A very long time ago before men had learnt how to hunt and set traps, all the birds lived together peacefully in a great forest. Theirs was a happy and carefree existence, the forest supplied all their needs. There was a plentiful supply of nuts, fruits seeds and berries for the birds to feed on…

Once there lived a hard-working farmer in a small village who had a water-buffalo. Every day, with his plough on his shoulder, he led his water-buffalo to the field. In the month of July there was heavy rain and because of this the mud in the field was soft and sticky. The buffalo was up…

0nce upon a time the chimpanzee and the crocodile were good friends. At midday, the chimpanzee would always go to the riverbank and call the crocodile: “Crocodile come! Let us chat together.” The crocodile would hear him and go to his friend to have some pleasant time together. One day the chief of all the…

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful lake, near a big mountain. There lived many animals in the water and on the banks of the lake. Among those animals lived two herons, who had a little tortoise as their friend. All three of them were very good friends. They played together all day long,…

The hare and the hippo were great friends. They walked together in the veld and visited each other in their homes. The hippo was very proud of his hut on the edge of the forest, and every day he gathered soft dry grass to add to the comfort of his very large bed, for he…

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…