Reading Notes: Nigerian Folk Stories (Part B)

1. The Story of the Lightning and the Thunder

• Synopsis:
• Thunder was a mother sheep and her son was thunder
• Whenever the young ram would become angry he would run around town causing destruction
• His mother would call after him, telling him to stop
• He wouldn't listen
• People complained and the king banished the duo to the outskirts of the bush
• This didn't work as the lightning would still set fire to the fields and make its way into town to burn farmhouses
• People complained again and the mother and son were banished to live in the sky
• Possibilities"
• Rewritten from the mother's perspective

5.Why Dead People are Buried

• Synopsis:
• The Creator was very fond of his people and didn't like it when someone died
• He decided that all bodies should be placed in a compound and covered in wood ash and they would come back to life after 24 hours
• He sent the Dog to deliver these directions to the people
• The Dog got distracted by a bone on his way to the village
• After the dog didn't return, the Creator sent a sheep to deliver the message
• The sheep too got distracted by some grass on the side of the road
• When the sheep finally delivered his message, he had forgotten the specifics and told the people to bury their dead in the ground
• When the dog returned to his mission, he did remember the details, but since the sheep had already given the wrong message no one believed him
• Possibilities:
• First Person Perspective
• Dog
• Sheep
• Village Person

The Dog gets Distracted by a Bone
Source: Pixabay

8. How the Tortoise Overcame the Elephant and the Hippopotamus

• Synopsis:
• The tortoise challenged the elephant to a contest of strength
• The elephant had to pull the turtle out of the river with a piece of rope
• The Turtle cheated by tying himself to a rock
• He untied himself right before the elephant turned back around
• Since he lost, the elephant paid the turtle 20,000 rods (currency)
• When the Turtles funds started running low, he played a similar trick on the Hippopotamus
• Because the hippo is a water dweller, the turtle tied himself to a tree
• Having lost, the Hippo also gave him 20,000 rods
• Since he had proved himself as the strongest, the tortoise was allowed to be friends with the elephant and hippo
• He wanted to live with both, but since one was on land and one was in water, he sent his son to live with the elephant
• Possibilities:
• First Person Perspective
• Elephant
• Hippo
• The Tortoise's Son
• Alternate Ending: The tortoise gets spotted tying himself to the tree vs the hippo
• Because seriously, there was absolutely no one that came to watch? Yeah right!

Story Source: Nigerian Folk Stories