GROWING UP LIKE ONE WHO HAS A GRANDMOTHER - An American Indian Tlingit Children’s Story E-Book

Anon E. Mouse

• Herausgeber: Abela Publishing
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

ISSN: 2397-9607 Issue 204 In this 204th issue of the Baba Indaba’s Children's Stories series, Baba Indaba narrates the American-Indian folktale about “GROWING UP LIKE ONE WHO HAS A GRANDMOTHER.” Long ago on the North West coast of the USA, a boy was growing up with his grandmother. His mother and father had passed on not long after his birth. In order to improve his and his grandmother’s lot in life, he tried entering a number of competitions in which usually only older boys and young braves are allowed to compete. The chief sets the first completion. He said 'There is a great piece of copper hanging from that tree. The first young man to knock it down shall marry my daughter.' The chief sees the boy being pushed aside by those older than him and gives instructions that he be allowed to compete. Begrudgingly the older boys allow this to happen. The boy goes down to the river to select pebbles for throwing. He meets a stranger who selects the pebbles for him and gives instructions for the throwing order. The boy is the only one to stike the copper object. Considered too young to marry the chief’s daughter, another, harder, challenge is set. But the boy wins this too which does not please the young men too much. As such, they begin to ostracise him and his grandmother. You’re invited to download and read the whole story of “Growing Up like One Who has a Grandmother” and find out what happens to the young boy. Does he survive? And what becomes of the princess and his grandmother? 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. 33% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities. INCLUDES LINKS TO DOWNLOAD 8 FREE STORIES  

Leseprobe

GROWING-UP-LIKE-ONE-WHO-HAS-A-GRANDMOTHER

An American Indian Fairy Tale

Baba Indaba Children’s Stories

Published By

Abela Publishing, London

2016

GROWING-UP-LIKE-ONE-WHO-HAS-A-GRANDMOTHER

Typographical arrangement of this edition

©Abela Publishing 2016

This book may not be reproduced in its current format

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without the prior written permission

of the publisher.

Abela Publishing,

London, United Kingdom

2016

Baba Indaba Children’s Stories

ISSN 2397-9607

Issue 204

Email:

[email protected]

Website:

www.AbelaPublishing.com

An Introduction to Baba Indaba

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 next story was told to him by a man who hailed from the small port of Crescent City. Can you find Crescent City on a map? What country is it in?

GROWING-UP-LIKE-ONE-WHO-HAS-A-GRANDMOTHER

 

An American Indian Fairy Tale

 

A story, a story

Let it come, let it go

A story, a story

From long, long ago!

Umntwana Izwa! Children Listen!

ONCE upon a time long, long ago, in a far, far away land, on the West coast of North America, that was the name of a little Native American boy, and a very odd name it is, as well as a very long one. To be sure, in his own language it could all be put into seventeen letters, while in English it takes thirty-four, as you will find if you count them, and that does make a difference.

However, though we should have preferred a name that was shorter and prettier, there is something satisfactory about this one, for a little boy who has a grandmother is likely to be well fed and petted, and made to feel himself a person of importance, and that is pleasant to everybody. But it also means in general that he has lost his father and mother, which had happened to this particular little boy. They had died a long while before, and now there only remained his grandmother and his mother's brother, who was chief of the village.

One evening the chief was sitting on the beach gazing up at the sky. And while he gazed, fire came right down like a shooting star, and struck the point of a branch which grew on a tree behind his house. As it touched the branch it became solid and hung there, shining like copper. When the chief saw this he arose and walked to the house and said to the people inside:

'There is a great piece of copper hanging from that tree. Bid the young men go and knock it down and whichever hits it shall marry my daughter.'

Quite a crowd of youths gathered at the back of the chief's house early next morning, and many of the old men came likewise to watch the sport. All day the young Indians threw stones till their hands became sore and their arms ached, but never once did the lump of copper move. At last for very weariness they had to rest, and eat some food. After that they felt better and went on throwing stones till darkness fell, but still no one had hit the copper.

As soon as the stars peeped out the poor little boy who had been looking on also ran down to the beach, as his uncle had done, and laid himself upon a rock. By and bye a man approached him and said:

'What are the village people talking about? They make a great noise!'

'A lump of copper is hanging on the tree and they were trying to knock it down, but nobody succeeded,' answered the boy; and as he spoke, the man stooped and picked up four pebbles.