WHEN LIONS COULD FLY AND OTHER TALES FROM AFRICA

 WHEN LIONS COULD FLY AND OTHER TALES FROM AFRICA

Told by Nick Greaves, Illustrated by Rod Clement

Published by National Book Trust, New Delhi, India, 1993.

Cost of the Book – Rs. 70.00

(All credits go to the publisher)

 

Stories

1.      Serval and Tortoise – Serval invites Tortoise to dinner, but makes fun of it. In turn tortoise invites Serval. To go to Tortoise home, Serval has to cross a river and a burnt land. Tortoise refuse to give food to the dirty Serval.

2.      How Serval Got his spots – Serval and Lion looked alike. Puff Adder(snake) was seriously ill. No one helped him. Serval helped him. In turn the snake bite Serval to get the spots as Serval wished for.

3.      Lion and Carcal – Lion and Carcal were cousin. Once Lion hunted a big buffalo and asked Carcal to guard it and went to the river beside but it fell into the deep steep. Carcal faked to help Lion by throwing a rope and ate the buffalo heartily

4.      Carcal, Eland and Jackal – Carcal saw Eland for the first time. It said to Jackal about this and the Jackal wanted to taste the Eland. They both went to Eland’s house. Jackal tied Carcal to its leg. Eland understood and thanked jackal for bring Carcal as a food for it’s young ones. In fear Carcal started running dragging jackal behind it.

5.      Why Mongoose kills snakes – Mongoose and Secretary Bird were great friends. Once a snake invited Mongoose to eat eggs and Mongoose too ate it heartily. After eating only Mongoose came to know that it is Secretary Bird’s egg. Mongoose accepted its mistake and said that it was snake who deceived him. From that day Mongoose and Secretary Bird started killing Sanke.

6.      Why Bat Flies at Night – Bat and Mongoose were good friends. Bat used to cook deliciously. Mongoose asked about it. Bat said about adding its own flesh in the soup. Mongoose too tried it and got burnt. Mongoose was waiting to take revenge. Bat started to hide itself.

7.      Why Aardvark Lives Underground – Aardvark was a kind animal. It felt so bothered on hearing the sorrowfully story of the world. To avoid this it started to live underground (Young bird, butterflies, baboon)

8.      The Kindly Aardvarks – Warthog had huge tusk than elephants. Elephant was jealous of Warthog. Elephant tricked Warthog and took its tusk. Warthog felt bad that he could not dig hole to live without its tusk. From that day Aardvarks dug hole for Warthog to live on.

9.      Why Pangolin Has Scales – Pangolin and Honey Badger were great rivals. They used to steal honey. God kept a challenge. To win Honey Badger used a trick by which Pangolin was bitten by ants. God announced honey badger as the winner and gave a new thick scale to Pangolin and also changed its taste.

10.  Why Porcupine Has Quills – Porcupine had a beautiful fur and it was so proud or itself. The jackal was jealous of this. One day it tricked Porcupine to remove its fur and enter the thick woods of thorns. The Jackal ran away with the fur and the thorns stuck on to Porcupine’s skin.

11.  Monkey’s Heart – Monkey and a Tiger Shark became friends. Once the tiger shark took Monkey into the deep ocean and in the half way it said that its master wanted the monkey’s heart to taste. The monkey wisely escaped from the Tiger Shark.

12.  Why Monkey’s Look Like People – World was struck with famine. To safe guard food they appointed few men to protect the little grains left. But those people ate it and the village God got angry and made them into monkeys.

13.  What Squirrel Saw – Squirrel saw a small grass snake. It chattered and Lion asked the reason for it. It was not bothered of the snake. Then a Leopard came and it too didn’t bother. The Mongoose came and it ate up the snake. Squirrel realized there is no safe place.

14.  Squirrel and Spider’s Web – no pair for the animals. Squirrel said about the pair in heaven. All went to the heaven with the help of the spider web. There all the animals were happy. Squirrel ate up the corn fields and put the blame on spider. Spider in anger took away the connecting web and all the animals fell from heaven and died. Squirrel alone escaped as it fell on an elephant.

15.  Kudu and Jackal Go Swimming – The land on one side of the river went dry but on the other side it was so greenery. Jackal took the help of the Kudu to cross the river. They both ate heartily. After eating Jackal howled thereby inviting the land owners. They came and found Kudu alone and beat it. Kudu’s revenge on the way back across the river.

16.  Kudu’s Wonderful Horns – A young man set off to set up his own life. Pleased with him God sent a magical Kudu. They became friends. Encountered a buffalo and lion. The lion killed Kudu but its magical horns was very helpful to the man. He got everything.

17.  Why Bushbuck has a Red Coat – Bushbuck and impala were good friends. Once Impala left its younger one under the care of bushbuck and left to have a bath. Bushbuck slept nearby the younger one. Hyena which passed by that side killed and ate the younger one and applied the blood on the Bushbuck and Impala misunderstood Bushbuck.

18.  Duiker Saves Chief Khama I – Chief Khama was almost defeated by Matabele. He went and hid in a deep forest. Matabele pursued him. They were trying hard to find him. When they were about to catch him, a Duiker came out of that bush and Matabele soldiers thought that Khama was not there because Duiker will never allow humans to come near it.

19.  When Lions Could Fly – Lion could fly because of a magic bundle and it treasured the bones of the animals it killed. It appointed vultures to safe guard the bones. One day those vultures ate up the bones and also the magic bundle and because of that Lion’s magical power of flying disappeared. From that day Vulture in fear of Lion started to fly so high in the sky.

20.  Why There Are Cracks in Tortoise Shell – Tortoise and Vultures were great friends. Vulture often visited Tortoise home. But Tortoise could not go to Vulture home. So, Tortoise asked his wife to bundle him up as a gift and give to Vulture. Vulture carried that gift and when it was almost nearing its home Tortoise spoke and Vulture dropped the gift out of shock and Tortoise broke into pieces.

21.  Why Guinea Fowl calls at Dawn – Fowl calls to rise up the sun. One day the first man and women went hunting, a bee buzzed, man was about to drop the axe, women moved and was about to step on a snake, and the snake took refuge in a rat’s hole and the rat took refugee in a tree where Weaver bird had its nest. The Weaver bird screamed in fear of rat and that scream made a monkey to lose its control and drop a mongo from its hands and the mango fell on an elephant’s head and the elephant started running by pulling the trees down there by breaking the Fowl’s egg. The Creator investigated and punished the impolite bee and ordered Fowl not to skip his duty.

22.  Honeyguide’s Revenge – honey guide bird showed man where the honey was. But the greedy first man took away all the honey without even leaving a drop of honey for the bird. Honey guide’s revenge and the first man was killed by the Leopard.

23.  The Birds’ Great Race – God held a race for all the bird to decide the king of birds. All the bird’s participated and everyone thought that the Martial Eagle alone will win. But to everyone’s great surprise the Honeyguide won by a simple trick

24.  The Hare and the Crocodile – The Crocodile felt jealous of the Zebra and asked them to take him with them. They too accepted but crocodile could not travel far in land. In half way it stopped and almost looked dead. A hare which passed that way promised to help crocodile on one condition. The Hare tricked Hyena to help the Crocodile and in turn got rid of the hyena with the help of the Crocodile.

25.  Python Saves the Animals – On one side of the forest there was huge famine. In the nearby forest there lived a Python in a tree and that tree was always fresh. So the animals decided to ask the help of the Python. First a rat went and it forgot the message of the python by the time it returned. Then they sent a Impala and it too did the same. Then the sent their king Lion but even the Lion failed them. A Tortoise came forward to help them and conveyed the message of the Python exactly and they all lived happily ever after.

26.  Why Python Can Shed His Skin – The Creator gave a skin to the fox and asked it to deliver to the the first man so that he can remain young forever. When a fox was resting under a tree a Python asked about it and it stole the skin when the fox fell asleep. When man came to know about this, he started hurting the fox and the creator gifted fox the cunningness to safe guard itself from man. Python still lives hidden from man in fear that he will take away the skin.

27.  Chameleon and First Man – God sent a message through Chameleon to the first man that if he drinks water from a particular river, he will attain immortality. But before the Chameleon could convey the message to man, the season changed and the river dried up. This made man angry and started to kill Chameleon. Creator took pity on Chameleon and gifted him skin of changing color to hide himself.

28.  Chameleon and the Greedy Spider – Spider loved feast so much. Once it overheard Chameleon talking about feast but it could not overhear the address. So, the spider sent its four sons in four directions and it kept connected with them through the web. All the four sons pulled the web together as there was feast everywhere. But unfortunately, the web tightened on spider’s stomach and the size of its stomach decreased. It could never eat a lot after that.

29.  Why Dung Beetle is So Strong – Dung Beetle and Butterflies were good friends. Everyone wondered at the colour of the Butterfly and no one seem to bother about the Dung beetle. It bothered him. Butterfly asked Dung Beetle to show case some talent to attract other’s attention. So, it exercised and made itself strong and to prove its strength it starts pushing lump of soils.

30.  Dung Beetle’s Burden – the father and son spider were good farmers. But when the rains failed, they suffered. The son spider got help of a chameleon and by giving a little tap with a stick the rain poured. The greedy dad spider, wanted more rain and gave many beating to the chameleon and in that process it died. The dad spider tried to put the blame on the son but the son escaped cleverly. God punished the dad spider by making him to keep pulling the bundle of the dead Chameleon. No one came forward to help the dad spider by sharing the burden. The dad spider tricked the beetle and the most honest beetle believed the fake promise of the dad spider but the dad spider left and never appeared before the beetle and to this day beetle is carrying the burden.

 

Just wanted to share the story that I loved reading so that the others too will be tempted to get the book and read it.

-----HAPPY LEARNING----