MANY FOLK TALES from many different parts of the world express similar ideas and sometimes have much the same narrative. Is this yet another example of a universal brotherhood of man, of peoples? African stories are no exception to this; nor are those from Nigeria, which make up this collection.
Some of these stories might in one way or another be familiar to the reader. Part of the pleasure of hearing or reading folk stories is the sense of reminiscence; and also the expectation of what events one feels almost sure are going to happen.
Most of these folk tales were collected from school children in West Africa. They are stories the children themselves liked to tell. The stories are the adventures of men, women, and children as well as those of lions, monkeys, tortoises, and birds. As in many folk tales, there are lessons to be learnt. It appears that wrongdoing does not really succeed, while doing right will triumph in the end.
I am indebted to the many young African men and women who helped in the telling and in the collection of these stories which are from many tribes and many places and are meant to be read for enjoyment.
Although the stories were collected from people of Nigeria’s Northern, Eastern, and Western Regions, they should also be of interest in Ghana and other countries, for folk tales are world-wide, and there have been folk tales among all of us ever since the world began.
HUGH VERNON-JACKSON