Long, long ago, a mother and her son lived by Olive Lake below Olive Mountain. The mother was very, very old and could not work anymore. Her young son rented a plot of land from the landlord and laboured on it all the year round. But despite his industry year in and year out, their…

The fox is the wicked animal in the forest, and everyone hates him. He is for ever cheating people and playing tricks on everyone. There is not a single animal in the whole neighbourhood who has not been fooled by him, but for a long time no one could think of a way to get…

Many years ago the hippopotamus, whose name was Isantim, was one of the biggest kings on the land; he was second only to the elephant. The hippo had seven large fat wives, of whom he was very fond. Now and then he used to give a big feast to the people, but a curious thing…

One day in the long, long ago the hare was walking through the forest. He was a good farmer and was on his way to inspect his mealie lands. In those days he was like all the other creatures of the wilds: he had a long tapering tail, a well-formed nose and a strong, sturdy…

0ne day, a long time ago when there was a famine in a certain part of Africa, Hare met Hyena. “How thin you are looking,” said Hare.  “You look as though you would not say ‘No’ to a good meal either,” replied Hyena. The two animals continued on the road together until they came to…

0nce upon a time there was a colony of little fishes who lived together in their own small pool, isolated from the rest of the fish in the river. It was a still, grey pool, dotted with stones and clumps of weed, and surrounded by thorn bushes and a few palm trees. Most of these…

Ants are the busiest creatures in the world. Every ant has a full time job, with no holidays and no half-days off Ants like to work, and they don’t like much else. The biggest and strongest ants build whole cities for themselves, complete with compartments like deep shelters to which they can retreat if any…

In the old days, all the animals used to make farms like men do today. They hoed the ground, planted the seed, harvested the grain and stored it in corn bins which looked like little round huts, only instead of having a door in front they had a circular hole at the top under the…

A long time ago there were no domestic animals, all were wild, and all were the enemy of man. They feared him, and he feared them, unless they were too small to do him any harm. There were no dogs such as we know today, but creatures roamed the forest who were a mixture of…

Once upon a time, there lived a man called John who was a hunter as well as a magician. John had seven dogs and seven large black pots. The dogs were useful for hunting while the pots protected him from his enemies. John and his wife wanted very much to have a child, but to…

It so happened one day that Lion and Jackal came together to converse on affairs of land and state. Jackal, let me say, was the most important adviser to the king of the forest, and after they had spoken about these matters for quite a while, the conversation took a more personal turn. Lion began…

0nce upon a time, the bat and the bush-rat were great friends. All day long they would go hunting in the bush together, dodging between the tall grasses and the stunted trees, and finding good things to eat. When evening came, they would take turns to cook the meal and then eat it together. But…