Fairy Tales

Girl with KalabashJust as our fairy tales begin with "Once upon a time" African fables and fairy tales begin with “hapo zamani zakalee” in Swahili, a popular language spoken in Africa.

Folk Tales on the Animal Kingdom

An evil shark, a cruel baboon, a scheming tortoise, and a cunning hare are the tricksters among the many animal characters in African stories. Nick Greaves has collected some of these tales in his book "When Hippo was hairy".

Der Hase und die Tiere des UrwaldsThe Hare and the Lion

 

 

 Why the Bat flies by Night

 

 Wie Schildkröte Nsambas Tochter rettetTortoise with a Pretty Daughter


Warum der Löwe brüllen kannLion and Jackal

 

 

 

Watch this beautiful picture book film and learn why Elephant has a trunk

Fairy Tales and Romantic Fables

Some of the African folk tales tell about old kingdoms, about chiefs and princesses. The stories usually don’t end with the words we’re used to hearing – “and they lived happily ever after.” More often, they teach a lesson – and the hero has to learn the lesson the hard way.

The beautiful Meküküi

 


  The Queen of Sheba



The King's Magic Drum

 

Anansi, the tricky Spider and other fairy Tales from West Africa

You surely know Spider Man, the guy who climbs sky scrapers. Did you know, that the story of spider man is originated in West Africa? Hundreds of years ago African people were deported from Africa to America  as slaves. They took with them nothing but their music and their stories. The most prominent were the Anansi stories which have been handed down through generations.

Afrikanische SpinneHow Anansi got his Stories



Anansi and the dispersal of wisdom

 

Why the Sun and the Moon live in the Sky