The goat and his mother lived alone in their village. He said to her, “I have here a magic-medicine to make one strong in wrestling. There is no one who can overcome me, or cast me down; I can overcome any other person.” The other beasts heard of this boast; and they took up the…

Once upon a time there was some trouble between a leopard and a hare. The leopard had cheated the hare of his goat. As the leopard could not find the means to repay the hare, the leopard asked the hare to go with him to visit some kinsfolk on an island where he might obtain…

In the beginning of the world the king called the people together to be given their tasks. He sent out messengers for them. He sent the dove to call the moon, and the bat to call the sun. Each messenger was given a certain time to go and return, so that they might all arrive…

Long, long ago, Giraffe did not have the long, elegant neck that he has now. In those days his neck was short and squat, resembling Rhinoceros’s powerful neck. It was a time of drought and famine. The waterholes had dried up, the land had been scorched by the sun and the grazing was threadbare. The…

One day the hare, feeling hungry, went to look for food. Now, although he was full of mischief, the hare was also very lazy, and whenever he could conveniently do so, he took life easily and let others toil while he benefited from their labours. After aimlessly wandering about the bush, hoping that he could…

Once upon a time when the world had just been made and there was only one kind of banana, but very many kinds of monkeys, there was a little old woman who had a big garden full of banana trees. It was very difficult for the old woman to gather the bananas herself, so she…

The hyena’s home was near a river, and he owned a little canoe of which he was exceedingly proud. Most hyenas are very greedy and this one was no exception. He also happened to be very hungry, for he had not eaten for several days. So early in the morning he climbed into his canoe…

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…