Why worms are blind, elephants have small eyes African Folklore is a unique animal folklore story for kids to learn about lending valuables to a friend.

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Why worms are blind, elephants have small eyes African Folklore.

When Ambo was king of Calabar, the elephant was not only a very big animal, but he had eyes in proportion to his immense bulk. In those days’ men and animals were friends, and all mixed together quite freely. At regular intervals King Ambo used to give a feast, and the elephant used to eat more than anyone, although the hippopotamus used to do his best; however, not being as big as the elephant, although he was very fat, he was left a long way behind.

As the elephant ate so much at these feasts, the tortoise, which was small but very cunning, made up his mind to put a stop to the elephant eating more than his fair share of the food. He therefore placed some dry kernels and shrimps, of which the elephant was very fond, in his bag, and went to the elephant's house to make an afternoon call.

When the tortoise arrived the elephant told him to sit down, so he made himself comfortable, and, having shut one eye, took one palm kernel and a shrimp out of his bag, and commenced to eat them with much relish. When the elephant saw the tortoise eating, he said, as he was always hungry himself, "You seem to have some good food there; what are you eating?"

The tortoise replied that the food was "sweet too much," but was rather painful to him, as he was eating one of his own eyeballs; and he lifted up his head, showing one eye closed. The elephant then said, "If the food is so good, take out one of my eyes and give me the same food.

"The tortoise, who was waiting for this, knowing how greedy the elephant was, brought a sharp knife with him for that very purpose, and said to the elephant, "I cannot reach your eye, as you are so big."

The elephant then took the tortoise up in his trunk and lifted him up. As soon as he came near the elephant's eye, with one quick swoop of the sharp knife the elephant's right eye was out. The elephant trumpeted with pain; but the tortoise gave him some of the dried kernels and shrimps, and they so pleased the elephant's palate that he soon forgot the pain.

Very soon the elephant said, "That food is so sweet, I must have some more"; but the tortoise told him that before he could have any the other eye must come out. To this the elephant agreed; so the tortoise quickly got his knife to work, and very soon the elephant's left eye was on the ground, thus leaving the elephant quite blind.

The tortoise then slid down the elephant's trunk on to the ground and hid himself. The elephant then began to make a great noise, and started pulling trees down and doing much damage, calling out for the tortoise; but of course he never answered, and the elephant could not find him.

The next morning, when the elephant heard the people passing, he asked them what the time was, and the bush buck, who was nearest, shouted out, "The sun is now up, and I am going to market to get some yams and fresh leaves for my food.

"Then the elephant perceived that the tortoise had deceived him, and began to ask all the passers-by to lend him a pair of eyes, as he could not see, but everyone refused, as they wanted their eyes themselves. At last the worm groveled past, and seeing the big elephant, greeted him in his humble way. He was much surprised when the king of the forest returned his salutation.

The elephant said, "Look here, worm, I have mislaid my eyes. Will you lend me yours for a few days? I will return them next market-day. "The worm was so flattered at being noticed by the elephant that he gladly consented, and took his eyes out which, as everyone knows, were very small and gave them to the elephant.

When the elephant put the worm's eyes into his own large eye-sockets, the flesh immediately closed round them so tightly that when the market day arrived it was impossible for the elephant to get them out again to return to the worm.

Although the worm repeatedly made applications to the elephant to return his eyes, the elephant always pretended not to hear, and sometimes used to say in a very loud voice, "If there are any worms about, they had better get out of my way, as they are so small I cannot see them, and if I tread on them they will be squashed into a nasty mess. "

Ever since then the worms have been blind, and for the same reason elephants have such small eyes.

Happiness is Reading African Folktales

Elephants, the largest land mammals; in one acre of land there can be more than a million earthworms.

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Ostriches live in portions of 25 African countries.

The ostrich, Struthio camelus, is native to Africa and is the largest birds in the world.

The first commercial ostrich farm was established in South Africa around the year 1860 to farm ostrich feathers, meat and hides.

Hello ostrich world!

The ostrich is an omnivore native to Africa and the largest birds in the world. Ostriches live in portions of 25 African countries. The chicks, a few days after being hatched, are covered with a thick and silky down, of a light-fawn color, with black stripes. The neck and head are similarly covered.

The ostrich is native to Africa and is the largest birds in the world. When fully-grown stand Ostriches stand about 7 to 9 feet tall and can weigh 200 to 400 pounds. Female ostriches are brown and gray; males are black with white wings and tail feathers.

As the world's largest bird, the ostrich lays the largest egg of any living bird, however; the ostrich egg is one of the smallest in relation to the size of the bird. The eggs vary from white to yellowish white in color and their hard shiny surface is pitted with superficial pores of various sizes and shapes.

The ostrich is a bird made for running and not flying. The ostrich can sprint in short bursts up to 43 miles per hour; Cheetahs can accelerate 65 miles per hour on average. Just as cheetahs use their tails to help them change direction while running, ostriches use their wings to maneuver themselves while running.

Ostriches rarely seek shade, have a long neck, long bare legs, and two toes. Neck and thigh muscles are well developed and not feathered. The ostrich feather was adopted in ancient Egypt as a symbol of justice and truth.

Ostriches were of major interest in Egypt. Apart from being hunted for their flesh and plumes, ostriches were kept in captivity, tamed and semi-domesticated by the early Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Egyptians and Roman women of noble birth rode ostriches on ceremonial occasions.

There are descriptions in Tutankhamen's tomb of the king hunting the birds with a bow and arrow; a privilege that apparently was kept for the Pharaohs. Ostriches were hunted for their meat, while their skin was used to make protective clothing.

Ostrich is lean and tastes like beef, but contains much less fat. In fact, Ostrich meat is even lower in calories than chicken and turkey. Ostrich meat is sold as steaks, fillet, medallions, roasts and ground meat.

The tenderest meat comes from the thigh or fan. Adult ostriches yield about 80 pounds of red meat, which comes primarily from the upper leg, back and thigh muscles. 

The ostrich hide is considered to be an exotic shin leather and one of the most expensive leathers well known for its distinctive decorative bumps caused by feather growth. Ostrich leather is thick, durable and extremely soft and can be manufactured into a variety of products, such as shoes, boots, wallets, purses and jackets.

Where Do Ostriches Live In Africa?

Ostriches Live In East, Central, West and East Africa

Ostriches may be found in a variety of open habitats. They normally avoid areas of a thick bush or heavy tree cover and inhabit wooded grasslands and other open countries. Semi-arid, open and short-grass plains are usually associated with the highest ostrich densities. 

Ostriches do not live in any North African countries in great numbers, in East Africa ostriches, live in the African countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.  In Central Africa ostriches live in two countries, Cameroon and Chad, West Africa, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Mauritania and Southern African countries of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, and Botswana.

The ostrich is very adaptable and thrives under extreme conditions. Among the many ways of regulating its body temperature, it controls heat loss during cold weather by covering its thighs with its wings.

During hot weather ostriches cool off by lifting and moving its wings creating a fan-like effect. The feathers of an ostrich are excellent insulators, minimizing heat gain from the sun, as well as reducing heat loss.

Where Do Ostriches Live In Africa?

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Lonely Frog and His Beautiful Wife African Folklore Short Story

Short Story of love found and love lost

A lonely frog had some difficulty in finding a wife, at last, carved the trunk of a tree into the shape of a woman and placed cowry shells in the spot where her heart should be and this brought her to life. Frog named her Ayo since she was very beautiful pledged his undying love to her daily.  

Frog married her and they lived happily in his home deep in the forest, until one day in his absence, some of the chief's men happened to pass by and saw the beautiful Ayo working outside in the garden. 

They asked for fire and water, which she gave them, and on their return told the chief about a beautiful woman living deep in the forest.

The chief shortly afterward sent the men back to frogs’ house, and they, finding the husband again absent, carried Ayo off. 

She cried out, "Husband! I am being taken away!" but there was none to hear, and when the husband came back, he found her gone.

Frog tried desperately to get his wife back from the chief and when these rescue attempts failed he sent a pigeon and told her to bring back the cowry shells from his wife, but pigeon could not get into the village. He sent the pigeon again, and this time she brought the shells back to the frog.

As soon as the cowry shells were taken out of the beautiful Ayo, she died and was changed back to a block of wood. The frog was once again lonely and now heartbroken losing his beautiful Ayo. 

Baobab the Tree God planted upside-down anecdotes, myths, and legends.

 

Baobab the Tree God planted upside-down 

Common names for the baobab tree are cream of tartar tree, monkey-bread tree, tabaldi, and mowana.

Why is the baobab tree called the upside down tree?
The gigantic trunk of the baobab tree leads upwards to branches resembling the roots of a tree, which is why it has often been referred to as the upside-down tree.

The baobab is also known as the tree of life. It is also legendary for its gigantic size growing to more than 70 feet high and 35 feet in diameter, its canopy spreading to 235 feet.

Baobab legend
Baobabs provide food, water, shelter and belief water collected from the seeds, leaves, and roots relieve sickness.

Baobab proverb
“Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it.”

Baobab myth
Some African tribes believe if you drink water in which a baobabs’ seeds have been soaked you will be safe from crocodile attacks.

Seven Baobab Facts

Baobab trees live to be 1275 years old, making it one of the oldest known trees.

The Baobab tree is a strange looking tree that grows in low-lying areas in Africa and Australia.

It can grow to enormous sizes and carbon dating indicates that they may live to be 3,000 years old.

One ancient hollow Baobab tree in Zimbabwe is so large that up to 40 people can shelter inside its trunk.

Various Baobabs have been used as a shop, a prison, a house, a storage barn, and a bus shelter.

The tree is certainly very different from any other.

The trunk is smooth and shiny, not at all like the bark of other trees, and it is pinkish grey or sometimes copper colored.

Why do people hate eating goat meat?

Whatever the reason, everyone has some foods they just cannot or will not eat such as snails, anchovies or pigs feet.  Food preferences are nothing new because different cultures eat different foods due to food availability or particular taste. Before goat meat was found on the menu at every trendy restaurant, it was on the plate of African and Middle Eastern families for centuries. 

Some people equate goat meat to eating sweet bread. Goat meat inspires a particular gag like reflex in people just from the idea of eating the meat. There is usually no issue on the texture of goat meat because the texture is similar to the texture of beef but with less fat.

Most issues with eating goat meat come from the smell. Some people think goat meat smells disgusting and has absolutely no place in the kitchen, some people have never tried goat meat and because of the strong gamey scent will never overcome their olfactory senses and taste goat meat.

Nevertheless, for most people in North America goats are kept more as pets than as food. We would like to believe that our taste buds are more developed and our food world is unlimited.  However, most people eat the same thing every day. When you go to a restaurant you have a favorite meal you order, each time you go you tell yourself I'm not going to order the same thing today but you wind up doing so.

But for some people, it's a matter of expense since goat meat is not a cheap cut of meat. In North America, chicken rules the supermarket. Chicken is extremely affordable and has been a part of America's diet for centuries with as many recipes as there are people in America. People are used to eating chicken so that's the reason why they eat a lot of chicken people, are not used to eating goat, therefore goat meat is not a popular meat.

And that is a shame because goat meat is not your grandmother's goat meat, the goat industry has evolved producing mild-flavored goat meat. When slow-cooked or pan-fried goat meat is tender. So when you hear the word goat, don’t think of the old Billy goat absent-mindedly chewing on a tin can with a long white beard or you will never fall in love with the most widely eaten and versatile red meat in the world, goat.

Don't hate goat meat, make tender pan-fried curry goat fillets tonight

• Goat meat is the most popular red meat in the world.
• Goat meat is a red meat low in fat and is used in any recipe using red meat.
• Goat meat is used for frying, stewing, sautéing or in any of dish as a substitute for beef.
• Goat meat is very lean with very low-fat content and is healthier red meat.

 

Ingredients

½ pound goat fillets cut into 1 inch strips

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon ground turmeric powder

1 teaspoon ground garlic powder

1 teaspoon ground teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground curry powder

½ cup fresh coriander leaves

Ghee for frying

 

Directions

Fill a pan with ghee to come just 1/8-inch up the side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy frying pan. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Sauté goat meat and spices in ghee about 3 minutes. Remove from heat serve.

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