A collection of folk stories and fairy tales from Southern Nigeria gathered by Elphinstone Dayrell, deputy commissioner of the region when the book was published. - Summary by Elsie Selwyn
Chapters
1 Introduction 20 min 2 The Tortoise with a Pretty Daughter 11 min 3 How a Hunter Obtained Money from His Friends the Leopard, Goat, Bush Cat, and Cock, and How He Got Out of Repaying Them 10 min 4 The Woman with Two Skins 18 min 5 The King's Magic Drum 18 min 6 Ituen and the King's Wife 8 min 7 Of the Pretty Stranger Who Killed the King 6 min 8 Why the Bat Flies by Night 3 min 9 The Disobedient Daughter Who Married a Skull 8 min 10 The King Who Married the Cock's Daughter 9 min 11 Concerning the Woman, the Ape, and the Child 7 min 12 The Fish and the Leopard's Wife; or, Why the Fish Lives in the Water 3 min 13 Why the Bat is Ashamed to be Seen in the Daytime 7 min 14 Why the Worms Live Underneath the Ground 3 min 15 The Elephant and the Tortoise; or, Why the Worms are Blind and the Elephant Has Small Eyes 6 min 16 Why A Hawk Kills Chickens 4 min 17 Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky 3 min 18 Why the Flies Bother the Cows 2 min 19 Why the Cat Kills Rats 2 min 20 The Story of the Lightning and the Thunder 2 min 21 Why the Bush Cow and the Elephant Are Bad Friends 6 min 22 The Cock Who Caused A Fight Between Two Towns 5 min 23 The Affair of the Hippopotamus and the Tortoise; or, Why the Hippopotamus Lives in the Water 3 min 24 Why Dead People Are Buried 3 min 25 Of the Fat Woman Who Melted Away 4 min 26 Concerning the Leopard, the Squirrel, and the Tortoise 8 min 27 Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes 3 min 28 The Story of the Leopard, the Tortoise, and the Bush Rat 8 min 29 The King and the Ju Ju Tree 8 min 30 How the Tortoise Overcame the Elephant and the Hippopotamus 4 min 31 Of the Pretty Girl and the Seven Jealous Women 13 min 32 How the Cannibals Drove the People from Insofan Mountain to the Cross River (Ikom) 5 min 33 The Lucky Fisherman 4 min 34 The Orphan Boy and the Magic Stone 8 min 35 The Slave Girl Who Tried to Kill Her Mistress 11 min 36 The King and the ‘Nsiat Bird 3 min 37 Concerning the Fate of Essido and His Evil Companions 13 min 38 Concerning the Hawk and the Owl 4 min 39 The Story of the Drummer and the Alligators 14 min 40 The ‘Nsasak Bird and the Odudu Bird 5 min 41 The Election of the King Bird (The Black-and-White Fishing Eagle) 7 min
