ABC 8. Stories of Africa

For the final Anansi Book Club book in June (see the website for the books we've read so far), we have a longer book with multiple stories, just a click away at the Internet Archive — it's Stories of Africa by Gcina Mhlophe. So, read a story (or stories!) in the book, and share your thoughts at Twitter if you are so inclined; our hashtag is #AnansiBookClub.

Gcina Mhlophe is from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, and you can read about her remarkable life and career at Wikipedia. She is an activist and actress, and also a storyteller and writer.

You'll find 10 different stories here, illustrated by various artists: Mazanendaba / How the Tortoise Won Respect / Kasanko's Dream / Jabulani and the Lion / Khethiwe, Queen of Imbira / Lion Thatches His Roof / Leopard's Gift / Lungile / Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart / Nanana Bo Sele Sele.

Some of these stories you will find in this book are famous not just all over Africa but all over the world, like the story of Jabulani and the Lion (an African version of the Indian folktale about the brahmin, the tiger, and the jackal), and also the story of The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart (a Buddhist jataka tale from India that has been told for centuries in Africa too). During this week, I'll be sharing some comments on some of my personal favorites in the book.

One of my favorites is the last story in the book: Nanana Bo Sele Sele. This is a story about a seriously dangerous elephant and a very brave woman who must confront that elephant; the illustrations are by Junior Valentim:

This folktale from southern Africanwas already written down in Zulu back in 1868 by Henry Callaway, who included it in his collection: Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulu. That is over 150 years ago, so it is exciting to see this story again in a contemporary book. Callaway included the Zulu text in addition to an English translation; you can see that online here: Unanana-Bosele. Here is how the story begins: 

The new story I wanted to feature is about the musical instrument named mbira (imbira), also called kalimba. Khethiwe, Queen of Imbira — and you can find out more about this musical instrument Wikipedia. If you play the kalimba, you will want to read that story for sure! Here is the illustration by Jeannie Kinsler (the stories are illustrated by various artists); look closely and you'll see Khethiwe is holding an mbira in her hands:

And here is a lovely YouTube video by Tinashe Chidanyika to let you hear the sound of the mbira: Tinashé: Mbira version of "Zambezi."

And yet another story that I really like in this book is the very first story, Mazanendaba, which is a story about the world-before-stories and how a woman named Mazanendaba, with the help of Eagle and Dolphin, brought stories in the world. The illustrations for this story are by Jeannie Kinsler:

And if you want to read another version of Mazanendaba's story, there is one available at the African Storybook website: Mazanendaba.

I also wanted to make sure to mention an animal story from the book, and this one about the rabbit, called Nogwaja, has some great artwork by Kim Longhurst: Lion Thatches His Roof.

You can see Rabbit tying the Lion's tail in the illustration. Then, after he ties the Lion, he eats the antelope stew that the Lion had been cooking. At the end, though, the Rabbit eats too much and gets a stomach-ache, and he also realizes that the Lion is going to be hunting him in revenge, so things don't exactly end happily ever after for Nogwaja!

This is a popular African folktale motif, and it shows up in the trickster Rabbit stories of the Americas too. Here's a story that Joel Chandler Harris collected, as retold by Julius Lester and illustrated by Brian Pinkney: Brer Rabbit Gets Brer Fox's Dinner. In this version, instead of tying Lion's tail, Rabbit uses a hammer to nail Fox's tail to the roof.

Here's an illustration by Milo Winter for Joel Chandler Harris's version:

As Gcina Mhlophe explains in the introduction to this book, she loves to write, but she loves telling stories to live audiences even more. YouTube is not the same as being right there in the audience, but it's still a way to see the wonderful Gcina Mhlophe at work; here's just one of many videos of her performances: at YouTube (the embedded video below starts at the 7-minute mark with a song, and then listen as Mhlophe explains the power of words):

Telling African Stories

Passing the Heritage

Gcina Mhlophe

I am also pleased to share yet another fabulous book by Gcina Mhlophe which you can find at the Internet Archive: African Tales, which is a beautiful publication by Barefoot Books publishers, with illustrations by Rachel Griffin.

So, two beautiful books from Gcina Mhlophe to read and enjoy at the Internet Archive: jump in and start reading! I'm sure you will find stories in this book that will grab your attention.

Stories of Africa

by Gcina Mhlophe