Reading Part B "West African Folk-tales"

A tortoise in the desert (Source)

This series of stories now seems to be less focused on the machinations of the trickster god Anansi and instead on other themes, such as value lessons.
One of these is a story of a tortoise and a hunter who finds it in the woods. It is singing, and the hunter, enthralled by its voice, takes it home with him, promising that he will keep her to himself. Eventually he breaks this promise, trying to impress the village. This eventually leads to his death. Anansi is not even part of this tale.
Another story talks about a chameleon who, by his tricks, becomes king of the animals. None of them are happy with this outcome and they all abandon him.
Then we get back to Anansi, who continues to teach us lessons through his selfish and immoral actions. He had an opportunity to take home a whole elephant for dinner, but because he did not want to share it with his family, he instead chased after a small wren to give to his family. By the time he had given up, the elephant had escaped and Anansi returned home empty-handed.

Story Source: West African Folk-Tales, compiled by W. H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair.

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Hi! My name is Blake Allred and I am majoring in International Relations with a minor in Spanish. I chose this major because I love travelling and meeting new people and learning about their cultures and traditions. One of my favorite things about the classes I take is the chance that I have to meet other people from a very diverse range of backgrounds. If all goes well, I will be graduating this semester, so this part of my college journey is coming to an end. I’m still not sure how I feel about this, it is kind of a mixture between excitement and dread, but overall, I am glad I could have such a wonderful experience here at OU and that I am now able to graduate. This summer we went on a family vacation to visit my grandparents who live in rural Colorado. My grandpa is a retired pilot and owns his own plane and built his retirement home right next to a remote airstrip. When we went there this summer, I was able to go out flying with him and even f...

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Week 4 Storytelling "The Jump"

Photo Source Cold shivers ran the length of Psyche’s spine as she contemplated the crashing waves breaking against the sharp rocks hundreds of feet below her. Tears streamed down her cheeks, aided by the frigid wind and brought on by the terrible sadness in her heart. She glanced back at her family, at her loving parents, at her weeping sisters. This was the last time she would ever see their faces. Her heart stopped as she leapt, every muscle in her body clenched and her vision went black as the rushing air slipped past her small frame. She was acutely aware of her own beating heart, its dull drumbeat strangely isolated from her own screams and those of the wind. Then, everything was black. She opened her eyes, not to the sight of the underworld, but to the rushing ocean. The wind whistled around her and she realized that she was flying through the air, rapidly, propelled by some invisible hand. She started, and nearly fainted a...

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