African Folktales at Internet Archive: Crocodile and Hen

Yesterday I wrote about a lovely children's book called Congo Boy, and today I also want to focus on a children's book based on a Central African folktale; this one is an animal story: Crocodile and Hen: A Bakongo Folktale by Joan Lexau, with very cute illustrations by Doug Cushman. It's just a click away at Internet Archive!

This book is presented as an "I Can Read Book," and the language of the book really is simple, and also completely charming.

Often when a book is very cute like this, the author has had to take a lot of liberties with the original source material (as Ashley Bryan did with Beautiful Blackbird), but in this case, the original folktale has exactly the same charming twists as in this modern children's book. You can find the original in this book, which is also available at Internet Archive: Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by R. E. Dennett, published in 1898. 

You can read more about the Bakongo people at Wikipedia, and more about Dennett here: Richard Dennett (1857-1921).

I've pasted in the text of the story below so you can see for yourself, and maybe you will read Lexau's book so you can see just how she worked with the source material. It's really charming, and a good lesson in biology too.

Crocodile and Hen: A Bakongo Folktale

by Joan Lexau

Here's the story as recorded by Dennett:

WHY THE CROCODILE DOES NOT EAT THE HEN

There was a certain hen; and she used to go down to the river's edge daily to pick up bits of food. One day a crocodile came near to her and threatened to eat her, and she cried: "Oh, brother, don't!"

And the crocodile was so surprised and troubled by this cry that he went away, thinking how he could be her brother. He returned again to the river another day, fully determined to make a meal of the hen.

But she again cried out: "Oh, brother, don't!"

"Bother the hen!" the crocodile growled, as she once more turned away. "How can I be her brother? She lives in a town on land; I live in mine in the water."

Then the crocodile determined to see Nzambi (the great princess) about the question, and get her to settle it; and so he went his way. 

He had not gone very far when he met his friend Mbambi (a very large kind of lizard). "Oh, Mbambi!" he said, "I am sorely troubled. A nice fat hen comes daily to the river to feed; and each day, as I am about to catch her, and take her to my home and feed on her, she startles me by calling me 'brother.' I can't stand it any longer; and I am now off to Nzambi, to hold a palaver about it."

"Silly idiot!" said the Mbambi; "do nothing of the sort, or you will only lose the palaver and show your ignorance. Don't you know, dear crocodile, that the duck lives in the water and lays eggs? the turtle does the same; and I also lay eggs. The hen does the same; and so do you, my silly friend. Therefore we are all brothers in a sense." And for this reason the crocodile now does not eat the hen.

Here is the crocodile with the lizard in Lexau's book:

Note. Compare a similar story from eastern Africa about "cousins" among the animals; this is my 100-word version.

The Lioness and the Antelope

Once here was a lioness who gave birth to a cub.

Then, after giving birth, she was hungry. Seven days passed, and she had not eaten.

"I must go hunt. I must get food," she thought, "or my cub and I will die."

She saw an antelope grazing and crept up on him, slowly, quietly.

Then the antelope realized the lioness was there. He turned his head and stared right at her. "Welcome, cousin!" said the antelope.

The lioness was ashamed and did not attack the antelope. She could not attack someone who was her cousin.

So the antelope survived.