Africa at the Internet Archive: Where Animals Talk

I'm continuing "Public Domain Month" here at the African folktale project, and today's book is one of my all-time favorites: Where Animals Talk: West African Folklore Tales by Robert Nassau.

Nassau spent over 40 years of his life as a medical missionary in Africa in the regions now known as Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon:

Nassau arrived in Africa in 1861 and returned to the United States when he retired in 1906; this book of folktales was published in 1912. There are 61 stories in here, and these are individual links to each one: Do Not Trust your Friend / Leopard's Hunting-Camp / Tests of Death (2 versions) / Tasks Done for a Wife / A Tug-of-War / Agenda: Rat's Play on a Name / Nuts are Eaten Because of Angangwe / Who Are Crocodile's Relatives? / Who Is King of Birds? / Njiwo Died of Sleep / Which is the Fattest: Manatus, Hog, or Oyster? / Why Mosquitoes Buzz / Unkind Criticism / The Suitors of Princess Gorilla / Leopard of the Fine Skin / Why the Plantain-Stalk Bears But One Bunch / Swine Talking / Crocodile / Origin of the Elephant / Leopard's Marriage Journey / Tortoise in a Race / Goat's Tournament / Why Goats Became Domestic / Iguana's Forked Tongue / What Caused their Deaths? / A Quarrel about Seniority / The Magic Drum / The Lies of Tortoise / Death Begins by Some One Person / Tortoise and the Bojabi Tree / The Suitors of Njambo's Daughter / Tortoise, Dog, Leopard, and the Njabi Fruit / A Journey for Salt / A Plea for Mercy / The Deceptions of Tortoise / Leopard's Hunting Companions / Is the Bat a Bird or a Beast? / Dog and his Human Speech (2 versions) / The Savior of the Animals / Origin of the Ivory Trade (2 versions) / Dog and His False Friend Leopard / A Trick for Vengeance / Not My Fault! / Do Not Impose on the Weak / Borrowed Clothes / The Story of a Panic / A Family Quarrel / The Giant Goat / The Fights of Mbuma-Tyetye / A Snake's Skin Looks like a Snake / Candor / Which is the Better Hunter, an Eagle or a Leopard? / A Lesson in Evolution / Parrot Standing on One Leg / A Question of Right of Inheritance / Tortoise Covers His Ignorance / A Question as to Age / Abundance / An Oath: With a Mental Reservation / The Treachery of Tortoise / A Chain of Circumstances.

The book is divided into three sections - Mpongwe stories, Benga stories, and Fang stories - and for each section Nassau explains his process for collecting the stories and translating them into English.

One of the things I like best about the book is how he weaves the African names of the animals into the stories, and each story comes with a list of the cast of characters at the start. For example, here are the characters in A Chain of Circumstances:

That's one of the stories I've transcribed and recorded here, along with the story Tests of Death which also features Tortoise as the main trickster: Stories from Where Animals Talk. The audio playlist is growing, and you can find links to all the stories plus the playlist here: Public Domain Tales.

Laura Gibbs · African Animal Tales at the Internet Archive

So, Nassau's book is a wonderful way to get to know the animal characters of western Africa, and the stories are told in a really appealing and straightforward way. This book may be over 100 years old now, but it is absolutely relevant and a pleasure to read!

Where Animals Talk:

West African Folklore Tales

by Robert Nassau