Favorite Folktales From Around the World

by Jane Yolen

  So Anansi tied a rope around the neck of the calabash and tied the two ends of the rope together and hung the rope around his neck so that the calabash was on his belly. He started up the tall tree, but he couldn’t climb very well or very fast because the calabash kept getting in his way. He was trying and trying so hard when all of a sudden he heard a voice burst out laughing in back of him. And when he looked he saw a little boy standing on the tree’s root: “What a foolish man! If you want to climb the tree frontways, why don’t you put the calabash behind you?”

  Well, Anansi was so angry to hear that big piece of common sense coming out of the mouth of such a little boy after he had thought he had collected all the common sense in the world that Anansi took off the calabash, broke it into pieces, and the common sense scattered out in the breeze all over the world. Everybody got a little bit of it, but no one got it all. It was Anansi who made it happen that way.

  Jack Mandora, me no choose none.

  RICH MAN, POOR MAN

  Africa (Akamba)

  It happened one time, long, long ago, that in one of the villages of the Akamba, there were two men who lived as neighbors. One was rich, and the other was poor, but they were friends. The poor man worked for the rich man, helping him. Now a famine came to the land. And when the suffering became very severe, the rich man forgot the poor man, and the poor man who used to eat at his friend’s house now had to beg from him. Finally, the rich man chased him away altogether, because a rich man cannot remain a friend of a poor person for too long, and he felt that even the scraps he now gave his poor neighbor were just too much.

  One day, this poor man was scrounging about in the village for something to eat. He was given maize by a man who took pity on him, and he took it home to his wife, and she cooked it. But they had no meat with which to make it into soup; nor did they have salt with which to season it. So the man said, “I will go to see if my rich friend is having a good soup tonight.” He went and found that the meal cooking there gave out a nice sweet smell. So he returned back to his house, got the cooked maize, and brought it back to the rich man’s house, where he sat against the wall and ate it, breathing in the smell that came from the rich man’s meal. When he had eaten, he returned to his own home.

  Another day, the poor man saw the rich man and went up to him and said, “I came a few days ago, while you were eating your food, and I sat by the wall, and ate my food together with the delicious smell that came from your food.”

  The rich man was furious, and he said, “So that’s why my food was completely tasteless that day! It was you who ate the good taste from my food, and you must pay me for it! I’m taking you to the judge to file a case against you.” And he did that, and the poor man was told to pay one goat to the rich man for eating the sweet smell from his food. But the poor man could not afford even one goat, and he broke down and cried as he went back to his house.

  On his way home, he met a wise man and speechmaker, and he told him what had happened. The wise man gave him a goat, and told him to keep that goat until he came back. Now, the judge had appointed a certain day when the poor man was to pay the rich man; and on that day, many people came together to witness the payment. The wise man came also, and when he saw the people talking, he asked. “Why are you making so much fuss here?” The judge said, “This poor man is supposed to pay this rich man a goat, for the smell he breathed from the rich man’s food.” The wise man asked his first question again, and he was given the same answer. So the wise man said, “Will you let me give another judgment on this case?” The people said, “Yes, if you are a good judge!” So he went on to say, “A man who steals must give back only as much as he has taken, no more, no less.”

  When the people asked him how he could pay back just the smell of good food, the wise man replied, “I will show you!” Then he turned to the rich man, and said to him, “Rich man, I am going to hit this goat, and when it bleats, I want you to take its bleating sound! You are not to touch this poor man’s goat, unless he touched your food.” Then he said again to the people, “Listen now, while I pay back the rich man.” So he beat the goat, and it bleated, and he said to the rich man, “Take that sound as payment for the smell of your good food!”

  THE LOST HORSE

  China

  A man who lived on the northern frontier of China was skilled in interpreting events. One day for no reason, his horse ran away to the nomads across the border. Everyone tried to console him, but his father said, “What makes you so sure this isn’t a blessing?” Some months later his horse returned, bringing a splendid nomad stallion. Everyone congratulated him, but his father said, “What makes you so sure this isn’t a disaster?” Their household was richer by a fine horse, which the son loved to ride. One day he fell and broke his hip. Everyone tried to console him, but his father said, “What makes you so sure this isn’t a blessing?”

  A year later the nomads came in force across the border, and every able-bodied man took his bow and went into battle. The Chinese frontiersmen lost nine of every ten men. Only because the son was lame did father and son survive to take care of each other. Truly, blessing turns to disaster, and disaster to blessing: the changes have no end, nor can the mystery be fathomed.

  IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE

  Jewish

  The poor Jew had come to the end of his rope. So he went to his rabbi for advice.

  “Holy Rabbi!” he cried. “Things are in a bad way with me, and are getting worse all the time! We are poor, so poor, that my wife, my six children, my in-laws, and I have to live in a one-room hut. We get in each other’s way all the time. Our nerves are frayed and, because we have plenty of troubles, we quarrel. Believe me—my home is a hell and I’d sooner die than continue living this way!”

  The rabbi pondered the matter gravely. “My son,” he said, “promise to do as I tell you and your condition will improve.”

  “I promise, Rabbi,” answered the troubled man. “I’ll do anything you say.”

  “Tell me—what animals do you own?”

  “I have a cow, a goat, and some chickens.”

  “Very well! Go home now and take all these animals into your house to live with you.”

  The poor man was dumbfounded, but since he had promised the rabbi, he went home and brought all the animals into his house.

  The following day the poor man returned to the rabbi and cried, “Rabbi, what a misfortune have you brought upon me! I did as you told me and brought the animals into the house. And now what have I got? Things are worse than ever! My life is a perfect hell—the house is turned into a barn! Save me, Rabbi—help me!”

  “My son,” replied the rabbi serenely, “go home and take the chickens out of your house. God will help you!”

  So the poor man went home and took the chickens out of his house. But it was not long before he again came running to the rabbi.

  “Holy Rabbi!” he wailed. “Help me, save me! The goat is smashing everything in the house—she’s turning my life into a nightmare.”

  “Go home,” said the rabbi gently, “and take the goat out of the house. God will help you!”

  The poor man returned to his house and removed the goat. But it wasn’t long before he again came running to the rabbi, lamenting loudly, “What a misfortune you’ve brought upon my head, Rabbi! The cow has turned my house into a stable! How can you expect a human being to live side by side with an animal?”

  “You’re right—a hundred times right!” agreed the rabbi. “Go straight home and take the cow out of your house!”

  And the poor unfortunate hastened home and took the cow out of his house.

  Not a day had passed before he came running again to the rabbi.

  “Rabbi!” cried the poor man, his face beaming. “You’ve made life sweet again for me. With all the animals out, the house is so quiet, so roomy, and so clean! What a pleasure!”

  HIS JUST REWARD

  Sweden

  Once there was a man who went out into the forest looking
for a runaway horse. At one point he had to climb across a gap in the mountain, where he saw that a large snake had got its tail caught under some large rocks.

  The snake said to the man, “If you help free me, I’ll see that you get your just reward!”

  So the man took his staff and pried the rocks apart so the snake could get out.

  “Thanks,” said the snake. “Now be so kind as to come over here and take your just reward!”

  The man asked what his just reward might be?

  “Death,” said the snake. “Death is your just reward.”

  The man said that he’d never heard of that before, and he’d like to ask the first living creature they met if the snake really was right about this.

  They walked along until they met a bear. The man asked the bear what one’s just reward ought to be, and the bear answered that it was death.

  Then the snake said, “You see, death is your just reward. Now I’m coming to get you!”

  But the man said, “Let’s walk a little farther and ask someone else.”

  After a while they met a wolf. The man asked him what one’s just reward ought to be.

  The wolf answered, “Death. That’s one’s just reward.”

  “Well!” said the snake. “Let’s get on with it.”

  “No,” said the man. “I want to hear one more judge in the case, whoever it might be.”

  A little while later they met a fox, and the man asked him what, in his opinion, was a just reward.

  Like the others the fox answered, “Death.”

  “So now I’m going to eat you up,” said the snake.

  “No,” said the fox when he heard the snake’s words. “I don’t think we ought to make a final judgment in this case until we have examined it thoroughly. To begin with, what actually happened?”

  “Well,” said the man, “the snake had got its tail caught in a rock crevice.”

  Then the fox said, “I think we’d better go back to the spot and take a look.”

  And so they did. When they arrived the fox asked the man to use his staff to pry the rocks apart again, and he told the snake to place his tail just where it had been when he’d got it caught. When the tail was again in place, the fox told the man to let go of the staff a little bit.

  Then he asked the snake, “Was it tighter than this before?”

  “Yes,” said the snake.

  “Then let go a little more,” said the fox to the man. “Was it still tighter?”

  “Yes,” said the snake.

  “Then let go altogether,” said the fox to the man. “Now,” he said to the snake, “were you stuck even more tightly?”

  “No! Now I’m stuck even worse than I was before.”

  And the fox said, “Well then, you might as well just stay here, so that the two of you will be even again.”

  And so the snake was forced to stay in the crevice while the man walked away, happy not to have received his just reward.

  DJUHA’S SLEEVE

  Syria

  One day Djuha arrived at a banquet in his usual rags, only to be turned away at the door. After changing into his costliest clothes and saddling his mule, he returned to his host’s house looking like a man of substance. This time the servant welcomed him respectfully and seated him near the guests of honor. As Djuha reached for a piece of roast meat, his sleeve happened to slip down into the food. “Pull back your sleeve,” whispered the man sitting next to him. “No,” replied Djuha, “that I shall not do!” Then, addressing his sleeve, he said, “Eat, my sleeve, eat and take your fill! You have more right to this feast than I, since they respect you above me in this house.”

  KING MÁTYÁS AND HIS SCHOLARS

  Hungary

  Once the king and his scholars were walking past a reedy swamp. A hot day it was.

  “A bit of rain would be just in time for these reeds,” said the king, though the reeds stood in water.

  The scholars caught each other’s eye and began to laugh. What need was there of rain when the reeds stood in water?

  The king made no reply.

  When they got home, he gave orders to serve them the finest dishes generously salted and without any drink to wash the meal down. And at his order big bowls were placed under the table, at the feet of each scholar. The bowls were filled with water, and the scholars had to put their feet into the bowls. When they had finished supping, the scholars desired some drink as the good dishes made them thirsty. They asked the king to let them have some water as they were nearly dying with thirst.

  Said the king, “What for? Your feet are in water. You were laughing at me when I said the reeds wanted a good rain. You said, ‘Why should they want rain as they stood in water?’ Well, why should you want water when your feet are in it? You will get none.”

  THE MISSING AXE

  China

  A man whose axe was missing suspected his neighbor’s son. The boy walked like a thief, looked like a thief, and spoke like a thief. But the man found his axe while he was digging in the valley, and the next time he saw his neighbor’s son, the boy walked, looked, and spoke like any other child.

  WHAT MELODY IS THE SWEETEST?

  Afghanistan

  Shah Abbas of Persia was a man of wit who liked to converse in parables. Among his ministers was Merza Zaki, who understood his parables well.

  One day the shah was holding court with his ministers, discussing the ways of this world. Thereon he asked his ministers, “What is the sweetest melody?”

  One answered, “The melody of the flute.”

  “No,” answered another minister. “The melody of the harp is the most pleasant to the ear.”

  The third remarked, “Neither one nor the other! The violin has the finest tone.”

  Thus a bitter dispute arose.

  Merza Zaki was silent and did not say anything. Days passed. Then Merza Zaki invited the shah and the rulers of the state to a banquet arranged in their honor. Musicians entertained the honored guests on all kinds of instruments. But how strange, the table bore no refreshments. The guests were without food and drink. You must know that in the East the tables are always laden with delicacies at a banquet, and when the guests have eaten and drunk their fill, there is still more food, and copper vessels of meat and rice are brought to the loaded tables. Now where was the food? It was embarrassing to ask, so the guests just went on sitting till midnight. Then Merza Zaki beckoned to the headwaiter, and he brought a vessel of cooked food into the room and beat the lid of the pot with a big spoon. Clink! Clink!

  All the guests breathed a sigh of relief. Indeed it was time. Then Shah Abbas said, “The clink of dishes in the ears of a hungry man—this is the sweetest melody.”

  THE PEDDLER OF SWAFFHAM

  England

  There lived in former times in Swaffham in Norfolk a certain peddler named John Chapman who dreamed that if he went to London Bridge and stood there, he would hear very joyful news. At first he slighted this dream, but afterwards, his dream being doubled and trebled upon him, he resolved to test it. And so he went to London and stood upon the bridge there two or three days, looking about him. But he heard nothing that might yield him any comfort.

  At last a shopkeeper who stood close by noted John Chapman’s fruitless standing, seeing he neither sold any wares nor asked any alms. The shopkeeper went over to him and most earnestly begged to know he wanted there, or what his business was.

  To that the peddler honestly answered that he had dreamed that if he came to London and stood there upon the bridge, he should hear good news.

  The shopkeeper laughed heartily at that. “What a fool you are, taking such a long journey on such a silly errand. I’ll tell thee, country fellow, last night I dreamed that I was in Swaffham in Norfolk, a place utterly unknown to me. I dreamed that behind the house of a man named Chapman in a certain orchard is a great oak tree. I dreamed that if I dug under that great oak I would find a vast treasure. Now think you that I am such a fool to take a long journey on the instigatio
n of a silly dream?” He laughed again. “No, no, I am the wiser. Therefore, good fellow, learn wit from me and get you home and mind your own business.”

  John Chapman, observing the shopkeeper’s words and what he’d dreamed, and knowing they concentered on him and glad of such joyful news, went speedily home.

  There he dug under the great oak and found a prodigious great treasure in the box. The box contained a Latin inscription on the lid, which, of course, John Chapman could not decipher. He craftily put the lid in his window, and very soon two schoolboys turned the Latin sentences into English:

  Under me doth lie

  Another much richer than I.

  So he went to work, digging much deeper than before, and found a much richer treasure than the former.

  And Swaffham Church being for the most part fallen down, he set on workmen and re-edified it most sumptuously at his own charge. And to this day John Chapman’s statue stands therein in stone, with his pack on his back and his dog at his heels. And his memory is also preserved by the same form or picture in most of the old glass windows, taverns, and alehouses of that town to this day.

  THE BEDUIN’S GAZELLE

  Saudi Arabia

  A Beduin set out one day with his young son to graze his she-camel and look for wild herbs and roots to take back for his wife to cook. When they had loaded the camel and were heading toward home, a herd of magnificent gazelles suddenly appeared across their path. Silently and quickly the father made the camel lower herself onto her knees, and he slid from her back. Warning the boy not to stray until he returned, he hurried after the gazelles. The wild things leaped into the air and streaked off as soon as he stepped toward them, but the Beduin was a keen hunter and loved nothing better than the chase. Eagerly he followed on their trail.