Why the Tortoise Has a Cracked Shell
The birds invite Tortoise to a feast in the sky and he borrows a feather from each of them. Greed, a very long fall, and the reason every tortoise shell looks stitched together.
The Hare, the Hyena and the Honey Tree
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Show notes
This week's fable
This one is from Baraka's grandmother in Kisumu. Hare finds a baobab dripping with honey, and Hyena finds Hare. A deal is made, a rope is involved, and only one of them ends up sticky.
- Where it comes from: Luo villages near Lake Victoria
- Instruments in this episode: nyatiti, a rain stick for the dripping honey
- Talk about it after: was Hyena greedy, or just hungry and trusting
- Listen for the moment the laughter changes meaning
- Running time 16 minutes
Next Thursday we go south to meet a Zulu lion who lost his roar.
Transcript
Jambo, my friends, Baraka here, and this is The Tortoise Had a Plan. Today the tortoise is resting, because this story belongs to Hare and Hyena. It comes from Kisumu, from my own grandmother, who told it to me on the floor of her kitchen with a cup of sweet tea. There is a baobab tree. Inside the baobab there is honey, more honey than you have ever seen, dripping down the bark like golden rain. Hare has found it. The problem is that Hyena has found Hare, and Hyena is hungry. So Hare makes him an offer. Wait here, says Hare, and I will lower the honey down to you. Hmm. Do you trust Hare? I did not either. Get comfortable, listen for the rain stick, and let us see who ends up sticky. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts, where the animals do the talking.
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