The Gypsy Queen

The Gypsy Queen

La Reina Mora

Mexican Fairy Tale

There was a king who had one son. When the prince reached a marriageable age, he told his parents, "I want to marry the most beautiful woman in the whole world. Therefore, I am going to journey all over the world until I find her."

The prince left the palace and traveled until he came to a fountain where he stopped to take a drink. As the youth bent over to drink, he saw reflected in the water three oranges. Looking up, he saw three large and beautiful fruits on the branch of an orange tree.

"How tasty they look," said the prince. Climbing the tree, he removed the oranges from the branch.

The prince cut the first orange in half and from its interior a beautiful maiden appeared.

"Give me bread," said the maiden to the prince.

"I can't," answered he, "because I don't have any."

"Then to my orange I will return," said the maiden, and the orange became whole again.

The prince cut the second orange, and from this ruit also sprang a maiden, much more beautiful than the first.

"Give me bread," the second maiden told the youth.

"I can't," said the prince, "because I don't have any."

"Then to my orange I will return," said the maden, and the orange became whole again.

The prince thoughtfully considered the situation. He decided to get some bread in case another maiden should appear asking for it.

As the prince was making his plans, a gypsy went by in a cart.

"Amigo," cried the prince, "I will give you a golden coin for a piece of bread."

Hurriedly the gypsy left his cart, hastening to give the prince some bread.

The prince, now happy and satisfied, cut the third orange. And from the orange sprang a maiden, much more beautiful than the other two.

"Give me bread," the third maiden said.

The prince, joyously, gave her bread. The lady of the orange then exclaimed, "I am now yours. You can do as you please with me."

"I will marry you," answered the prince.

The maiden was utterly naked, and since the prince wanted to take her back to the palace he could not let her go as she was. He examined the gypsy's clothes but they were dirty. The prince then told the maiden, "Remain here with this gypsy while I go and bring some garments for you."

The gypsy had a daughter who had been asleep in the cart and who had not witnessed what had taken place. The daughter awoke when the prince was riding away, and at sight of him, she fell in love.

The gypsy's daughter jumped from the cart and asked her father what had taken place. He told her all that had happened.

The gypsy girl saw the beautiful maiden and said to her, "Let me comb your hair so that you will be much more beautiful when the prince returns."

The maiden agreed. As the gypsy girl began combing, she suddenly stuck a pin in the lady's head. Immediately the maiden turned into a dove. The gypsy girl then took her clothes off and sat where the maiden had been.

Soon the prince returned and, seeing the gypsy witch, exclaimed, "Señora, how dark you have become!"

"The sun has burnt my skin," the witch answered.

The prince, believing the witch was the maiden from the orange, took the gypsy woman to his palace and there married her.

One day a dove arrived at the garden of the king and asked the gardener, "Gardener to the king, how are the princess and his wife?"

"Sometimes he sings, but more often does he cry," answered the gardener.

From then on the little dove would come to the garden and ask the same question again and again. Finally, the gardener told the prince about the dove.

The prince then ordered him to capture the bird next time it came to the garden. The gardener limed the tree where the dove always rested. The next day, when it tried to fly away, it could not and the gardener captured it and took it to the prince.

The prince fell in love with the little dove. He took the bird in his hands and began stroking its head. Feeling the pin in the dove's head, he jerked it out. Immediately the dove changed back into the maiden of the orange.

The beautiful maide told the prince all that had happened and the prince told the king the maiden's story.

The king became greatly angered and ordered that the gpsy witch be burned at the stake. And the prince and the maiden married and lived happily ever after.

The Bear Prince

The Bear Prince

El Principe Oso

Mexican Fairy Tale

Once upon a time there was a very poor woodcutter who had three beautiful daughters. Of the three girls, the youngest was the most beautiful. One day the woodcutter went into the forest and was chopping down an oak tree when a very large and horrible bear wrenched the axe from his hands.

"Who gave you permission to cut the wood in my forest?" growled the bear. "You have been stealing my timber and now you must pay for it with your life."

"Please forgive me, Senor Oso," said the poor woodcutter, "I was only cutting the wood to sell it and thus support my three little daughters. If you kill me, my little girls will starve."

The Bear remained thoughtful and then said,

"There is only one way in which you life may be saved. You have to give me one of your daughters in marriage."

The woodcutter didn't know what to say or do. Finally the thought of dying and leaving his daughters destitute forced him to agree to the Bear's proposal.

The woodcutter returned home and told his daughters what had happened.

"Father," said the two eldest girls, "we would rather die than marry that Bear."

Ninfa, the youngest, said. "Father, I will marry the Bear."

Next day Ninfa and her father went into the forest where the Bear was waiting for them. After seeing the beautiful maiden, he was satisfied.

Ninfa, however, said to the Bear, "Senor Oso, my mother always taught me that in all things I should always follow God's law. If I must marry you, I want to be married according to the Catholic rites."

The Bear agreed, provided a priest could come to the forest. The woodcutter went in search of a priest and soon returned with one. Ninfa and the Bear were then married.

The Bear took Ninfa to his cave, and when it grew dark he chanted:

"Bear so hairy, Bear so alarming,
Change into a prince handsome and charming."

In an instant the Bear changed into a handsome prince. He then told Ninfa, "I am an enchanted prince, cursed by a witch into being a bear by day and a man by night. You do anything you want around here on one condition, that you never reveal that I am an enchanted prince."

Ninfa, happily promised that she would never reveal the secret.

The next morning they arose from bed, and the prince said:

"Prince so handsome, prince so charming,
Change into a Bear, hairy and alarming."

In an instant the prince had changed back into a bear.

Days followed days and Ninfa felt a desire to go and visit her family in the village. However, she didn't know how to ask the prince for permission. Finally she mustered enough courage and said to him.

"Aside from you, husband, I don't have anyone with whom to talk. I wish you would let me go to the village to see my father and sister. It isn't far, and if I leave early enough I will be back before it gets dark."

The prince did not want to let Ninfa go, but the girl insisted so much that he finally consented. However, he make her repeat her oath never to reveal the prince's secret.

Next day Ninfa got up early. She dressed herself richly and went to see her father and sisters, who welcomed her joyously. However, the devil, who never sleeps, soon filled the sisters with envy. They began to poke fun at Ninfa, jealous of the fact that she was wearing rich jewels and costly garments.

"You married a bear, what shame!" the sisters repeatedly told her.

So many times did the sisters repeat this, that finally Ninfa lost her temper and revealed her husband's secret. The sisters were deeply amazed to hear Ninfa's tale. The eldest one then said:

"Look, Ninfa, why don't you disenchant the prince? What you have to do is easy. Get him drunk tonight. When he goes to sleep, tie him up and gag him. As soon as day breaks and the prince wakes up, he will not be able to say the magic words and the enchantment will be broken. Then you will have a husband with a human form forever."

Ninfa returned to the bear's cave and that night did everything her sister had suggested. The prince awoke the next morning, and imagine his surprise at finding himself tied and gagged!

He could not say the magic rhyme and the enchantment was broken.

"Wife," the prince later said to Ninfa, "you have broken you promise; now you must bear the consequences. To break the enchantment and live happily ever after, we two had to live happily married a year and a day. Since you have disobeyed me, you are going to have to look for me. You will not find me until you locate the Castle of Faith."

Saying this, the prince vanished and Ninfa was left alone. She cried and was sorry, for she truly loved the prince. Then, determined to be reunited with her husband, Ninfa decided to go and look for the Castle of Faith. Tying a few belongings together, she slung them on her back and left on her search.

She walked and walked and finally arrived at a forest where a wizard lived.

"Nina," said the wizard, "what do you want here in this forest?"

"I am looking for the Castle of Faith," answered Ninfa, "do you happen to know where it is?"

"I don't know where that castle is located." said the wizard, "but follow this road until you reach my father's house. He may know where the castle is. Take this nut and if you ever find yourself in trouble break it."

Ninfa thanked the old man, and left, finally reaching the house where the wizard's father lived. She asked him if he knew where the Castle of Father was. The old man didn't know but said:

"Look, walk along this road until you come to the house of my eldest brother. He has traveled much, perhaps he can tell you where the castle is. I am going to give you another nut just as my son did. If you find yourself in trouble, break it and it will help you.

Ninfa walked and walked and finally came to the house of the third wizard. He also didn't know here the castle was. However, he told her what to do:

"The Moon probably knows. Follow this road and soon you will come to her house. But be careful, the Moon may be angry. I am also going to give you a nut. If you find yourself in trouble, break it."

Ninfa left. The poor girl was very, very tired, but at last that night she arrived at the moon's house. She knocked on the door and a little old lady, who was the moon's housekeeper, came out.

"Merciful God! Daughter, what are you doing here?" asked the old lady. "Don't you know that if the Moon finds you here she will eat you?"

Ninfa tearfully told the old woman all that had happened.

"Look," said the old one, "you hide behind the stove. When the moon comes, I will carelessly ask her if she know where the castle is."

At dawn the moon came in, angry because she had stuck in her finger a thorn from a prickly pear.*

The moon came into the kitchen and said, "Human flesh I smell here. Give it to me or on you I will feast."

"Go on," said the old woman, "you're crazy. Just because there is a roast in the oven, you think it's human flesh. Sit down and eat so that you can go to bed. You are very tired.

The moon sat down to eat and the old lady began to talk. "The other day an owl went by, and I got to taking with her. She told me she had heard talk about the Castle of Faith. You, who know so many things, surely know where this castle is."

"To tell you the truth," said the Moon, "I don't know." The one who probably knows is the Sun."

The moon went to bed and the little old lady whispered to Ninfa, "Quickly, leave before the Moon wakes up. Go along this road and soon you will arrive at the house of the Sun."

Ninfa left and she walked and walked, until finally she came to the Sun's house. She knocked on the door and another little old lady answered.

"Valgame Dios, nina!" she exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" Don't you know that if the Sun finds you here he will burn you?"

Ninfa began to cry, and between sobs told her story to the little old lady. They were both gloomily taking when the house suddenly filled with light and the Sun came in. Poor Ninfa. She crossed herself and prepared to die. But the little old lady yelled.

"Wait, Sun! Wait! this poor child is looking for the Castle of Faith."

"Ah!" exclaimed the Sun, "so you are looking for the Castle of Faith."

Tearfully Ninfa told the Sun what had happened to her.

"I know where the castle is," said the Sun. "But it is very far from here. I could take you, but it is getting late and you know that I am not allowed to go out after dark. But look! Near here lives my good friend, El Aire, the Wind. He can take you. You walk along this path and when you get to El Aire's home, you tell him that it was I who sent you."

Ninfa left and, after walking a good while, arrived at the Wind's house. She knocked and the Wind screamed, "Come in whoever it is!"

Ninfa entered and told El Aire that the Sun had sent her with a request.

"Granted," said El Aire, "no matter what it may be."

She told Senor Aire all that had adversely happened to her and that she wanted to go to the Castle of Faith.

"Do not worry," said El Aire, "I myself, will take you."

Ninfa straddled El Aire's back, and in less time than it takes to wink an eye, they arrived at the castle.

"Look," said El Aire, "it seems that there is a fiesta in the castle."

The whole castle was brilliantly lit and the sound of violins and guitars could be heard everywhere.

"I have to leave," he told Ninfa. "With the help of God, everything will come out all right."

And turning into a whirlwind, he rushed away.

Ninfa knocked on the door of the castle, and a servant come out.

"In what may I serve you?" asked the servant.

"I would like to see the prince."

"Senora," answered the servant, "you cannot see him at this moment. He just got married and now is dancing with the new princess."

"Well, if that is the case, Senor, at least let me come in and see this baile. I have never seen such a magnificent baile."

The servant told Ninfa, "I am going to let you come in, but one condition, that you be careful and not let the bride see you. Since you have not been invited, the bride would be angry at seeing you here."

Ninfa entered the castle and saw her husband, the prince, eating at a table and surrounded by his guests.

She flattened herself against the wall. From there she began trying to attract the prince's attention. He kept on taking; he had not seen the poor girl.

Ninfa tried so hard to get the prince's attention that the bride saw her. She was an evil witch who with her magic had blinded the prince and made him marry her.

The prince then saw Ninfa and recognized her immediately. He yelled at the servants. telling them to bring Ninfa to him, but with the noise nobody heard him.

The witch screamed at her servants, "Run that beggar out!"

The servants were about to lay their hands on Ninfa when the girl broke one of the magic nuts the wizards had given her. In an instant Ninfa turned into a little rat which ran hither and yon. When the witch saw this, she turned into a huge cat which began to chase the rat. The rat sprang atop the prince's table, and onto his plate. There Ninfa broke another nut and turned into a grain of rice which became lost among many on the prince's plate. The cat also jumped on the table, turning instantly into a chicken which began to eat the rice.

Ninfa then broke the other nut and turned into a coyote which ate the chicken in one bite.

Ninfa then was transformed back into human form to be reunited with the prince and both lived happily ever after.

Llorona, Omen of Death

Llorona, Omen of Death
A California Ghost Story

They say that the Llorona was once a poor young girl who loved a rich nobleman, and together they had three children. The girl wished to marry the nobleman, but he refused her. He told her that he might have considered marrying her if she had not born the three out-of-wedlock children, which he considered a disgrace. The girl was determined to have the nobleman for her own, so she drowned her children to prove her love to him. But still he would have none of her and married another. Mad with grief, the girl walked along the river, weeping and calling for her children. But they were gone. So she drowned herself. For her crime, her spirit was condemned to wander the waterways, weeping and searching for her children until the end of time. It was said that whenever the wailing woman appears, someone will die.

Now I have heard that one night, two young men were car-pooling home from work with the windows down when they heard a terrible wail. It sounded like the desperate cry of a baby or perhaps an injured tom-cat. Beside the road, a white mist began to gather. It moved swiftly among a grove of palm trees and when it reached the largest tree, it became the figure of a lovely young girl dressed all in white. Long dark hair hung loose down her back. She began to weep and wring her hands in agony, and the men realized that they were seeing the ghost of the Llorona. The driver gunned the engine and they drove away as fast as they could. The glowing figure of the Llorona remained visible in the rear-view mirror until the car turned the corner.

The men were upset by the vision, afraid that the rumors about the Llorona might be true. But nothing happened to either of them the rest of that night, so they laughed away the incident, deciding that they had imagined the whole thing.

The next night, the men were riding home from work when their front tire burst at the place in the road where they had seen the ghost the previous night.  The car spun out of control and hit the largest tree in the palm grove in the exact place where the Llorona had appeared to them.  Both men were killed instantly.

Joaquin Murietta: Bandit of the Goldfields

Joaquin Murietta: Bandit of the Goldfields
A California Outlaw Story

Joaquin Murietta and wife Rosita lived with his older brother Carlos in California. The three Mexican immigrants were living on a small, successful farm and the men were also working a claim near Hangtown. However, the other miners living nearby tried to run them off, telling them that it was illegal for Mexicans to pan for gold or hold a claim. The Murietta brother's ignored their threats and continued to live peacefully on their farm and work in the gold-fields.

Enraged by this flagrant disregard for the American laws, a drunken mob attacked the little family late one night, shooting Carlos, and then ravishing and murdering Rosita while Joaquin was forced to watch. The mob bound the Mexican to a stake in the yard, where they beat him with a whip. He strained angrily against his bonds, but finally his wounds overcame him and he slumped senseless against the post. The mob left him for dead, but when a few sober citizens came the next day to help the Mexican family, Joaquin was already gone.

A few months later, a dark-bearded, long-haired stranger with cold black eyes set up a gambling establishment in Hangtown. Shortly after the stranger's arrival in town, miners started going missing, one after another, and their dead bodies were turning up in unlikely places. All of them had their ears cut off. A few of the smarter folks realized that each of the dead miners had been a party to the illegal slaying of Carlos and Rosita Murietta. There were thirty-one men in the mob that night, and fourteen were now dead. When this became known, the other seventeen men scattered to the winds overnight; but one by one, they were hunted down, killed, and their ears were cut off.

Finally, a miner who had once had a claim near to the Murietta brothers came to Hangtown and identified the owner of the gambling establishment as Joaquin Murietta. His cover blown, the Mexican fled into the wilds and started to gather other wild and restless Mexicans to him. Soon he was the head of a mighty gang, riding a black stallion and robbing the Americans of their gold. Dangling from the bandit's saddle was the string of dried ears taken from the members of the mob who killed his wife and brother. Together with his bandits, Joaquin Murietta robbed the miners of a million dollars in gold. Yet for all his ruthlessness, Joaquin was kind to his fellow Mexicans, and would never turn down a friend who was in need. He gave his riches liberally to the poor, and avenged those who were oppressed. In turn, they sheltered him from the law, and called blessings down upon him.

Travel in the goldfields was made nearly impossible by the threat of Joaquin Murietta and his gang, so California's governor hired a group of rangers to track down and kill Joaquin. Led by a Captain Love, the rangers ambushed Joaquin and his men, and shot the Mexican bandit and his horse to death. Captain Love decapitated the Mexican bandit and put his head into a jar filled with alcohol, which he paraded through the streets of San Francisco. The head was finally placed behind the bar of the Golden Nugget Saloon in San Francisco, where it leered at the folks who came there to drink until the saloon was destroy in the 1906 earthquake.

To this day, Joaquin's headless ghost continues to ride through the gold fields, terrorizing all who crossed his path with cries of: "Give me back my head."

Girl in White

Girl in White
A Mexican Ghost Story

He was sulking a little, standing at the sidelines while all the other men danced with their pretty partners. His girl had not come to the dance that night. Her mother was ill, and so his girl had remained at her side. A fine pious act, he thought sourly, but it left him at loose ends.

His friend, Ernesto, came up to him between sets with a cold drink and some words of encouragement. "After all, Anita is not the only girl in the world," Ernesto said. "There are many pretty girls here tonight. Dance with one of them."

Bolstered by his friend's words, he started looking around the dance hall. His eye fell upon a beautiful young girl standing wistfully at the edge of the floor beside the door to the terrace. She was dressed in an old-fashioned white gown and her skin was pale as the moon. Her dark eyes watched the dance hungrily from her position behind a tall fern, and he felt his heart beat faster. Such a lovely woman should be dancing!

He made his way through the bustling crowd and bowed to the girl in white. She looked startled by his addresses, as if she had not expected anyone to notice her that night. But she readily assented to dance with him, and he proudly led her out onto the floor for the next set, all thoughts of Anita gone from his mind.

Ernesto and some of his other friends gave him odd looks as he danced with the girl in white. A few times, the man opposite them bumped right into them as if he had not seen his partner at all. He was furious and wanted to stop the dance and make the man apologize to the girl in white, but she just laughed and hushed him.

When the dance was over, he hurried to get his fair partner a drink. Ernesto approached him at the refreshment table. "When I told you to dance, I meant with a partner," his friend teased him.

"I was dancing with a partner," he replied, irritated by his friends remark. "The loveliest girl in all of Mexico!"

"You've had too much to drink, my friend," Ernesto replied. "You were dancing by yourself out there!"

He glared at his friend and turned away without answering him. Making his way back to the girl in white, he handed her a glass and asked her to stroll with him along the terrace. The night was beautiful, the sky full of stars, and he stared at the girl in white with his heart in his eyes as they stood looking out over the beautiful scene.

The girl in white turned to him with a sigh and said: "Thank you for the dance, Senor. It has been a very long time since I had such pleasure."

"Let us dance again, then," he said infatuatedly. But she shook her head.

"I must leave now," she said, catching up her skirts with one hand and drifting toward the stairs at the side of the terrace.

"Please don't go," he pleaded, following her.

"I must," she said, turning to look at him. Her eyes softened when she saw the look on his face. "Come with me?" she invited, holding out a pale hand.

His heart pounded rapidly at the thought. More than anything in the world, he wanted to go with this lovely girl. And then his mind registered the fact that he could see the stone wall of the terrace through the girl's hand. His desire melted away before the shock of that realization. He looked into her face again, and realized that she was fading away before his eyes.

At the look of horror on his face, the girl gave a sad laugh and dropped her hand, which was nearly transparent now.

"Goodbye," she said, her body becoming thin and misty. "Goodbye."

Then she was gone.

He gave a shout of terror when he realized he had been dancing with a ghost. He bolted from the premises, leaving his horse behind, and ran all the way home.

When Ernesto came the next day to bring him his horse, he told his friend the whole story. Ernesto whistled in awe. "You saw the spirit of Consuela, my friend," he said. "She was the daughter of one of the local aristocracy who lived in this region more than a hundred years ago. She died of consumption the night before her first ball and they say her spirit sometimes attends the local dances, hoping to claim one of the dances that she missed."

He shuddered at the thought of his dance with the ghost. "I will not be visiting that dance hall again," he told Ernesto. "From now on, all my dances will be with Anita!"

And he kept his word.

El Muerto

El Muerto
A Texas Ghost Story

After getting the lay of the land, so to speak, frontier man Bigfoot Wallace moved from Austin to San Antonio, which was considered the extreme edge of the frontier, to sign up as a Texas Ranger under Jack Hayes. In them days, Texas was as wild as the west could get. There was danger from the south from the Mexicans, danger to the wet and north from the wild frontier filled with Indians and desperados, and to the east the settlements still had problems with the Cherokee Nation. General Sam Houston himself had appointed young Captain Hays, a hero from the battle of Plum Creek, to raise a company of Rangers to defend San Antonio. Hayes had high standards for his men. They were the best fighters in the west, and they had to be, considerin’ the fact that they were often outnumbered fifty to one. A man had to have courage, good character, good riding and shooting skills and a horse worth a hundred dollars to be considered for the job. Captain Hayes knew all about Bigfoot Wallace and signed him on the spot.

So armed with Colt pistol and a Bowie knife, Texas Ranger Bigfoot Wallace once more took on the Wild West, and quickly made his mark on Texas folklore. In them days, the Rangers tended to handle stock theft at the end of the rope, so to speak, stringing up the bandits, forcing a confession out of them, and then leaving the bodies swaying in the wind to deter other outlaws. Only it didn’t work, and the bandits kept right on stealing, sometimes passing right under the bodies of their fellow outlaws to do it.

Now Bigfoot’s fellow Ranger, Creed Taylor, had a big spread lay west of San Antonio, in the cedar hills clear on the edge of Comanche territory, and he was constantly losing stock to bandits and Indian raids. The last straw came for Taylor the day famous Mexican raider and cattle thief Vidal and his gang rounded up a bunch of horses from his ranch and took them south toward Mexico. Most of the Rangers were heading north to pursue some Comanche’s out on a raid, but Taylor and a friend went immediately in pursuit of the thief, and when they bumped into Wallace just below Uvalde, he joined them.

Bigfoot was always ready to hunt horse thieves and desperados, especially those of Mexican descent, never forgetting what happened to his brother at Goliad. Bigfoot decided it was time to put an end to Vidal’s gang once and for all. He would track the wiry Mexican bandit to earth. The three men located the camp where the horse thief and his gang lay sleeping, and snuck in from downwind, so as not to alert the horses. Vidal was wanted dead or alive, so all the thieves were shot and killed in the gunfight that followed.

That was when Wallace got an idea. Obviously, hanging horse thieves hadn’t gotten the message across to the outlaws raiding the ranches of the good folk of Texas. Perhaps a more drastic example of frontier justice would do the trick. Severing Vidal’s head from his body, Bigfoot and his fellow Ranger tied the body to the saddle of the wildest mustang in the stolen herd and secured the severed head to the saddle horn so that it would bounce and flop around with every step taken by the mustang. Then Wallace gave a shout and sent the horse running away with its headless, dead rider, hoping the gruesome sight would deter future cattle thieves.

What he managed to do was frighten everyone in South Texas. Folks would be peacefully walking down the road of an evening when a terrible headless rider would gallop pass on a midnight black stallion with serape blowing in the wind and severed head bounding on the saddle horn beneath its sombrero. Nothing could deter the terrible specter – not bullets, not arrows, not spears. It was years before a posse of cowboys finally grew brave enough to bushwhack the horse and release the withered corpse from its back.

But on moonless nights, the ghost of El Muerto continues to ride across South Texas to this day with his long black serape blowing in the wind and his severed head bumping on the saddle beside him. 

Eight Royal Trees

Eight Royal Trees
A Bengali Story

There was once a powerful King who was married to seven Queens. The King was a good ruler and a generous man, but he had no heir to his throne and this made him very sad.

 One day, the youngest and most beautiful of the King’s wives became pregnant. The King was overjoyed at this news and there was much celebrating.

The older wives became more and more jealous of the young Queen as their husband the King began to pay her more and more attention and bestow upon her lavish gifts and affection.

When the day finally arrived, the youngest Queen did not give birth to just one child, but instead gave birth to eight beautiful babies: seven handsome boys and one beautiful girl.

The jealous Queens, unable to have children of their own, hatched an unspeakable plan when they learned of the birth of the eight children. During the night, before the poor King had a chance to see his sons and his daughter, the Queens stole each child, killed them and buried them in the palace gardens where they would never be found.

Then the jealous Queens replaced each boy child with a puppy dog, and the baby girl they replaced with a small kitten. Then they called for the King to come quickly to the youngest Queen’s chambers. ‘You see she has given birth to animals,’ said the first wife.

Dog for a baby

‘This is surely witchcraft,’ said another. ‘You must banish your youngest wife from our kingdom.’

Although the youngest Queen protested her innocence to the King, she was still banished from the Kingdom and forced to live in exile, never knowing what had happened to her beloved children.

The years passed until, one warm spring, something very strange happened. From the earth where the wicked Queens had buried the eight children, there grew seven Champa trees and one Parul tree, beautiful and colourful and rich in aroma.

When the wicked Queens approached the trees and tried to pluck the beautiful flowers, the branches lifted higher into the air out of reach. When the King approached and tried to pluck the flowers, the branches moved again so that the flowers remained on the tree.

Then a soft voice drifted on the scented breeze. ‘Bring the banished Queen to us and see if she can pluck our flowers.’

The King ordered his most trusted guards to fetch the banished Queen and return her to the palace.

Upon her return, the young Queen was asked by the King to approach the mysterious trees and try to pluck the flowers from the branches. When she reached up and plucked a flower from the first Champa tree, a baby boy emerged from the flower and was reunited with his mother. The same thing happened with the second Champa tree and the third, until all seven baby boys were reunited with their mother. And when the Queen reached up and plucked the flower from the Parul tree, a beautiful baby girl emerged from the flower and embraced her mother once more.

The King was overjoyed to see his family reunited at last and he asked his wife to forgive him and to return to the palace forever.

The King also learned that the older Queens had been responsible for the evil plot to separate him from his youngest wife and his eight children. He immediately ordered that each wife be imprisoned for life and never spoken of again.

After the evil Queens were imprisoned, the youngest Queen and the King lived happily ever after with their eight beautiful children who all grew up to be strong and healthy. This story quickly spread throughout the Kingdom and the people learned that no good can ever come of envy or of wrongdoing.               

African Stories

We have a collection of 10+ African short stories, from folktales, fairy tales and traditional. Africa, as one of the first civilization in the world also has its original stories that were mostly written in rocks, caves and carved in trees. This ethnic African stories has some different versions of it from across the globe.

Read the story collection here: African Stories

Why Spider has a bald head

Why Spider has a bald head

Traditional African story about insects

Mr Spider, who is popularly known as Ananse, is renowned to be a man of tricks. Have you ever asked yourself why he is bald? This is the story of how this came about.

One afternoon, after Mr spider had enjoyed his lunch, he sat down in his yard to relax. His lunch had been particularly nice, so soon enough he snoozed off into a slumber, and sat there snoring: nrrrroorrroogh! nrrrroorrrroogh! nrrroorrrooogh!

Suddenly there was the sound of someone knocking on the door, and this woke him up. Mr Spider opened the door, and there he saw Nana Petra. Spider said: “Eeh, Nana Petra, you are welcome! It’s a long time since you called to see me.” He took his visitor inside the house, and offered him everything he needed as a visitor. Mr Spider asked Nana Petra: “My brother, may I know your intention of coming here at this crucial hour?”

Nana Petra paused for some time, then spoke solemnly: “HmHmHm, it is sad news I bring you, brother spider.” Hearing this Mr Spider was confused and asked: “What is this sad news that you bring Nana Petra?”

Nana Petra continued: “Your majesty, Mr Spider, I am very sorry to announce to you the death of my father, Eja Mimou.” Now as Nana Petra was Ananse’s brother-in-law, this made Eja Mimou his father-in-law. When Ananse heard the news, he could hardly believe it. So he asked his brother again: “Nana Petra, are you joking or are you serious?” Nana Petra assured him that he was not joking, and eventually Ananse understood that his dear father-in-law was no more.

Before Nana Petra left again, he told Ananse that the funeral and the rites would be held three days later in the residence of his late father-in-law. After Nana Petra left, Ananse went to see his close friend, Mr Dog, and told him he would very much like him to accompany him to the funeral and last rites of his departed father-in-law. Mr Dog agreed. When it was time to go to the funeral Mr Spider told his friend Mr Dog he should carry along his guitar, so they could play some mournful tunes at the funeral ground. They slowly made their way to the house where the funeral was taking place. Mr Spider had dressed himself in some very expensive cloth and put on a large dark hat to show his respect for the deceased.

When the friends arrived everybody was very excited, in spite of the fact that there had been a bereavement, because Mr Spider was such a well known and great personality. They were very happy to see him there, and he was offered one of the best seats in the house. Shortly after, Mr Spider asked the people to excuse him and went into the kitchen, where he found a large pot of beans on the fire. Mr Spider removed his hat, and dished a large quantity of the beans into the hat, which he then put back on his head, even though the hot beans made him squint. When he came back to his seat, he and his friend Mr Dog were offered food. Mr Dog ate all the food given him, but Mr Spider refused to eat. He explained: “I can never eat, since I am so bereaved because my great father-in-law is no longer alive.” Mr Spider insisted that he would not touch any of the food. The people tried and tried and tried several times over to convince him, but all their efforts came to nothing and he steadfastly refused.

After some few hours Mr Spider said to the people that he would have to leave, as there was another ceremony going on in the house of his own father where he also had to attend. The people once again tried to persuade him to eat something before departing, but again he steadfastly refused.

While Mr Spider had been talking to the people, he had been nodding his head. He didn’t want to nod his head, but he couldn’t help it, the movement was forced on him by the heat of the beans inside his hat. Some of the people noticed that he was nodding his head rather a lot, and one of them asked: “Dear Mr Spider, Sir, why are you nodding your head so much?” He answered in a loud voice: “When it’s hot like this, don’t you all shake your head?”

After that Mr Spider and his friend Mr Dog departed from the funeral ground. On their way home Ananse could not sustain the suffering the hot beans were causing to his poor head. The heat was just getting too too much! He finally had no choice: with a great scream he removed his large black hat and the beans spilled out all over the street. Some people who had been walking along stopped to gaze at him, and others came out of their houses, attracted by the commotion. One said: “This man, he is a foolish man!”

Another said: “He is not normal! What normal person would carry beans inside his hat and cover his head with it?”

Then Mr Dog said to his friend: “My dear Spider, whatever happened to your beautiful hair?” Mr Spider touched his head, and noticed that all his hair had disappeared. The beans had been so hot that they burned off all his hair, and from that moment onwards Mr Spider and all his offspring went around with a bald head.

The twins

The twins

Traditional African story

Once upon a time there lived a woman who couldn’t have children. Because of that all her husbands kept leaving her. One day she was feeling so sad, miserable and lonely that she decided to go and see a witch doctor, for him to help her have a baby. The witch doctor said: “How can I help you? To have a baby you need a husband, and you haven’t got a husband!” She begged him to do everything in his power. In the end he relented; “OK, he said, I’ll see what I can do, but it won’t be easy. But as I’ve got a reputation to keep up, I’ll perform a miracle on you.” He gave the woman three limes and told her to take them home with her. “At the end of each day, he said, for the next three days, before you go to bed, make sure you have a bath. Wash your hands thoroughly. Take one of the limes and cut it in two, squeeze the juice, rub it on your tummy, your thighs and your hands.”

The woman followed these instructions exactly. After a few weeks, she noticed that her stomach and her thighs were getting big. She got worried, and went back to see the witchdoctor again to ask his advice. He told her not to worry, these were the signs that the magic was working. “You just have to go through with this, you will be fine,” he said. He added that once the children got big, and started to wonder about their father, she should tell them that the father is a one-eyed antelope.

As time went by, she got bigger and bigger. After nine months her left thigh just opened up and a baby boy jumped out. Then her stomach opened up and a baby girl jumped out. She was very happy that at last she was a mother, and for some time they lived happily like any normal family. She called the boy Atta, and the girl she called Attakuma. As the children grew older, they became very headstrong. They always did exactly what they liked and took little or no notice of their mother’s wishes or commands.

One day when her twins were about ten years old, the woman told them: Your dad is not a human. He is an antelope with one eye. If you go hunting and you come across a one-eyed antelope, don’t kill it, it could be your father. The children promised her they would never kill any one eyed antelopes.

One day the twins went hunting. They walked really far searching the jungle for meat. They spent all day searching, then decided to go back home empty handed. One the way back they encountered a one-eyed antelope. Atta said to his sister: “Look at the size of that antelope! Let’s shoot it and take it home.” “No no, no, said Attakuma, remember what our mother told us, if we shoot it, we might be killing our father!” Atta turned to his sister and snorted: “What!? You believe that stuff? How can our father be an animal. No way, that’s impossible!” With that he raised his bow and shot the antelope right in its heart. The beast died immediately. But the animal was so big and heavy that it was impossible for them to carry. They had to make some rope, tied it round the animal and dragged it all the way back home. Their mother hadn’t returned from the market yet, so they set about cooking a delicious meal. When mother got home she was very pleased to find that her children had prepared a meal for her, and set down immediately to eat. But after a few bites, she thought this meat tasted just like antelope meat. She called out to her children: “Is this antelope meat I’m eating? Did you kill an antelope today?” “Yes” replied Atta. The mother screamed and threw her food away. “Oh, lord Oh lord; the witchdoctor warned me about this. What am I going to do, I’m sick and tired; these children of mine, they never listen, they always disobey me.”

The next day she went out and bought two chairs. These chairs she took to Mister Death, and explained to him that she’ll be sending her twins along later to collect the chairs. “When they get here, she said, I want you to capture them, and take them to the other side for me.” Death agreed to this quite happily. The woman went home and told her children she had just bought two chairs for them, but they were too heavy for her to carry, so she left them with the merchant. So the twins set out to fetch the chairs from the merchant. When they got to Death’s house he told them to sit and wait while he got the chairs from the back. But he came back with a rope, and tried to tie them up. The twins however were far too quick and smart for him, and got away. Back home, they told their mother what had happened. “That nasty man tried to kill us!” Attakuma said. “No. no, said the mother, you must have done something to upset him” But she was upset that her plan hadn’t worked.

A few days later she tried again. This time she bought some bread, and left it with Death, and asked her twins to collect it for her. But Attakuma had a plan. She told her brother to go to the front of Death’s house, and ask for the bread. This Atta did. In the meantime Attakuma went round the back of the house, and found the rope. She knew Death would come and get the rope to tie up Atta, so she waited on the roof, and when Death came outside, she jumped on him and tied him up. On the way home, Atta said to his sister: “Our mother is trying to get rid of us. We must leave the village before she succeeds in her plans one of these days.” They decided they would have to run away from home, but the were sure that their mother would come after them, so they had to find a way to stop her. The next day, while their mother was working in the market, they dug a big hole in the backyard, where everybody always washed. They covered it with a few branches and some leaves, and filled a bucket with water, which they left on the other side of the trap. They prepared some food and waited for their mother to come home. After she had eaten, Attakuma said to her, “We filled a bucket with water for your bath, and left it outside for you.” Mother was pleasantly surprised at these little kindnesses, but unfortunately for her, she didn’t suspect anything. She went out into the backyard to have her bath; in the dark she didn’t see the trap her children had laid, and fell into the hole. Atta and Attakuma left straight away and walked all night. They knew that one of the neighbours would find their mother soon enough, and they wanted to get as far away as possible.

Early the next morning they came across a small hut, where they found an old blind man. He was very old, and had a long white beard, and he was cooking some food in front of his hut. The children stopped, and Atta said to him: “What a pity! An old man like you having to cook your own food! Don’t you have any children? You can’t even see anything!” The old man grunted: “I’m here on my own. Everybody else left this village a long time ago.” Attakuma said: “Don’t worry old man, we’ll help you cook your food.”

So the twins set about cooking the food, but then they ate it all by themselves, while the old man sat back and waited. After they had finished the food, the filled a bowl with water and put it in front of the old man. They told him the food was ready, and to go ahead and enjoy it. Then they set off on the path again, leaving the poor old man to discover that he’d been tricked. As they walked away they heard him shouting and cursing them, but they just laughed. They kept walking through the bush.

The next day they met an old woman on a small farm. She was crawling around on the soil, planting groundnuts. Atta said to her: “What? What a shame! You shouldn’t be working at your age! Give us the bowl and we’ll plant those groundnuts for you.” The old lady was very grateful for a little help, and she gladly gave them the bowl. She chuckled: “I’ll go and sit over there in the shade and watch you children work!” The twins started work, Atta digging holes in the ground with his bare hands, and Attakuma following behind, filling them up again with soil. Instead of putting the nuts in the soil, she put hid them in a sack that was tied around her neck. After a while they noticed that the old woman had dozed off, and they wandered off, eating the nuts for their supper. When the woman woke up, she went round to inspect the children’s work, and could find no nuts in any of the holes. She cursed the children, but blamed herself for putting her trust in these vagabonds.

The next day the twins came across another old woman, sitting outside her hut. She had a small girl on her lap, who’d been hurt, and she was cleaning the wound. The twins approached her to have a good look. Attakuma said to her: “What are you doing there? That water should be hot! That wound looks very bad, you’ll never clean it with cold water!” The looked around and saw a fire burning by the side of the house. Atta took the bucket with the water, and heated it over the fire. “We’ll show you how to do it,” he said, laughing. When the water was hot, he brought it over and put the bucket on the ground next to the old woman. “Give me the baby, Atta said to the woman, we’ll get her fixed up in no time!” He took the girl from the woman’s lap, and held her over the bucket filled with hot water. The old woman didn’t like the look of this, and she jumped up, grabbing her stick. As she did so, she kicked over the bucket, and the hot water spilled over her feet, scalding them. She started screaming and waving her stick at the twins, at which Atta dropped the little girl, and he and Attakuma ran away, laughing. The old woman was furious, and decided to follow them so that she could teach them a lesson. First she wrapped some old cloth around her scalded feet, then she tied the girl onto her back. She picked up her stick, and followed the twins. But of course they were much quicker than she could ever be, and she couldn’t see them. But she was so furious that she was determined to catch up with them. She went to see an old witchdoctor who lived nearby, and told him what had happened. The witchdoctor agreed that she should go after these nasty youngsters and punish them. He gave her a stick, and said: “Tap this stick on the ground three times, and you will be able to see their footprints, to show you where they went. Just follow the footprints and you will catch up with them.”

At one end of the stick were three small branches, one was covered in gold, one in cowries and the other in kente cloth. The old lady thanked him, and went on her way, back to her hut, so that she could discover their tracks. When she got there, she hit the stick on the ground three times, as she had been told, and the ends of the stick started to glow. Soon the twins’ footprints became visible to her, and she followed them.

The twins had been resting a little further along the way, when they heard the old lady approaching. They didn’t want the old lady to find hem so they climbed the tallest tree they could find to hide in the foliage. But the old lady had spotted them, and walked right up to the tree where they were hiding. She hit the trunk of the tree three times with the stick the witchdoctor had given her, and the whole tree began to shake violently. The twins couldn’t hold on and the both fell out. Before he fell, Atta managed to grab a leaf from his sack, and chewed it as he was falling, so that when he hit the ground he wasn’t hurt. But Attakuma didn’t move, she just lay there as if dead. Atta took the chewed up leaf from his mouth, and squeezed some of the juice in his sister’s nostril upon which she immediately regained consciousness.

They ran away as fast as they could, the old lady following at her own slow pace. Presently they came to a very big river, they could only just make out the other side. They knew that in order to escape the old woman pursuing them they would have to get across the water. Just then a large vulture landed on the riverbank. They ran up to the bird and asked for its help. “We’re being pursued by an old with, explained Attakuma, and she wants to kill us! We have to get to the other side of the water, please help us!” The vulture agreed to help them, and told them to climb on his back. He flew up easily and was over on the other side of the river in no time. After the children climbed off his back, Atta said to the vulture: “Be careful if you see that old woman. She might ask you to take her across as well, because she appears quite determined to catch us!”

Attakuma joined in: “If she asks you, you should say yes, certainly, but then make sure you drop her in the middle of the water! I’m sure she can’t swim!” The vulture just grinned. “Don’t you youngsters worry about me, he said. I’m quite capable of looking after myself.” As he flew back across the water, the twins decided to stay a while, and see what would happen.

The vulture returned to the other side of the river, and there he saw the old woman carrying her grandchild on her back, sitting in the sand, rubbing her poor aching feet, exhausted by her efforts. He greeted her and asked her if she was the one chasing a boy and a girl across the bush. The old woman confirmed that she was indeed the one, and then explained to the vulture what they had done to her and her granddaughter, and how, with the help of the witchdoctor’s stick, she had been able to follow them. The vulture was shocked and agreed to help the old woman teach the twins a lesson. He asked to borrow the magic stick, which he took in his strong beak, and went in search of a large piece of flotsam. He soon found something suitable, and lifted it up with his claws. Then he flew high up over the water, carrying the stick in his beak, and the flotsam in his claws. When he was over the middle of the water, he dropped the flotsam, which landed in the water with a big splash. The twins were on the other side of the water, watching the vulture. They saw him drop a large shape, and they assumed that this was the old lady. They cheered loudly, and watched as the vulture made his way towards them. “Well done, vulture! That taught the old hag a lesson!” they shouted.

The vulture now hovered over them with the magic stick. First he hit Atta on the head with it, then Attakuma. Atta shouted “Hey, mister vulture, what are you doing?” Attakuma just screamed. Their legs, their feet and their toes turned into roots, and dug into the sand at the water’s edge, their bodies turned into tree trunks, and their heads, arms, hands and fingers turned into branches. As leaves started to grow on the branches, a few moans were heard, then all fell silent except for the leaves rustling in the wind, and the sound of water lapping the roots. That’s how mangrove trees came to grow by the side of the river.