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- Herausgeber: Abela Publishing
- Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
- Sprache: Englisch
ISSN: 2397-9607 Issue 427 In this 427th issue of the Baba Indaba’s Children's Stories series, Baba Indaba narrates the Japanese Legend, "THE SWAN MAIDENS”. A long, long time ago, a hunter was stalking his prey in a forest near a pool. Seven graceful swans descended and landed. Instead of going to the water, they took off their cloaks of feathers and turned into six beautiful maidens. He watched while they swam and frolicked in the moonlight. He crept closer and took the feather cloak of the youngest and most beautiful. Just as dawn was beginning to break, the eldest said “We must away.” They all swam to shore, put on their cloaks, transformed into swans and flew away – except the youngest who searched high and low for her cloak. The hunter stepped forward and offered the beautiful maiden his cloak. This she took reluctantly and went home with him. Well, what happened next you ask, and what does “East of the Sun and West of the Moon have to do with the story? As you would expect in these circumstances, many things happened. To find the answers to this question, and any others you may have, you will have to download and read this story to find out! INCLUDES LINKS TO DOWNLOAD 8 FREE STORIES Baba Indaba is a fictitious Zulu storyteller who narrates children's stories from around the world. Baba Indaba translates as "Father of Stories". BUY ANY of the BABA INDABA CHILDREN’S STORIES at https://goo.gl/65LXNM 10% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities. 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. KEYWORDS/TAGS: Baba Indaba, Children’s stories, Childrens, Folklore, Fairy, Folk, Tales, bedtime story, legends, storyteller, fables, moral tales, European, lie in wait, watch, King, imperial court, princesses, hunter, Land, West, East, Moon, Sun, seven, wife, flew, old, robe, cap, shoes, Mountain, daughter, feathers, brother, maidens, Fishes, Birds, swans, youngest, Crystal, mother, bushes, ducks, lake, daughters, swiftness, beautiful, invisible, children, happily, dolphin, sisters, started, Forest, beg, father, shoon, night, magical, Wild, dawn, sea, six, 6, 7, hide-and-seek, quarrel, wainscoting, forefinger, needlework, darkened, Wander, dispute, whistle, fishes, Bends, Glens, Moors, marry, Crane, cloak, love, trap, hide, sky
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018
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The Swan Maidens
A Classic Children’s Fairy Tale
Baba Indaba Children’s Stories
Published By
Abela Publishing, London
2018
THE SWAN MAIDENS
Typographical arrangement of this edition
©Abela Publishing 2018
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,
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except as permitted by law
without the prior written permission
of the publisher.
Abela Publishing,
London, United Kingdom
2018
Baba Indaba Children’s Stories
ISSN 2397-9607
Issue 427
Email:
Website:
Baba Indaba’s Children’s Stories
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.
Location of KwaZulu-Natal (shaded in red)
Where in the World? Look it Up!
This next story was told to him by a traveller who hailed from the town of Cupcini. Can you find Cupcini on a map? What country is it in?
THE SWAN MAIDENS
A Fairy Tale
A story, a story
Let it come, let it go
A story, a story
From long, long ago!
Umntwana Izwa! Children Listen!
Umntwana, these are stories from a long, long time ago and far, far away, from an expanse of land which is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It stretches from the Pillars of Hercules in the West, to the Don River in the East. Today we call this land Europe. Our story goes thus………
ONCE UPON A TIME a long, long time ago and far, far away, there was a hunter who often used to spend the whole night stalking deer or setting traps for game.
Now it happened one night that he was watching in a clump of bushes near the lake for some wild ducks that he wished to trap. Suddenly he heard, high up in the air, a whirring of wings and thought the ducks were coming; and he strung his bow and got ready his arrows. But instead of ducks there appeared seven maidens all clad in robes made of feathers, and they alighted on the banks of the lake, and taking off their robes plunged into the waters and bathed and sported in the lake. They were all beautiful, but of them all the youngest and smallest pleased most the hunter's eye, and he crept forward from the bushes and seized her dress of plumage and took it back with him into the bushes.
After the swan maidens had bathed and sported to their heart's delight, they came back to the bank wishing to put on their feather robes again; and the six eldest found theirs, but the youngest could not find hers. They searched and they searched till at last the dawn began to appear, and the six sisters called out to her:
"We must away; 'tis the dawn; you meet your fate whatever it be." And with that they donned their robes and flew away, and away, and away.
When the hunter saw them fly away he came forward with the feather robe in his hand; and the swan maiden begged and begged that he would give her back her robe.
