YORUBA LEGENDS - 40 myths, legends, fairy tales and folklore stories from the Yoruba of West Africa E-Book

Various Unknown

• Herausgeber: Abela Publishing
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

The 40 legends, fairy tales and folklore stories in this book belong to the Yoruba. They relate the adventures of men and animals, and try to explain the mysteries of Nature—Why Women have Long Hair, How the Leopard got his Spots, the Three Magicians, the Boa-Constrictor, How the Elephant got his Trunk and more.  These stories grew from the imagination of the people. We read these folk-tales for their quaintness and humour, for their sympathy with Nature, and because we find in them the ideas and ideals, not just of one man, but of a race of people.

The legends express primitive notions of right and wrong. As a rule, the wicked are punished and the good rewarded; and that, we feel, is as it should be. We may weep at the death of rascally Tortoise, but we may also feel that he somehow deserves his fate!
NOTE: The Yoruba people are descendants from a variety of West African communities. They are united by Geography, History, Religion and most importantly their Language.  Many years ago, before African slavery, the Yoruba people inhabited an area which stretched, along the coast of West Africa, all the way inward and down to Angola in South West Africa.

Yoruba Legends was a special publishing project run in conjunction with Edgbarrow College as part of their Ghana Project. 33% of the publisher's profit from the sale of this book is donated to the SOS Children's Village in Asiakwa, Ghana

Leseprobe

YORUBA LEGENDS

BY

M. I. OGUMEFU, B.A.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY

THE SHELDON PRESSNORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C. 2

LONDON

[1929]

* * * * * * *

RESURRECTED BY

ABELA PUBLISHING

LONDON

[2009]

Yoruba Legends

Typographical arrangement of this edition

© Abela Publishing 2009

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

2009

ISBN-13: 978-1-907256-33-2

email

[email protected]

Website

www.AbelaPublishing.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Abela Publishing acknowledges the work that

M. I. Ogumefu did in compiling this unique collection of

Yoruba Legends

in a time well before any electronic media was in use.

* * * * * * *

A percentage of the net profit from the sale of this book

will be donated to

Edgbarrow School, Crowthorne, Berkshire

to assist fundraising for their Ghana Project.

* * * * * * *

YESTERDAYS BOOKS for TOMORROWS EDUCATIONS

PREFACE

IN modern times we have begun paying close attention to folklore—old tales, not invented by one man, but belonging to the whole people; not written down, but told by parents to their children, and so handed on for hundreds of years.

The legends and fairy stories in this book belong to the Yoruba country of Southem Nigeria. They relate the adventures of men and animals, and try to explain the mysteries of Nature—Why Women have Long Hair, How the Leopard got his Spots, and so forth. Most of them include very old songs, but these cannot here be given in full.

We must not think that the stories are scientifically true; they grew out of the imagination of the people, and for actual, proven facts we must look in our text-books. We read these folk-tales for their quaintness and humour, for their sympathy with Nature, and because we find in them the ideas and ideals, not just of one man, but of the race.

The legends express primitive notions of right and wrong, and in this they fall below the new standard which Christianity has set for our actions. As a rule, however, the wicked are punished and the good rewarded; and that, we feel, is as it should be. We may weep at the death of rascally Tortoise, but we feel that he deserves his fate!

CONTENTS

I THE KINGDOM OF THE YORUBAS

II HOW TRIBAL MARKS CAME TO BE USED

III AKITI THE HUNTER

IV SONS OF STICKS

V WHY WOMEN HAVE LONG HAIR

VI WHY PEOPLE CRY “LONG LIVE THE KING!”

WHEN THUNDER FOLLOWS LIGHTNING

VII THE OLOFIN AND THE MICE

VIII THE IROKO TREE

IX ORISA OKO

X MOREMI

XI THE BAT

XII THE LEOPARD-MAN

XIII THE WATER-BIRD

XIV THE ANTS AND THE TREASURE

XV THE VOICES OF BIRDS

XVI THE THREE MAGICIANS

XVII ISOKUN AND THE BABY

XVIII THE TWIN BROTHERS

XIX HOW LEOPARD GOT HIS SPOTS

XX ANOTHER STORY OF LEOPARD’S SPOTS

XXI THE HEAD

XXII OLE AND THE ANTS

XXIII THE BOA-CONSTRICTOR

XXIV OLURONBI

XXV THE STAFF OF ORANYAN

XXVI THE ELEPHANT’S TRUNK

XXVII THE SECRET OF THE FISHING-BASKETS

XXVIII THE TEN GOLDSMITHS

XXIX THE COOKING-POT

XXX THE PARROT

XXXI THE GHOST-CATCHER

STORIES OF TORTOISE

XXXII TORTOISE AND THE KING

XXXIII TORTOISE AND MR. FLY

XXXIV ERIN AND ERINOMI (THE LAND- AND

WATER-ELEPHANTS)

XXXV THE THREE DEATHS OF TORTOISE

XXXVI TORTOISE AND THE COCK

XXXVII TORTOISE AND CRAB

XXXVIII TORTOISE AND PIGEON

XXXIX TORTOISE AND THE WHIP-TREE

XL TORTOISE AND THE RAIN

YORUBA LEGENDS

I THE KINGDOM OF THE YORUBAS

THE ancient King Oduduwa had a great many grandchildren, and on his death he divided among them all his possessions. But his youngest grandson, Oranyan, was at that time away hunting, and when he returned home he learnt that his brothers and cousins had inherited the old King’s money, cattle, beads, native cloths, and crowns, but that to himself nothing was left but twenty-one pieces of iron, a cock, and some soil tied up in a rag.

At that time the whole earth was covered with water, on the surface of which  the people lived.

The resourceful Oranyan spread upon the water his pieces of iron, and upon  the iron he placed the scrap of cloth, and upon the cloth th [...]