At the foot of the Atlas Mountains, a mountainous massif in the Western Sahara, there was a powerful kingdom ruled by a sheikh as wise as he was good. He had married the princess Hamida, which means gazelle. The young queen deserved that name because of her grace and fragility. A year after the wedding…

On the heights of a remote village at the bottom of a valley lived a melancholic girl who had not known her parents, who had died at her birth. Unaware, however, of their end, and thinking of them on the road, she kept hoping that one day she would meet them. In her illusion, the…

Naiteru-Kop, one of the gods of the Maasai, walked the earth at the dawn of the world and he found it already held some inhabitants. He found a Dorobo (a member of a hunting people, also known as Okiek), a snake, and an elephant living together. After Naiteru-Kop had passed by, the Dorobo found a…

The Tortoise and the Chimpanzee had been friends for a very long time and so it was only natural that they should invite each other to their wedding feasts when they both decided to get married. The Chimpanzee was the first to celebrate his wedding. The most delicious food was prepared and the finest palm…

A dove laid an egg in the hollow of a big tree in front of the blacksmith’s house. When she flew away from her nest in search of food, the blacksmith’s wife stole the egg. The dove came back to her nest and found the egg missing. The dove knew at once that the blacksmith’s…

Long ago before people started taking any other animal apart from the dog, it was said that donkeys could also be tamed. This rumour was told by one man who went to the bush to hunt. After killing the animal, he had hunted he found that it was very heavy for him to carry alone.…

In the beginning, the Maasai did not have any cattle. One day God called Maasinta, who was the first Maasai and said to him: “I want you to make a large enclosure, and when you have done so, come back and inform me.” Maasinta went and did as he was instructed, and came back to…

Once upon a time, ages and ages ago, so long ago that the tiger had no stripes upon his back and the rabbit still had his tail, there was a tiger who had a farm. The farm was very much overgrown with underbrush and the owner sought a workman to clear the ground for him…

The Chief of the Sky Gods had many stories to tell. As Spider listened to the stories of the Sky God, he said to his wife, “I am going to the Chief of the Sky Gods and buy his stories. Then the people will call them Spider Stories. And all the people will remember me.”…

One morning, once upon a time, the tortoise had a very pleasant surprise when he came out of his hiding place under a rock. He found himself in the midst of a lot of delicious mushrooms. They had come out of the ground overnight. He started to eat them enjoyably. It was not long before…

There had been a terrible drought, with intense heat that had dried up the rivers, streams and springs, until there was no water anywhere. The animals wandered far and wide in search of water, but could not find any. Nowhere was water freely flowing. The animals held a meeting, and all of the large animals…

One day, a God asked Mayimba the Honey Bird to meet with him. The God gave the Mayimba three gourds which were all sealed, and gave the Honey Bird the following instruction, “Go to the man and the woman I first created, and give them these three gourds. But you are not to open them…