South African Folktales - Reading Diary A

I chose to read the first half of South African Folktales this week for my reading diary. It was a really interesting and offered a lot of good options to read from. Similar to the Nigerian Folktales that I read about last week, these folktales contain a lot of stories about animals.

My favorite story was called the Monkey's Fiddle. This story was about a monkey who had obtained a fiddle and bow and arrow from his great uncle. On his journey home, the monkey helped a wolf kill a deer for dinner and after the meal was prepared, the wolf grew jealous of the monkey's weapon and wanted to take it from in. When the two got into a quarrel, they had to take their argument to court to see who the bow and arrow belonged to. The wolf lied and said it was his and the court believed him.

Then the monkey started playing his fiddle and the entire court couldn't stop dancing due to its magical powers. He said he'd stop playing if he could have his bow and arrow back and the wish was granted.

(vervet monkey)