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- Herausgeber: Abela Publishing
- Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
- Sprache: Englisch
In Issue 33 of the Baba Indaba Children's Stories, Baba Indaba narrates the old English tale of “A MOUTHFUL OF SILENCE”, a story about old Toonie whose greatest wish before he died was to see a fairy. It was well known that in order to see a fairy three things are needed—a handful of courage, a mouthful of silence, and a capful of moonshine. Even though the fairies are wonderful and magical creatures, they are also very private beings and don’t take kindly to mortals disturbing them. But will old Toonie’s wish ever be granted….? You’re invited to download and read the story to find what happened to Old Toonie.Baba Indaba is a fictitious Zulu storyteller who narrates children's stories from around the world. Baba Indaba translates as "Father of Stories".Each issue also has a "WHERE IN THE WORLD - LOOK IT UP" section, where young readers are challenged to look up a place on a map somewhere in the world. The place, town or city is relevant to the story.HINT - use Google maps.INCLUDES LINKS TO DOWNLOAD 8 FREE STORIES33% of the profit from the sale of this issue is donated to charity.Buy any 4 Baba Indaba Children’s Stories for just $4, 6 for $1.50, 8 for $2 etc.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
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A Mouthful of Silence
An Old English Tale
Baba Indaba Children’s Stories
Published by
Abela Publishing, London
[2016]
A MOUTHFUL OF SILENCE
Typographical arrangement of this edition
©Abela Publishing 2015
This book may not be reproduced in its current format
in any manner in any media, or transmitted
by any means whatsoever, electronic,
electrostatic, magnetic tape, or mechanical
(including photocopy, file or video recording,
internet web sites, blogs, wikis, or any other
information storage and retrieval system)
except as permitted by law
without the prior written permission
of the publisher.
Abela Publishing,
London, United Kingdom
2015
ISSN 2397-9607
Issue 33
Email:
Website:
www.AbelaPublishing.com
Introduction
Baba Indaba (pronounced Baaba Indaaba) lived in Africa a long-long time ago. Indeed, this story was first told by Baba Indaba to the British settlers over 250 years ago in a place on the South East Coast of Africa called Zululand, which is now in a country now called South Africa.
In turn the British settlers wrote these stories down and they were brought back to England on sailing ships. From England they were in turn spread to all corners of the old British Empire, and then to the world.
In olden times the Zulu’s did not have computers, or iPhones, or paper, or even pens and pencils. So, someone was assigned to be the Wenxoxi Indaba (Wensosi Indaaba) – the Storyteller. It was his, or her, job to memorise all the tribe’s history, stories and folklore, which had been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. So, from the time he was a young boy, Baba Indaba had been apprenticed to the tribe’s Wenxoxi Indaba to learn the stories. Every day the Wenxoxi Indaba would narrate the stories and Baba Indaba would have to recite the story back to the Wenxoxi Indaba, word for word. In this manner he learned the stories of the Zulu nation.
In time the Wenxoxi Indaba grew old and when he could no longer see or hear, Baba Indaba became the next in a long line of Wenxoxi Indabas. So fond were the children of him that they continued to call him Baba Indaba – the Father of Stories.
When the British arrived in South Africa, he made it his job to also learn their stories. He did this by going to work at the docks at the Point in Port Natal at a place the Zulu people call Ethekwene (Eh-tek-weh-nee). Here he spoke to many sailors and ships captains. Captains of ships that sailed to the far reaches of the British Empire – Canada, Australia, India, Mauritius, the Caribbean and beyond.
He became so well known that ship’s crew would bring him a story every time they visited Port Natal. If they couldn’t, they would arrange to have someone bring it to him. This way his library of stories grew and grew until he was known far and wide as the keeper of stories – a true Wenxoxi Indaba of the world.
Baba Indaba believes the tale he is about to tell in this little book, and all the others he has learned, are the common property of Umntwana (Children) of every nation in the world - and so they are and have been ever since men and women began telling stories, thousands and thousands of years ago.
Where in the World – Look it Up!
This story was told to Baba Indaba by a sailor who had, in turn, been told the story by a sailor from England from a town near Plymouth called Heybrook Bay. Can you find Heybrook Bay on a map?
A MOUTHFUL OF SILENCE
An Old English Tale
Umntwana Izwe! Children Listen! ON the top of Drundle Head in far, far away England, just off to the right, where the foot-track crossed, it was known that the fairies still came and danced by night. But though Toonie went that way every evening on his road home from work, never once had he been able to spy them.
So one day he said to the old faggot-maker, "How does a person get to see a fairy?" The old man answered, "There are some to whom it comes by nature; but for others three things are needed—a handful of courage, a mouthful of silence, and a capful of moonshine. But if you would be trying it, take care that you don't go wrong once too often; for with the third time you will fall into the hands of the fairies and be their bondsman. But if you manage to see the fairies, you may ask whatever you like of them."
“Baba, whats a faggot-maker?” asked Tehmba.
The Faggot-Maker
“A faggot-maker is a person who collected and sold bundles of twigs and small branches called faggots used as kindling for fires.”
“Baba,” asked Sandile, “What is a fairy?”
“A fairy is a magical being, a small person with wings who is only usually seen at night.” Holding up a finger, Baba said “Now on with the story…”
Toonie believed in himself so much that the very next night he took his courage in both hands, filled his cap with moonshine, shut his mouth, and set out.
