A before y is pronounced ai as a diphthong, e.g., Asaya. Close every syllable with a vowel, e.g., Ko-ngo. Where two or more consonants begin a syllable, a slight vowel sound may be presupposed, e.g., Ngweya, as if iNgweya.

Ng has the nasal sound of ng in “finger,” as if fing-nger, (not as in “singer,”) e.g., Mpo-ngwe.

CONTENTS

Part First

[Mpongwe Tribe]

TALEPAGE
1 [Do not Trust your Friend]13
2 [Leopard’s Hunting-Camp]18
3 [Tests of Death: 1st Version]25
Tests of Death: [2nd Version]27
4 [Tasks done for a Wife; and, The Giant Goat]30
5 [A Tug-of-War]37
6 [Agĕnda: Rat’s Play on a Name]41
7 [“Nuts are Eaten Because of Angângwe”: A Proverb]49
8 [Who are Crocodile’s Relatives?]53
9 [Who is King of Birds? and, Why Chickens live with Mankind]54
10 [“Njiwo Died of Sleep:” A Proverb]58
11 [Which is the Fattest:—Manatus, Hog, or Oyster?]60
12 [Why Mosquitoes Buzz]62
13 [Unkind Criticism]63
14 [The Suitors of Princess Gorilla]65
15 [Leopard of the Fine Skin]68
16 [Why the Plantain-Stalk Bears but One Bunch] 76

Part Second

[Benga Tribe]

1 [Swine Talking]81
2 [Crocodile]82
3 [Origin of the Elephant]82
4 [Leopard’s Marriage Journey]85
5 [Tortoise in a Race]95
6 [Goat’s Tournament]99
7 [Why Goats Became Domestic]100
8 [Igwana’s Forked Tongue]103
9 [What Caused their Deaths?]106
10 [A Quarrel about Seniority]109
11 [The Magic Drum]113
12 [The Lies of Tortoise]121
13 [“Death Begins by Some One Person”: A Proverb]126
14 [Tortoise and the Bojabi Tree]129
15 [The Suitors of Njambo’s Daughter]134
16 [Tortoise, Dog, Leopard, and the Njabi Fruit]140
17 [A Journey for Salt]145
18 [A Plea for Mercy]149
19 [The Deceptions of Tortoise]153
20 [Leopard’s Hunting Companions]159
21 [Is the Bat a Bird or a Beast?]163
22 [Dog, and his Human Speech, 1st Version]165
Dog, and his Human Speech, [2nd Version]168
23 [The Savior of the Animals]173
24 [Origin of the Ivory Trade, 1st Version]177
Origin of the Ivory Trade, [2nd Version]184
25 [Dog and his False Friend Leopard]189
26 [A Trick for Vengeance]192
27 [Not My Fault!]195
28 [Do not Impose on the Weak]196
29 [Borrowed Clothes]198
30 [The Story of a Panic]200
31 [A Family Quarrel]201
32 [The Giant Goat]202
33 [The Fights of Mbuma-Tyĕtyĕ; and, An Origin of Leopard]208
34 [A Snake’s Skin Looks like a Snake] 226