The Story of Turtle and the Birds

The Story of Turtle and the Birds

The Turtle and the Birds

Listen to the StorytellerRead the story

Once upon a time, Turtle got very hungry. Very hungry. Then he remembered his bird friends. He decided to start walking from his house to his friend, the Eagle’s, house. When he reached the Eagle, he told him, “My friend, I’m very hungry. I don’t know if you can help me with something little that I can eat?”

So, the Eagle told him, “Oh, my friend, you are a really lucky guy! Now, we are preparing ourselves to go for a party. All of us birds have been invited for a big party in the sky. If you want, you can go together with us.

 

Oh, my friend, you are a really lucky guy! Now, we are preparing ourselves to go for a party. All of us birds have been invited for a big party in the sky. If you want, you can go together with us.

“But, Eagle. Now you all have wings, so you birds will go. But how can I go?”

“My friend, don’t be afraid.” said Eagle. “You know that all your friends are birds and I’m one of them. So we can donate feathers for you one by one. We can gather them all in one place and implant the feathers with gum to create wings on you and you can fly together with us.”

He called the rest of his brothers and each donated a feather, and a feather, and a feather for Turtle.

Then, when they collected enough, they made his wings with gum and Turtle got ready and made a test and he flew very well.

 

We can implant the feathers with gum to create wings on you and you can fly together with us.

Then, the journey started. So, they start going and going and as they reached closer to the sky, Turtle said, “You people, now that I have wings, I need a new name. My name will be “Kulu” (“All” or “Everything”). From now on, when we’re in the sky, you call me Kulu and when you call me Kulu, I know that’s it’s me. And when we get down to the ground, you call me Turtle.”

They said, “No problem. Good.”

But some of the birds didn’t know that Turtle had a plan.

 

When they reached the sky, they were welcomed and seats were arranged for them to sit, and they sat down. And as they settled, their hosts cooked food for them: a lot of meat and many more things on a big tray. And at the time that they brought the meat on the big tray, Turtle was sitting in the front. Then the people of the sky were wondering, “What kind of bird is that who looks so different?”

Turtle looked beautiful and the wings looked different from the others, very unique because the feathers were from different birds.

 

We can implant the feathers with gum to create wings on you and you can fly together with us.

When the food was served, Turtle, who was still sitting in front, asked, “This food, to whom is it going to be given?”

The hosts replied, “This food is brought for kulu.” (“All”). They then repeated, “We brought it for kulu.”

“Oh! They brought it for Kulu?” Turtle asked.

“Yeah, they brought it for Kulu.”

“So bring it all in front of me because I’m Kulu. I’m Kulu.” Turtle said.

So they brought the food in front of Turtle and he ate it all alone. He ate and ate until he got full and the leftovers from the bones and the meats he gave to his brothers. So the brothers took it, although they were not comfortable, but they just took it and ate the leftovers.

This continued for some time.

Every time food was served, Turtle  alone, and whatever is left over, he gave it to his brothers. So, they brothers become totally uncomfortable. One day, one of the brothers asked, “So, brothers, this turtle now, he is doing this to us. What can we do to him for what he’s doing to us?”

So, the Owl answered, “Okay, let each of us take his feather and fur back from the turtle. Because we helped the turtle to come here yesterday and today he’s turned against us. He’s eating and looking at us as if we are not important. So, let everybody take back his feather from him. So, they said, “Yes, good.”

The first bird that went to him was the pigeon. She told him, “Turtle, I want back my fur.

“You want your fur? Then take it, then take your fur. I don’t have any business with it anymore!”

So, the pigeon took its fur and then the Owl came to him and told him, “I want my fur.” And he said to him, “You want your fur? Take it!” So, the Owl took his fur, and Turtle told him, “If there’s a way, take all the feathers for your brothers.”

The Owl told him, “No problem. Take them off and give them to me.”

So removed all the feathers from his body and remained without a feather.

 

Then Turtle start eating, drinking, eating, drinking without knowing what was taking place behind him. He was thinking about the future or about how he would return to earth.

After two or three days, while he was sleeping, he opened his eyes and he looked around and he found all the birds disappeared.

He panicked and asked “Where have those birds gone?” He was asking everybody: “Where are the birds? Where are the birds?”

They told him, “Ah, the birds? They all returned back now.”

When he heard that, he became uncomfortable. So he called one of those people, and asked him “Is there any way I can return?”

“Yes! You can only return with wings.”

 

Coincidentally, he saw a duck. He told the duck, “So you are the last one remaining here. So you are the one who can help me.”

The duck responded, “but how can I help you, Turtle? Even my fur is not enough to divide into two for both you and me. It cannot be enough.”

So the turtle told the duck, “To help me doesn’t mean that you need to share your fur with me. You can you just inform my wife down there. When you reach down there, just go and tell my wife, “Madam, you have to get all the soft things from the house and put it in the yard so when I fall I can fall into something soft.”

So, the duck said, “No problem. When I reach there, I will take the information.”

Turtle then found a very beautiful girl in the sky, and since he was lonely, he began to love her, and when he grew tired, he returned to sleep.

The next morning, the duck started the journey back.

As soon as the duck reached the ground, he went directly to the wife of the turtle. He told her, “Madam, your husband remains up there and he told me to tell you to get out all the hard, hard stuff from the house, like wood, etc., and put them in the yard, so when he arrives, he can fall on them.

So, the wife said, “No problem, no problem.”

So the wife started to get the chairs, the table, the iron, the wood, and all this hard stuff outside in the yard.

So when Turtle is coming, falling from above, he hits the pile of hard things. And Turtle shattered into many pieces, one by one. And so, they immediately brought a doctor and took him to the hospital. They collected the pieces, and sewed them together and then Turtle was released from the hospital in one piece.

And that’s why today you can see the Turtle has a divided shell. And that is the result of what he did to the birds and how they decided to take his feathers and let him fall onto this hard stuff on the ground. So, that’s why you see they way the turtles look today. And thank you.

The Turtle and the Birds

Narrated by John Onwar Akol

Storytelling Session Details
Storyteller: John Onwar Akol
Language: Arabic
Story Collectors: Henry John Onwar and Danguru Enoch Joseph
Place: Gudele Block 8, Juba
Date: 2015

Note: this recording was made for the course African Literature taught by Dr. Rebecca Lorins in the Department of English Language and Literature, College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Juba. Translation from Arabic to English by Elfatih Atem and Rebecca Lorins.
 

The Goat and her Young Ones

The Goat and her Young Ones

The Goat and her Young Ones

Listen to the StorytellerRead the story

There was a goat who had two kids, and they lived in a house near the mountain. And when they were staying there, the dry season came and all the grass was getting dry. When the grass was getting dry, Goat told her kids, “I am going to go near the water stream and look for some green grass.” She then cautioned, “Just stay in the house until I come back and when you hear my voice singing a song, you can open the door.” So, she started teaching them the song that she would sing.

“Open the door; I’m your mother. I brought for you enough grass. Open the door; I’m your mother. I brought for you enough grass.” IF you hear me singing this song with my voice, then you open the door.

The mother went and when the sun was about to set the mother came back and sang the song. When they heard the song, her kids opened the door. She brought a lot of grass, and they ate, and ate, and ate, until they got full and wanted to sleep. They slept and the next day in the morning, the mother went again to get some grass. And in the evening, she came back and sang a song, and when they opened the door, she was there with the grass.

Open the door; I’m your mother. I brought for you enough grass. Open the door; I’m your mother. I brought for you enough grass.

 

On another day there was a hyena walking around the area. The hyena saw the mother came and sang a song and then the kids would open the door and she entered the house. While the goats are eating the grass, and eating the grass, the hyena said, “That’s it! I have to come with a plan!” He says, “Tomorrow when the mother left, I will come and sing the song. So, when the mother left for fetching grasses, the hyena came and sang this song: “Open the door; I’m your mother. I brought for you enough grass. Open the door.” The kids didn’t open the door. They hyena sang and sang and sang until he got tired and then he just left. As he was walking away, the hyena was thinking about what he can do so that the little goats can open the door for him, so he can eat. He was thinking, thinking, thinking, what can he do and suddenly he remembered that there was a kujur that he could visit. He thought to himself maybe I can go to the kujur and change my voice. So, he went to the kujur and he told the kujur that he wanted to change his voice because when he’s singing, his voice is big—it’s not sweet/good (giafa). So he wants to change his voice so it becomes smaller and sweeter, and people, when they hear it, they enjoy it.

So, the kujur said, “ok, no problem. You go and bring me a white chicken and a red sheep.” So, the hyena went and look for all these things and he found them and he brought them back to the kujur. So, when he brought those to the kujur, the kujur told him to lay down and open his mouth. So, he laid down and opened his mouth. And the kujur went and put a stone on fire until it got red with heat and he put the stone in the hyena’s mouth. And the stone rolled inside his body until it came out from the other side. After that, the hyena started crying, and crying and crying. When fire was rolling in his stomach, he was crying but the voice coming of him was not his voice. Then he started asking himself, “who is this crying beside me?” When he asked this, the fire started cooling down in his stomach. And then he said, “Oh, that is me!” “Yes, it’s you!” And then when he starts singing, he will hear a different sound.

So, he quickly ran to where the goats are. When he reached there, he stood at the front door. He started singing in a sweet voice. So, when they heard the song, the goats’ kids opened the door and when the door opened, the hyena jumped in and got them all. So he ate them all and he ate and ate and ate and only blood remained. Then he locked the door and he went to his house.

So, the goat’s mother returned and sang and sang and sang and sang and sang and sang but the door would not open. At last, she broke in to the house. (6:47) And, inside, she found only bones. And she started crying, crying, crying crying and she asked herself, “Who did this? All I have are those children. Who came and ate them all?” She prepared a funeral and the funeral finished. At the time of the funeral, her brother came and told her “You Goat! What you have to do is look for the cause of the deaths of your kids. Because if you find who did that, then we can seek punishment for what he did.” She said, “OK.” After the funeral finished, the Goats went to the kujur’s house. She told the kujur that her two children were eaten by somebody but she didn’t know who. She came and she didn’t find her kids, but rather only blood. The kujur said, “Ok, I can give you medicine that will tell you who killed your kids.” So, the kujur prepared his medicine and suddenly the hyena appeared. The kujur told the goat that the hyena is the one who ate your kids. Now, what do you want to do to the hyena now?” “What we can do; we don’t need to kill the hyena.” Because the hyena ate her children in the daytime Let’s make his daytime his night and the night become his daytime so in the daytime, the hyena will be sleeping and at night he will be walking around so he cannot find anything to eat at night unless those who are also walking at night. So that’s why now you can see all the hyenas sleeping during the day and walking around at night looking for something to eat.

And that the punishment given to the Hyena for eating the kids of the goat and that’s the end of the story.

The Goat and her Young Ones

Narrated by John Onwar Akol

Storytelling Session Details
Storyteller: John Onwar Akol
Language: Arabic
Story Collectors: Henry John Onwar and Danguru Enoch Joseph
Place: Gudele Block 8, Juba
Date: 2015

Note: this recording was made for the course African Literature taught by Dr. Rebecca Lorins in the Department of English Language and Literature, College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Juba. Translation from Arabic to English by Elfatih Atem and Rebecca Lorins.