Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky: Six Nigerian Tales
Six "why" stories told by the Efik and Ibibio people of southern Nigeria: why the sun and moon live in the sky, why the moon grows and shrinks, why the bat flies by night, why hawks take chickens and cats chase rats, and how the clever Tortoise beat both the Elephant and the Hippopotamus. By Elphinstone Dayrell (1910). A public-domain classic, from Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria.
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How it begins Many years ago the sun and water were great friends, and both lived on the earth together. The sun very often used to visit the water, but the water never returned his visits. At last the sun asked the water why it was that he never came to see him in his house, the water replied that the sun's house was not big enough, and that if he came with his people he would drive the sun out.He then said, "If you wish me to visit you, you must build a very large compound; but I warn you that it will have to be a tremendous place, as my people are very numerous, and take up a lot of room." Keep reading →About this story
Six ‘why’ stories told by the Efik and Ibibio people of southern Nigeria: why the sun and moon live in the sky, why the moon grows and shrinks, why the bat flies by night, why hawks take chickens and cats chase rats, and more. Each is short, and each explains something in the natural world.
Elphinstone Dayrell, a British colonial official, collected them and published them in 1910 in Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria. They are told as the storytellers told them, as simple tales with a lot of action, and they remain popular for children. The title story is a classic of its kind.
- Themes
- Origins, nature, how the world came to be as it is
- Good for
- Reading aloud to children; readers interested in African folk tales
- Worth noticing
- How each tale explains a familiar thing with a small story.