pierce the mystery which Mali hides from you. Do not go and disturb the spirits in their eternal rest. Do not ever go into the dead cities to question the past, for the spirits never forgive. Do not seek to know what is not to be known."

-- Banning Eyre/World Music Productions

 

 

 

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Mother of Donkeys

Once there lived an old woman. She had two donkeys. Every morning she went with them down the street to the fields. One morning two young men saw the old woman with her donkeys and shouted:

"Good morning, mother of donkeys!"

"Good morning, my sons," the old woman answered and smiled at them.

 

 

 

The Two Frogs

Once two frogs fell into a pot of cream. They could not get out of the pot. So they swam round and round in the cream. "Oh, this is the end of my life," said one of them. It stopped swimming and died.

But the second frog swam and swam and beat the cream with its little feet. The cream became a ball of butter. The frog jumped on the ball of butter and got out of the pot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Story About the Tongue

Once a chief told one of his servants to bring him the best meat from the market. The servant brought him a tongue.

The next day the chief told the servant to bring him the worst piece of meat from the market. The servant brought a tongue again.

"What?" the chief said. "When I ask for the best piece of meat, you bring a tongue and then you bring the same thing for the worst piece of meat."

The servant said, "Sometimes a man is very unhappy because of his tongue; and sometimes his tongue makes him very happy."

"You are right," the chief said. "Let us be masters of our tongue!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Cat and Her Strong Friends

Once there lived a cat. She thought: "The lion is the strongest of all the animals. It is good to have strong friends. I shall go to the lion and make friends with him."

She did so, and the lion and the cat were friends for many, many days. Once they went for a walk together and met an elephant. The lion began to fight with the elephant, and the elephant killed him. The cat was very sorry. "What shall I do?" she thought. "The elephant was stronger than the lion. I shall go to the elephant and make friends with him."

She did so, and they were friends for many, many days.

Once they went for a walk and met a hunter. The hunter shot at the elephant and killed him. The cat was sorry, but she thought: "The man is stronger than the elephant, I see."

So she went up to the hunter and asked, "May I go with you?" "All right, let us go home together," he said.

They came to the man's home. His wife met him and took his gun from him. The cat saw that and thought: "Oh, the woman is the strongest of all! She can take the hunter's gun from him, and he does not fight with her; he does not even say a word!"

The man sat down at the table, and the woman went to the kitchen. The cat went to the kitchen, too. She decided to stay with the woman forever.

That is why you always see a cat in the kitchen at a woman's feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why the Hare Has No Tail

Long, long ago the animals had no tails or very small ones. One day the Lion asked all the animals to come to him to get good fat tails. It was cold that day, and it was raining. The hare had only a short little tail, but he did not like to go out and said to the other animals, "Please, bring me a tail. I can't go anywhere when it rains."

"What tail do you want to have?" the animals asked him.

"Oh, any tail will be good for me. But it must not be too long or too short."

Some time later the animals came back, and each animal had a beautiful tail. But nobody brought a tail for the hare.

I think that some of them forgot about the hare, some had no time, some could not find a good tail for the hare.

But I do know this: if you must do something, don't ask others to do it for you. Don't forget about the hare with his short little tail!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wise Dog

One day nine dogs went out to hunt. They met a lion. He said:
"I am hunting too. I am very, very hungry. Let us hunt together."

So the dogs and the lion hunted together all day.

They caught ten antelopes.

The lion said: "Now we must divide this meat."

One of the dogs said: "Why, that is easy. We are ten, and we have ten antelopes; so each of us will have one antelope."

The lion became very angry. He hit the poor dog and blinded him.

The other dogs did not say a word. But then one of the dogs said:
"Our brother was wrong. We must give nine antelopes to King Lion. Then they will be ten together. And we dogs shall take one antelope, and we shall also be ten together."

The lion liked his answer and asked the dog: "Who taught you to divide like this? You are a wise dog."

The dog answered:
"Oh, King Lion, you hit our brother and blinded him. That blind brother taught me, King Lion!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky

Many, many years ago the Sun and the Moon lived together on the earth. Water was their best friend, and they often came to see him. But Water never went to see the Sun and the Moon in their house.

"Why don't you come to see us?" the Sun once asked him.

"I have too many friends," Water answered, "they will come with me. I am afraid there will be no place for them in your house."

But I shall build a new big house," the Sun said.

And the Sun built a very big house and then asked Water to come to him. Water came with all the fish and water animals.

"May I come in with all my people?" Water asked.

"Yes, come in," the Sun said.

Very soon Water in the house was knee-deep for the Sun.

Then in a minute Water was up to the Sun's head, and came higher and higher with all the fish and water animals. At last Water was so high in the house that the Sun and the Moon went on to the roof and sat there. But soon Water came up on to the roof. What could the Sun and the Moon do? Where could they sit? And they went up to the sky. They liked the place and began to live there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Fire and Rain are Enemies

Once upon a time there was a chief who had a beautiful daughter. Many young men wanted to marry her, but the chief thought: "They are not very good for my daughter."

Fire and Rain wanted to marry her, too. Rain came to the chief's daughter and said, "Will you marry me, oh daughter of the Chief?"

"Yes, I will," said the girl.

At the same time Fire came to the chief and said, "I want to marry your daughter. Will you give her to me for my wife?"

The chief said, "Yes, I will."

The chief sent for his daughter and said to her, "My dear daughter, you will marry Fire. I gave him my promise."

"Oh, Father," said the girl, "I cannot marry Fire, I must marry Rain. I gave my promise to him."

"What shall we do?" cried the chief. "You cannot marry both Fire and Rain."

The Fire and Rain came to the chief and his daughter. The chief said to them: "Tomorrow will be the day of my daughter's marriage."

"To me?" asked Fire.

"To me?" asked Rain.

"To the winner of a race. To him I will give my daughter."

On the day of the race many people came to the town. They all wanted to see the race. Some of them said, "Fire will win." Others said, "Rain will win."

But the chief's daughter thought: "I want to marry Rain."

The day of the race came. When it was time to begin, the drummers beat the drums. The race began. The wind helped Fire to run very quickly. But where was Rain? Nobody saw him. The people cried: "Look, Fire is quite near the finish!"

But the Rain began to fall from the sky and put out Fire. So Fire could not finish the race. The people cried: "Rain, Rain is the first!"

So the Chief gave his daughter to Rain, and they were very happy.

And from that day on, Fire and Rain are enemies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fire Festival

Long, long ago the chief of the Dagomba people had a son. He loved the boy so much that he could not sleep if the boy was not near him at night. One evening the chief sat under a big tree near his house. Some Dagombas sat around him. That night was warm and there was no rain. One could hear the tom-tom of the drums. Children sang and danced near them.

"Life is good," the chief said. And the people clapped their hands. The Dagomba people always clap their hands when they agree with somebody or something.

Then the chief's wife came up to the chief and said, "Oh, Chief, it is time for our boy to sleep."

"But he is with you, in the house," the chief said.

Isn't he here, with you?" the woman asked.

"Woman, I tell you, he is not with me. Go and look for him."

"Oh, my dear Chief," the wife said sadly. "He is not in our house."

The chief stood up quickly and cried, "Stop the dance! Let the drummers go and drum asking for my son."

In a minute the drums began their talk. "The Chief's child is lost," they said. "Who finds the child must bring him to the Chief."

All the people ran from place to place and looked for the boy. But they did not find him. The Chief was very angry. He said, "All my people must help to find the boy."

And the people looked and looked for the boy. They were looking for the boy for many hours. Then a man cried out: "Here he is!"

The Chief came up to the man. There, under a tree on the grass, the boy was sleeping.

"Get up, my dear," the Chief said to his little son. But the boy did not hear him. "Get up," said his father again. Then the boy opened his eyes.

"Father," he said and got up. And they walked off together. The Chief was very happy.

The drums began their talk again. "The Chief's son is here! The Chief's son is here!" they said.

Then the chief looked back angrily at the tree: "Burn that tree! It hid my son from me!"

And the Chief's servants put their torches to its trunk and branches. The tree began to burn and soon fell on the grass.

At the same time the happy father went home with his son. The people ran after them with songs and dances.

From that day on every year in July, the Dagomba people have their Fire Festival. The chief goes out of his house and the people light their torches. They begin to dance and put their torches to tree trunks. But today they burn only tow or three branches, and not the whole tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sacred Pythons

One day, a very long time ago, some Naayire people went hunting. They walked and walked in the bush but found nothing. When night came, they were very far from home.

"We must sleep in the bush," the chief said, "we must find a good place to sleep."

The hunters were not afraid to sleep in the bush, but they knew: elephants, lions, and other animals sometimes killed sleeping hunters. And there were some bad people, too, in the bush.

The hunters came to a place with big trees round it. They decided to rest and sleep on the grass. They did not make a fire and ate only some nuts which they carried in their bags; that was their supper. Then they went to sleep. All of them were tired. They slept soundly and did not hear anything. They did not hear that their enemies were coming nearer and nearer to them.

But in one of the trees above the sleeping men something moved and fell down on the head of a young hunter. He jumped up and cried; a big python was on his head!

The Naayire hunters got up quickly and saw the enemies round them. A fight began. Soon the enemies ran away and that was the end of the fight.

The Naayire hunters came up to their chief to talk about the fight.

"What made you jump up?" the chief asked the young hunter.

"It was a python," he said. "It fell on my head, but it did not kill me."

The chief said, "From this day on our people will never kill a python. That python saved our lives. Pythons will be sacred animals in our country."

Even today the Naayire people love pythons. If you go into their houses in the rainy season, you will find a python there. The pythons never harm anyone, they do not eat even the chickens.

 

A Whip Out of a Cow's Tail

Long, long ago there lived a hunter. His name was Ogalussa. Once he went to the forest to hunt, and his wife with their five sons went to the field to work. The family came home in the evening, but Ogalussa was not yet back. The family waited and waited for him, but he did not come. They had their supper without him. Night came, then morning came, then again night came, but Ogalussa did not come home. A week passed, a month passed, a sixth son was born to Ogalussa's wife. Puli was his name. Ogalussa did not come back.

Every day Ogalussa's wife worked in the field. Sometimes their sons helped her, sometimes they went to the forest to hunt. Some time later the family forgot about Ogalussa. The youngest son, Puli, could already walk, but he could not talk. One day he opened his little mouth and began to talk. His first words were: "Where is my father?"

"Where is our father?" asked the eldest brother too.

"We must go to the forest and look for him," said the second brother.

"There is the path he walked along," said the third brother.

"Let us go along that path, and I am sure that we shall find him," said the fourth brother.

"Let us go at once!" those were the fifth brother's words.

And the five sons took their guns and went along the path. The path was long, very long. At last they came to a place where they saw Ogalussa's bones and his old gun on the ground.

The eldest son said: "I can put the bones together."

And he put the bones together as they are in a man's body. Then the second brother said: "I can cover the bones with skin."

And he covered Ogalussa's bones with skin.

The third brother said: "I can fill his body with blood."

And he did his work well.

Then the fourth brother said: "I shall make him breathe."

In a few minutes Ogalussa began to breathe. And the fifth brother made him stand up. Ogalussa stood up, opened his eyes and asked: "Where is my gun?"

The sons gave him his old gun, and they went home together. At home he washed himself, cut his hair (the people who come back from the Land of the Dead must cut their hair), had his dinner and then rested for some days. All the family was very happy. And so were his neighbors. Ogalussa called his neighbors to a feast and killed a cow. His wife cooked the meat for the feast, and Ogalussa made a whip out of the cow's tail. He put some bright beads on it, and the whip was very nice.

The feast began. All the people came dressed in their best clothes. Musicians played, the people danced and sang. All were very happy.

Ogalussa showed his new whip to the guests.

"This is the nicest of all the ships," they said.

Many of the guests asked Ogalussa to give them the whip. But Ogalussa did not give it to the guests. Then he began to speak: "Long, long ago I went to the forest to hunt. A strong lion killed me. I was dead for a long time. Then my sons found my bones and brought me back to life. Now I am here among you. I am very thankful to my sons! Look here, my dear guests! I have a whip, and you say it is the nicest of all the whips. But I have only one whip! I shall give it to the son who helped me most of all to come back from the Land of the Dead."
Then all the people began to think.
Who helped most of all?
It was not so easy to tell! At last Ogalussa said: "I shall give the whip to little Puli. His first words were: 'Where is my father?' Thanks to him my sons went to the forest to look for me. Thanks to Puli I am here with you and my family."
And he kissed the little boy. All the people said: "Ogalussa, you are right!"
And even today people say: "A man is alive as long as you remember him."

 

 

 

 

A Tale About a Jackal

A jackal once got a thorn in his paw. "Oh, oh!" he cried as he walked along the path in the forest. "What shall I do, what shall I do?" Then he met an old woman: "Please, dear grannie," he said, "pull the thorn out of my paw." The old woman pulled it out, the jackal thanked her and went away. But in a minute he came back and asked: "Where is my thorn, grannie?"

"I do not know," answered the old woman. "Who needs a thorn?"

Then the jackal began to cry: "Oh, where is my thorn?" he cried. "I need it, I need it very much!"

The old woman was sorry for the jackal and said: "Do not cry. Here is an egg for you."

The jackal took the egg and ran away with it. He came to a village and knocked at the door of the first house. A man opened it.

"Please, my good man," said the jackal, "may I stay the night with you? It is late and cold."

"Please come in," answered the man.

The jackal came in. "May I put my egg on this plate?" he asked.

"Yes, of course you may."

In the night the jackal got up, ate the egg and put the shell back on the plate.

In the morning the jackal asked the man: "Where is my egg?"

"I do not know," was the answer. Then the jackal began to cry: "Oh, my big, big egg!" he said, "Your cat ate it in the night. I am sure!"

The man was sorry for the jackal and gave him a hen instead of the egg. The jackal took the hen and ran away with it.

He ran and ran and came to the next village in the evening. There he knocked at the first door and asked the woman who opened the door: "May I stay the night with you, please? It is so cold outside!"

"Please, come in little jackal," said the woman.

"And where can I put my hen?" the jackal asked.

"Let the hen stay with our goat," the woman said.

In the night the jackal got up, went to the place where the goat was and ate up the hen. In the morning he said to the woman he said to the woman: "Let us go and get my hen."

But there was no hen, of course, there were only feathers and bones on the ground. The jackal began to cry: "Oh, my hen, my beautiful grey hen! Your goat ate it in the night!"

The woman was sorry for the jackal and gave him one of the goat's kids instead of the hen. The jackal thanked the woman and ran away. He ran and ran and he came to another village. It was almost evening and he knocked at the first house. "May I stay the night in your house?" he asked the man who opened the door. "I am very, very tired."

"Please, come in," the man said.

"Where may I put my little kid?" the jackal asked.

"Tie it to the end of my son's bed," the man said.

At night the jackal ate the kid and put its bones on the boy's bed.

In the morning he asked the man: "Where is my little kid?" They went up to the boy's bed, but there were only horns and bones there instead of the kid.

"Oh, my little kid, my dear little kid!" Your son ate it in the night, I am sure," said the jackal and began to cry. The man said do not cry. I shall give you a big goat instead of your little kid."

"No, no, I do not want the goat! Give me your son!"

"Alright, go out and wait a little at the door," said the man.

Then the man brought him a big bag and said: "Here is the boy. He is in the bag. Goodbye!"

The jackal took the bag and went away quickly. He tried to run, but he could not, the bag was very heavy.

"This is a very big boy," the jackal thought. "Or perhaps it is not a boy. Perhaps the man put stones into the bag! I shall open it and see."

He opened the bag and two big dogs jumped out of it! In a minute they tore the jackal to pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Monkey's Heart

There grew a big tree on the seashore. Half of its branches were over the land and the other half over the water. A little monkey lived in the tree. He played in the branches all day, and when he was hungry he ate the sweet fruit that grew in the tree.

Now, in the sea there lived a shark. One day the monkey threw some of the fruit into the sea. The shark ate it up. From that day on the shark and the monkey were friends and the shark asked the monkey to throw some fruit down to him every day.

"Thank you, friend Monkey," said the shark, "I have only fish to eat in the sea, and I like your fruit very much."

The monkey was happy to be a friend of the shark and threw fruit into the sea every morning. Once the shark said to the monkey: "You are so good to me that I want to do something good for you."

The monkey looked down at the shark and listened. The shark said: "I want to show you my home. You will meet my brothers and sisters. You are so good to me that I think they will like you."

The monkey thought a minute and said: "No, I do not want to go, thank you. I am afraid of cold water, and I cannot swim. I shall be happier if I stay in my tree."

"Oh, no, no!" said the shark. "Do not be afraid! Come with me, I shall carry you to my home on my back. I shall not swim very quickly."

The monkey thought: "The day is very hot. It will be nice on the water. I think I will go."

So the monkey sat down on the shark's back, and off they went.

At first the monkey did not like going on the shark's back because he swam very quickly. But soon he liked it and looked at the new places and at the fish in the water. It was so interesting!

"Do you like the sea?" asked the shark. "Is the sea better than your forest?"

"Yes, it is. How far must we go?" asked the monkey.

"It is not very far," the shark answered. "And now I must tell you something. Our chief, the biggest shark in the sea is very ill. Our doctor said to him: "You must eat a monkey's heart. Then you will be well again. So I am taking you to him, and I am telling it to you because you are my friend.

The poor monkey was ready to cry, but he did not cry. The monkey thought of a plan to save himself. Then he said: "How silly you are! Why did you not tell me that before? I have no heart with me. It is at home in the branches of a big tree. We monkeys always hide our hearts in the branches of big trees in the daytime. We take our hearts only at night. What will you do if your chief finds that I have no heart? How angry he will be! I am ready to give my heart to your chief because I am your friend. But how can I do that when I have no heart with me?"

The shark asked the monkey: "If I take you back to your tree, will you go and get your heart?"

"Of course I will, and let us go quickly. Your dear chief must not wait!"

The shark with the monkey swam back very quickly. They came again to the big tree. The monkey climbed up the tree saying: "Wait for me! Wait for me! I will take my heart!"

But the monkey did not come back. The shark was swimming and swimming in the water under the tree. Then he shouted: "Friend Monkey, where are you?"

There was no answer.

The shark thought: "I am afraid he cannot find the heart in the branches!"

The shark waited and waited for the monkey. Then he shouted again: "Monkey! Monkey! When will you come back to me?"

Again there was no answer. Then the monkey began to laugh.

"Do you think I am a fool?" asked the little monkey. "Do you think I want to give my heart to your big bad chief and then die?"

"But you said your heart was in the branches of the tree," said the silly shark.

"My heart is in its place in my body. It is always there!" shouted the monkey. "And you go away! We are not friends anymore!"

And with those words the clever monkey threw a big rotten fruit on the shark's nose.

 

 

 

Sources:

 

http://www.mrdowling.com/609-sundiata.html

 

 

http://quattro.me.uiuc.edu/~fog/tales.html