Peter Fuchs was an Austrian anthropologist; he was born in 1928 and died just last year, in 2020. The German original, Afrikanisches Dekamerone, was published in 1959; the English translation by Robert Meister was published in 1963.
The book contains 48 tales from the Hadjerai people of Chad, specifically from a small village named Mukulu on Mount Guéra.
The title alludes to Boccaccio's Decameron, the "Ten Days," with ten storytellers each telling a story each day. Fuchs's book does not get to 100, but there are 48 stories here in the book: Djapando /
The Jackal, the Dog, and the Hyena /
The Maiden and the Dead Dog /
The Crane Wife /
The Malogo and the Maiden /
The Squirrel and the Hyena /
The Death of the Hyena /
Murkumbe /
The Cat and the Hen /
The Man-eater /
The Maiden Konara /
Rasingu and Kidonanki /
The Tree That Was a Lover /
Lolo /
The Nine Young Men /
The Bush Maiden /
The Two Beautiful Wives /
The Husband's Revenge /
The Blind Man and His Wife /
The Lustful Wife /
The Hunter's Revenge /
The Four Lovers /
The Neighbor /
The Seven Maidens /
The Cunning of Women /
Mankurtu /
The Selfish Man /
The Stupid Husband and the Celver Wife /
The Cry in the Night /
The Gourd /
Urra /
Garsoli /
The Twins /
The Child on the Back /
God's Daughter /
The Maiden and the Boy's Head /
Kalbati the Liar /
Nidje and Telfan /
The Friends /
The Strongest Man /
The Right of the Stronger /
The Elephants /
The Young Men and the Old Woman /
The Unfaithful Wife /
The Skin /
The Village of Death /
Death and the Hare /
Why People Die.
In addition to the stories themselves, Fuchs interweaves information about the village of Mukulu specifically and the culture of the Hadjerai people; Fuchs's commentary is set in italics, and it provides a very welcome addition to the book.
So, this book is a great read on its own merits, and even more so because there are not as many books of stories in English from central Africa compared to other parts of the continent ... and thanks to the Internet Archive, these stories from Chad are just a click away!
by Peter Fuchs
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