How was the earth formed, and where did animals come from? Why does the hippopotamus live in water, and why do cats chase rats? Imaginative answers to these and other age-old questions can be found among the rich oral traditions of Africa. Generations of listeners have delighted in these fanciful explanations of the natural, moral, and spiritual worlds, which unfold amid a realm of talking animals, magic drums, tricksters, and fairies.

Originally published: Washington, D.C. : Associated Publishers, 1928.

Preface -- Creation -- Why the sun shines by day and the moon by night -- How animals came into the world -- The origin of Lake Tanganyika -- The beginning of death -- Why children belong to the mother -- The ingrate -- The jealousy of the blind man -- The race for a wife -- The deer and the snail -- Ohia and his sorrows -- Why some women never eat mutton -- The fairy wife -- The disobedient daughter's marriage -- Kindness misunderstood -- The dog and the leopard -- How the dog became the friend of man -- The cats and fowls -- Why chickens live with man -- Why the hawk catches chickens -- The fox and the goat -- Why goats live with man -- The lion, the leopard, and the dog -- The leopard, the tortoise, and the bush rat -- The lioness and the crow -- Why hippoptamus lives in the water -- Why the bush fowl calls up the dawn -- Why the cat catches rats -- The crocodile's relatives -- The reward for honesty -- The squirrel and the spider -- The toad and the kite -- The antelope and the jackal -- The leopard and the hare -- The rabbit and the antelope -- Beware of bad company -- The partnership of the elephant and the rabbit -- Three rival brothers -- The legend of Ngurangurane.