Africa at the Internet Archive: Congo Life and Folklore

I'm carrying on with public domain books this month, and today I have a public domain book of stories from the Congo which inspired a children's book, both of which are just a click away at the Internet Archive.

The public domain book is a collection of stories by John Weeks, who was a missionary among the Bakongo people. The book is in two parts: the first part is a narrative of his missionary work (and also includes some stories), and the second part is a collection of stories: Congo Life and Folklore.

Also, as you can see, the book was also published under the title Congo Life and Jungle Stories.

Here is a list of the stories from both parts of the book, linked directly to pages at the Internet Archive: How the Sparrow Set the Elephant and the Crocodile to Pull Against Each Other / The Four Fools / How the Squirrel Won a Verdict for the Gazelle / How the Fox Saved the Frog's Life / Why Inquiry Should Come Before Anger / The Four Wonders / The Adventures of the Twins / Appearances Are Sometimes Deceptive / How the Fowl Evaded His Debt / Why the Small-ant Was the Winner / How the Animals Imitated the Gazelle / Why the Fowls Never Shut Their Doors / Why the Dog and the Palm-rat Hate Each Other / The Leopard Boils His Mother's Teeth / How the Ants Saved the Partridge's Eggs / The Leopard Sticks to the Wooden Image / How the Mouse Won His Wife / The Gazelle Outwits the Leopard / The Gazelle Punishes the Palm-rat / How the Crow Cheated the Dove / How the Civet and the Tortoise Lost Their Friendship / The Water-fairies Save a Child / How the Squirrel Repaid a Kindness / The Kingfisher Deceives the Owl / How the Tortoise Was Punished for His Deceit / How the Frog Collected His Debt From the Hawk / How a Child Saved His Mother's Life / How the Gazelle Won His Wife / The Gazelle Is at Last Punished / The Leopard Pays Homage to the Goat / Why the Owls and the Fowls Never Speak to Each Other / How the Elephant Punished the Leopard / How the Leopard Tried to Deceive the Gazelle / The Story of Two Young Women / Why the Chameleon Cut Off His Own Head / Why the Congo Robin Has a Red Breast / The Leopard Tries to Steal the Gazelle's Wife / The Gazelle Kills the Flies and Mosquitoes, and Outwits the Leopard / The Leopard Is Badly Tricked by the Gazelle, Rat, and Frog / Why the Small-ants Live in the Houses / The Son Who Tried to Outwit His Father.

The story that prompted a children's book is How the Sparrow Set the Elephant and the Crocodile to Pull Against Each Other; here is the book: The Mighty Sparrow: A Trickster Tale of the African Congo by Edel Wignell.

The illustrations are by Cindy Douglas; here are crocodile and elephant pulling against each other:

This was a fun story to see as a children's book! It is one of the most popular of the African trickster tales, with various animals playing the role of trickster, like sparrow here, and various animals who tug against each other, like elephant and crocodile here. This popular African folktale was popular among African American storytellers also; here's an example from a wonderful collection of Gullah folktales at Internet Archive: Bo Rabbit Smart For True by Priscilla Jaquith, with art by Ed Young. 

Here Rabbit tricks Elephant and Whale into playing tug-of-war:

So, you can enjoy these children's books at Internet Archive, and also find many more folktales from the Congo in Weeks's book, both just a click away.

Congo Life and Folklore

by John Weeks

The Mighty Sparrow:

A Trickster Tale of the African Congo

by Edel Wignell