The Yoruba people are descendants from a variety of
West African communities. They are united by Geography,
History, Religion and most importantly their Language.
Many years ago, before the advent of the West African
slave trade, the Yoruba people inhabited an area which
stretched, along the coast of West Africa, all the way
inward and down to Angola in South West Africa. Today
this is not the case. The legends and fairy stories in
this book belong to the Yoruba. They relate the
adventures of men and animals, and try to explain the
mysteries of Nature-Why Women have Long Hair, How the
Leopard got his Spots, the Three Magicians, the Boa-
Constrictor, How the Elephant got his Trunk and more.
These stories grew from the imagination of the people.
We read these folk-tales for their quaintness and
humour, for their sympathy with Nature, and because we
find in them the ideas and ideals, not just of one man,
but of a race of people. IN modern times we have begun
paying close attention to folklore - old tales, not
invented by one man, but belonging to the whole people;
not written down, but told by parents to their children,
and so handed on for hundreds of years. The legends
express primitive notions of right and wrong. As a rule,
the wicked are punished and the good rewarded; and that,
we feel, is as it should be. We may weep at the death of
rascally Tortoise, but we may also feel that he somehow
has deserved his fate! A percentage of the net sale from
this book will be donated to Edgbarrow School in
Crowthorne, Berkshire to augment fundraising for their
Ghana Project. |
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