151 Tales From Africa

Once upon a time, there were two brothers. One was wealthy and the other was poor. The poor brother was kind and good. Though he did not have much to offer to the guests, he shared with them whatever he had. On the other hand, the rich brother didn’t want anyone to come to his […]

Etege Mennen, the wife of Emperor Haile Selassie, was believed to be living in paradise. At the same time, Abba Hanna, who was in charge of all the financial affairs of the Emperor was a greedy person and was living in purgatory. One day, Abba Hanna wished to go and meet Etege. He was granted

Long ago, in Nigeria, there was a very fat woman who was made of oil. She was very beautiful, and many young men came to her parents and asked her hand in marriage. They even offered dowry. But her mother always refused. She said that it was not possible for her daughter to work on

Once upon a time, a kite’s son was very ill. The kite’s sister came up to her and said that she knew a good doctor for her son. “The spider is the best doctor here. I can ask him to come and see your son.” The mother kite asked her to send him to her

Long ago, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and President Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya were watching a football match. The match was being played between their national teams. Neither of the team was able to score the goal, so the match was over. Finally, the referee decided that the two men would act as goalkeepers. First

Long ago, there was a man named Aleke Gebre Hanna. One day, he decided to leave Addis Ababa and go to Gojjam. So, he collected all his money. As it was a huge amount, he put it in a sack and left. As soon as he arrived at the Blue Nile Bridge, he was scared

Once upon a time, there lived a trader named Nazoomi. He inherited his father’s business and set out for another city with his camel loaded with goods. All of a sudden, sand storms started and Nazoomi had to take shelter in an inn. He off-loaded goods and tied the camel outside. Tired, he quickly fell

Once, a man was travelling. On his way, he met a family. The traveller said, “I have to travel a long way. Can I stay with you for the night?” The family not only welcomed him but also gave him some food to eat. In the evening, they gave the traveller meat and some milk.

Once upon a time, there was a man named Ina Hagadare who had many sheep. His animals began to die every day. He wondered why his sheep were dying. He decided to separate the animals into two equal parts by a fence. One part would be for Allah and the other for him. He spoke

Long ago, there lived a chief who had a beautiful daughter. There were many suitors who wanted to marry her. But the chief thought that they were not good for his daughter. Among the other suitors were Fire and Rain. They, too, wished to marry the chief’s daughter. Rain went up to her and proposed

In the town of Nebri lived a man who once carved a beautiful gebeta board for his son. He used the wood from an olive tree to make the board. Then, he taught his son how to play games upon it. The son was delighted to have the beautiful board. In the morning, when he

Once upon a time, there were three brothers who loved the same girl. The girl could not decide who was the best. One day, the father of the three brothers asked each one of them to buy the most useful thing and bring it back home. The three brothers travelled a lot. After many days,

Long ago, there was a man named Igal Shidal. Once, at night, he was travelling in the countryside. He was scared to see a ‘lion’ sitting in the middle of the road. He was a coward. He thought, ‘Oh, this is a lion,’ and stood where he was. He quickly took his shield and spear,

Abu Nowas was a favourite of the country’s Sultan. One day, he went to the Sultan and told him that his wife had died and he had no money to bury her. The Sultan gave him the money. At the same time, Nowas’ wife went to the Sultana and told her that her husband was

Segab was eleven years old when his mother died. His father married another woman named Bizunesh. Segab did not like her. On the other hand, she loved Segab very much and tried to be a good mother to him. She made good food for him at every meal. But he never ate it. She bought