Reading Diary A: Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria

Topic: The stories I focused on in this unit were The Fish and the Leopard's Wife and The Elephant and the Tortoise. Each of these stories is intended to explain natural phenomena that occur with animals in Africa. The first tells the story of the Fish, who was banished to live only in the water after taking part in an affair with the Leopard's wife. The Leopard and the Fish are good friends, so the Leopard asks the King to handle the punishment. This punishment is to be allowed to live only in the water, and to be killed if the Fish comes on land. The second story, explains why the Elephant has such small eyes. The Elephant used to eat so much food at feasts that other animals couldn't get their fair share. So, the Tortoise tricks the Elephant into trading each of his eyes in exchange for more food. After realizing he has been tricked, the Elephant talks the Worm into giving him his eyes. For this reason, the Elephant has small eyes and the Worm is blind. This was the general theme of all the stories I read in the unit, creating an explanation for the characteristics of the various animals in Africa.

Table of Contents:
Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria

Elephant eye