How the tortoise became bald is an intriguing African folktale. African folktales are stories forming part of an oral storytelling tradition shaped by the tongues of African elders passed down from one generation to the next.
How the tortoise became bald African Folktale
Ijapa
the tortoise was not always a bald animal. He used to have hair on his head,
however, due to unfortunate circumstances, which the tortoise brought
"upon his own head" literally speaking, he lost it all.
It
happened a very long time ago, long before the tortoise broke his back, but
that is another story altogether.
The dog and his family had prepared a feast of yam porridge. The aroma reached the tortoise who immediately followed his nose which led him to the dog's home. The tortoise went in and saw that a big pot of yam porridge was cooking.
Wanting all of it for himself, he called out to the dog and told him that he had brought a message from the king. "The king wishes to see you and all your family in the palace", the tortoise said. The dogs immediately left to see the king leaving the tortoise with the big simmering pot of yam porridge. The tortoise began to eat as fast as he could. He knew that the dogs would be back soon because the king was not even at the palace.
The dog and his family had prepared a feast of yam porridge. The aroma reached the tortoise who immediately followed his nose which led him to the dog's home. The tortoise went in and saw that a big pot of yam porridge was cooking.
Wanting all of it for himself, he called out to the dog and told him that he had brought a message from the king. "The king wishes to see you and all your family in the palace", the tortoise said. The dogs immediately left to see the king leaving the tortoise with the big simmering pot of yam porridge. The tortoise began to eat as fast as he could. He knew that the dogs would be back soon because the king was not even at the palace.
And
soon, he heard the dogs approaching. There was still a lot of porridge left in
the pot. The tortoise wanted to take some home with him and looked around for
something he could put some porridge in.
The dogs by now were almost at the door. As he was running out of time, the tortoise pulled off his cap, filled it with the porridge and put it back on so nobody would know he was carrying porridge. He planned to hurry off immediately because the porridge on his head was indeed hot.
The dogs by now were almost at the door. As he was running out of time, the tortoise pulled off his cap, filled it with the porridge and put it back on so nobody would know he was carrying porridge. He planned to hurry off immediately because the porridge on his head was indeed hot.
When
the dogs came in, the tortoise told them he would be leaving. They dogs asked
him to stay with them for lunch as they had some porridge cooking. The tortoise
tried to make excuses to leave immediately, but the dogs kept him, trying to
convince him to stay.
Eventually,
the porridge was so hot that the tortoise just had to pull off his hat.
Everybody was shocked when he pulled of his hat to reveal steaming hot
porridge. The porridge had burned his scalp so badly that all his hair fell off
and in fact, never grew back again.
Did you know…?
Anansi the
spider is a beloved African Folktale character