Essay: South African Folktales

This past week I read the unit on South African Folktales. This unit was similar to what I read last week from Nigerian Folktales, but definitely had its own uniqueness to it. The folktales included great, in-depth stories that continued throughout the entire unit. Many of the same characters were seen throughout the unit and surprise endings (to me at least) always made the stories much more interesting.

Each of the stories were super easy reads and very easy to understand. I would almost think some of these stories were for children until I read some of the dark endings. For example, in my Reading Diary B I talked about a story I read called Jackal and the Monkey. In the story, the sleazy Jackal tricks the monkey into a trap and leaves him to die for the Jackal’s crime.

The first story I pointed out in Reading Diary A was probably my favorite story. It had a lot of interesting features and kept me entertained. I thought it was clever and original and was a story that I could see being passed down from generation to generation in the South African culture.  The story was a about a monkey with a bow and arrow and a fiddle. When he was falsely accused and sent to court for lying about his bow and arrow, he played his fiddle and all the animals couldn’t stop dancing. They were so exhausted that they begged the monkey to stop and he could have whatever he wanted, even be king of the forest. The monkey simply wanted his bow and arrow back and his wish was granted. All the other animals left the area in fear he would play his fiddle again.

I really enjoyed this unit overall, and I would encourage others to read from South African Folktales.

Map of South Africa.

Photo Cred: CDC

Storytelling Week 7: Lyle and the Pedestrian

A few years back, a serial killer named Lyle lurked the streets of Lincoln, Nebraska. Lyle always wore a mask so his identity would always remain unknown. He was notorious for abducting people at gas stations and convenient stories late at night.

Lyle killed approximately six people over the course of four months and the entire city was terrified of this murderer. As more killings occurred, more and more pressure was placed on authorities to find this serial killer. The police department tried various strategies, but they could not find the killer.

One day, the sheriff of Lincoln decided to take matters into his own hand. He set a trap at a local convenient store to see if he could catch the serial killer. The sheriff placed a disguised mannequin getting gas and placed a trap that would catch Lyle when trying to abduct the fake person.

After the sheriff set up his trap, he waiting and watched down the street. As time passed, the sheriff grew restless and figured the serial killer was not going to fall for his trap. As the night grew old, the sheriff walked into the convenient store to grab a cup of coffee for an energy boost.

While the sheriff was inside, Lyle snuck up to the gas pump to abduct what he thought was a woman getting gas. Suddenly, Lyle was snagged by the trap and couldn’t escape. A pedestrian nearby stopped to see what the commotion was about.

“It’s you! The killer!” yelled the pedestrian, “And you’re trapped!”

“I’m not trapped, I want to be here, and this is my wife. We just wanted some air and need gas,” said Lyle.

“Whatever, you are lying! I’m going to tell the sheriff,” said the pedestrian.

“That’s a lye! Come over here and see for yourself,” said Lyle.

Hesitant, the pedestrian decided to walk over to Lyle and see for himself. When he got close, Lyle grabbed him and stuck him in the trap releasing himself to freedom.

“Hey! You can’t do this! I’m trapped, you are the killer!” screamed the pedestrian.

Lyle saw the sheriff walking toward the door of the convenient store and darted into the darkness leaving the pedestrian in the trap.

“Aha! It’s you! The killer!” yelled the sheriff to the pedestrian.

“No, no! I’m innocent, I promise!” the pedestrian pleaded while trying to escape the trap.

Boom.

The sheriff shot the pedestrian dead. He believed he had shot the killer who was trying to escape his trap. To this day, Lyle has not been found.

Sheriff of Lincoln.

Photo Cred: Huron County

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is based on the South African Folktale, the Jackal and the Monkey. In the story, the jackal steals sheep and a farmer sets a trap to catch the criminal. When the jackal is caught, he convinces a monkey to come to the trap and the monkey gets stuck setting the jackal free. When the farmer found the monkey in the trap, he killed him and the jackal lived. My story is a modern spin on this folktale using real people instead of humans. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

Title: South African Folk-Tales 

Author: James Honey 

Year: 1910

South African Folktales - Reading Diary B

The second part of this unit was full of more great stories from South African Folktales. A lot of the stories used animals as characters and the folktales used many of the same characters throughout the various folktales. I was really surprised to find that some of the stories were pretty dark. For example in the folktale, Jackal and Monkey, the jackal tricks the monkey into a trap made by the farmer. The farmer made the trap to catch the animal who had been stealing his sheep. The notorious jackal was caught after stealing a sheep and the monkey taunted him. The jackal tricked the monkey into letting him out of the trap and the monkey was caught in replace of the jackal. The jackal wouldn't help the monkey escape and left him to receive the wrath of the farmer. When the farmer arrived to the trap in the morning, he saw the monkey and believed it was the animal stealing his sheep. He shot the monkey and the jackal lived another day.

(chacma baboon)

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)