ANCESTRAL-LAND FOLKLORE

THE ANT QUEEN’S COLONY A Short Story by Babayo U. Kabir Aku the grey parrot felt it was necessary to inform the children gathered under the shade of the baobab tree about his most beloved of all little creatures — The Ant! “The weary soldier ant removed his bulgy eyes for a moment from the mass of moving workers walking beside him and looked proudly ahead at the long line of marching ants filing towards a singular destination — their queen’s nest! He began narrating his story with parables as usual. ‘Let me tell you about an ant colony and its protector in the rainforest that I have observed for a long time.’ _____________________________________________________________ His name is Egoh , and he is a soldier ant in the queen's colony. His only duty was to protect the colony of ants from any form of external aggression. The ants are constant wanderers and eternal nomads that must hunt large numbers of prey to feed their enormous population. Over time, these little creatures h...

  THE CLEVER HUSBAND A Short Tale by Babayo U. Kabir The old man gathered the children under the wide shade of the ancient baobab tree to tell them a funny story. He cleared his throat, adjusted his walking stick, and began: “Once upon a time, in a remote village deep within the rainforest, there lived a newly-wedded couple — a young man and his beautiful wife. But their marriage was far from peaceful, for the wife’s sister — his sister-in-law — visited them almost every day!” The children giggled. “She was always around,” the old man continued, “poking her nose into everything. The young husband hardly had any breathing space to enjoy his new life with his bride. What made matters worse was that his wife dearly loved her sister — after all, they grew up together under the same roof.” The man grew weary of this constant intrusion and finally decided he had to act. One day, he devised a clever plan. He went to the market, bought a fine chicken, and brought it ho...