African Folktales at Internet Archive: Lamba Folklore

Finishing up this week of scholarly collections of African folktales, I want to focus on Clement Doke's Lamba Folklore, published in 1927 by the American Folklore Society, and just a click away at the Internet Archive.

This monumental book over 150 traditional Lamba tales, plus riddles and songs. The book includes the Lamba text along with the English translations, which is why the book is very long; almost 600 pages!  You can find out more about the Lamba language at Wikipedia. Lamba is a Bantu language of central Africa, and the Lamba people live in the northern part of Zambia (Rhodesia at the time Doke published this book) and in the southern part of the Congo (which was the Belgian Congo). 

Doke was one of the first scholars to conduct comparative linguistic studies of the Bantu languages, and it is our good fortune that collecting these stories was part of his method. You can find out more about Doke at Wikipedia.

Doke divides the stories he collected into four general categories: animal stories, in which the hare is the main character, although tortoise can rival him in cunning; tales of village life, often centering on the character of the chief; fairy tales about adventurous heroes and heroines; and tales of supernatural characters like ogres. Having the Lamba text side by side with the English allows you to deduce the Lamba names for these different story characters. For example, looking at the titles in the table of contents, you can see that the hare's name is Kalulu.

You can also use the search features at Internet Archive to focus on a specific character or detail that is of interest to you, such as all the mentions of tortoise, paging through the book from one mention of tortoise to the next.

I've also made a list of links by title: The Story of the Steward / The Story of the Youngster Who Slept on the Stirring-stick / The Story of a Man / The Story of the Son-in-law and His Father-in-law / The Story of Mr. Eagle and Mr. Dove / The Story of Mr. Water-lizard and Mr. Vulture / The Story of the Sons of Squeezer and Mr. Water-lizard / The Story of the Humans and the Tadpoles / The Story of Mr. Wisdom-i-have-it and Mr. Wisdom-is-being-told / The Story of the Great Chief That Used to Trouble the People / The Story of Mr. Lion- Child and Mr. Cow-child / The Story of Mr. Genet and the Chiefs / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and the Tightly-bound / The Story of the Youngster of the Navel-string / The Story of the Man and the Honey-guide / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and What Ate Wulambe / The Story of a Poor Man / The Story of the Simpleton and the Cunning Man / The Story of the Youngsters / The Story of Hammer-head / The Story of a Man Who Went to Marry / The Story of the Honey and His Mother-in-law / The Story of Going Through a Hole in the Tree With a Ball / The Choric Story of the Breaker of the River-grass / The Story of the Mother-in-law and the Son-in-law / The Story of Mr. Hornbill and Mr. Tortoise / The Story of Mr. Tortoise and Mr. Owl / The Story of the Animals and the Fruit / The Story of Mr. Duiker and Mr. Tortoise / The Choric Story of the Ogre / The Story of Mr. Lion and Mr. Little- Hare Who Came to Become His Confidential Servant / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and the Guinea-fowl / The Story of the Goblins / The Story of the Goblin and the Human Being / The Story of Mr. Lion and Mr. Little-hare / What Is Witnessed Is the First Thing / What Doesn't Know Munkoyo / The Story of the Man and His Wife / The Story of a Devil / The Story of the Two Men That Travelled Together / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and Mr. Elephant / The Story of the People and the Hyena / The Story of Mr. Duiker and Mr. Tortoise / The Story of the Man and His Wife / The Story of the Man Without Wisdom / The Story of the Chief's Wife and the Child With the Mouse / The Story of the Mwansakala and Fumbe and Panga Mice and All the Galagos and the Fulwe and Matuta Mice / The Story of the Man Who Came to Marry / The Story of the Blind Man (Who Said) That There Would Be a Pit / The Story of Mr. Water-lizard and Mr. Tree-snake / The Story of the Man Who Was Stricken With Hunger / The Story of the Youngsters / The Story of Mr. Wart-hog and Mr. Lion / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and Mr. River-hog / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and Mr. River-hog / Concerning the River-hog That Was a Doctor / The Choric Story of the Lion. / The Story of Mr. Big-black-ant and Mr. Little-black-ant / The Choric Story of the Rhinoceros / The Story of Mr. Little-hare / The Story of the Man Who Was Enslaved / The Story of Mr. Lurie and Mr. Bat / The Story of the Man in the Famine Time / The Story of Mr. Little Hare / The Story of Mr. River-bird and Mr. Cock / The Story of Mr. Cock and Mr. Wild-cat and the Goblins / The Story of the Wakota Bird / The Story of Shichinongomunvima and Chilubwelubwe / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and All the Animals / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and Mr. Big-mad- Hare / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and Mr. Lion and Mr. Tortoise / The Story of How the Children Escaped From the Ogres / The Story of the Man and the Ogre / The Story of the Man, the Lizard, and the Termites / The Story of Mongoose and His Mate With Whom He Was Friends / The Story of Mukana-iwewo / The Story of the Man Who Sought Out Three Servants / The Story of the Chief and His Councillors / The Story of the Man Who Did Not Do Well / The Story of Mr. River-hog and His Fellow River-hog / The Story of the Man Who Had Two Daughters, a Sane One and an Idiot / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and His Little-hare Companion . . / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and Mr. Hyena / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and Mr. Lion and Mr. Hyena / The Story of Mr. Stoat and Mr. Hyena / The Story of Mrs. Fish-eagle and Mrs. Hyena / The Story of the Man Who Went to the Nsenga Country / The Story of Mr. Groin and Mr. Groin-swelling / The Story of the Single-call / The Story of the Man With the Beard and His Son / The Story of the Fowl and the Dog / The Story of Mr. Bush-buck and Mr. Rock-rabbit / The Story of Kantanga and the Ogre / The Story of Mr. Hyena and the Man / The Story of Nkolonkofyo / The Story of the Son-in-law and His Mother-in-law / The Story of Mr. River-hog / The Story of Mr. Thrush and His Mate / The Story of the Man and the Lion / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and His Game-pit / The Story of the Father and His Child / The Story of the Man With the One Eye and His Child / The Story of the Snake and Mr. Frog / The Story of Mr. Spotted-snake and Mr. Frog / The Story of the Father-in-law and His Son-in-law / The Story of Mr. Little- Shrew-mouse and Mr. Great-shrew / The Story of the Man and His Father-in-law / The Story of a Certain Man and His Father-in-law / What a Little Thing Did / The Pygmies / The Story of the Man Who Beat the Drum / The Story of the Man Who Had Bone-meat / The Story of the Man and the Dog / The Story of Mr. Fish-eagle and Mr. Vulture / The Story of Mr. Shrew and Mr. Shiwakota / The Story of Mr. River-hog and the Sausage Tree / The Story of the Man and His Dogs / The Story of God and Mr. Chameleon His Favorite / The Story of the Blind Man and His Five Sons / The Story of the Two People Together / The Story of the Chief and His People; the Coming of Death Into the World / The Story of "a Lie Returns" / The Story of Mr. Night-jar and the Creator / The Story of the Man Who Was Maimed / The Choric Story of the Mound / The Story of the Person Who Gave Birth to Children / The Story of the Person Who Was in the Deserted Village With Her Two Beautiful Daughters / The Story of Mr. Monkey and Mr. Little-hare / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and the Monkeys / The Story of Mr. Hyena and the People / The Story of the Men and the Lion / The Story of the Youngster Who Went to Amass Wealth / The Story of Mr. Wild-dog and Mr. Duiker / The Story of the Man and the Devil / The Story of the People Who Dug a Game-pit / The Story of Mr. Little-genet / The Story of Sandasanda and Iwona / The Story of Mr. Hyena, the Nephew of Mr. Lion / The Story of the Fathers and the Child / The Story of Mr. Frog and Mr. Meckling / The Story of the Great-water-snake and the People / The Story of Mr. Fierceness-of-hunger / The Story of the Monkeys / The Choric Story of Mwewa and Her Brother / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and the Monkey-nuts / The Story of the Hoopoe / The Story of Mr. Ground-hornbill and Mr. Lion / The Story of Splasher / The Story of Trickster / The Story of the Gnome / The Choric Story of Mfuluwende and Kelunge / The Choric Story of Kaluyende / The Story of the Man Who Had Some Dogs / The Story of Mr. Little-hare and the People / The Choric Story of Luwe / The Choric Story of Lunda and Nkonde / The Story of the Blue-monkey and the Fish / Concerning God the Creator / Katala the Pole-joiner.

So, hundreds of pages of Lamba stories await you here, just a click away, thanks to Internet Archive.

Lamba Folklore

by Clement Doke