Reading Notes: South Africa, Part A

Story source: South African Folk-Tales by James Honey (1910).

Reading through the first part of the South Africa unit reminded me a little of the Aesop's Fables, except without the moral written out at the end. Both types of stories are revolved around animals who are given human-like personalities, but the fable of the readings from South African culture are more indirect. While it was easy to read through the stories, I also had to try a little harder to figure out what the author was trying to convey. I like the perspective of the protagonist in each of the stories. For the most part, these characters are smart and cunning, which usually helps them get out of sticky situations. The manner by which they do it is also different from stories I've read in the past. For example, in "The Tiger, The Ram, and The Jackal", the ram makes the tiger believe he is being trapped by him and the jackal, and he escapes an attack from the two as a result. If I were to pick my favorite story from the bunch, I would choose "The Lion, The Jackal, and The Man". The lion's respect for the spirit of the fighting man is an interesting concept, and I could write a story from the perspective of the hunter himself.

A lion fighting a man. Not gonna lie, I'm taking the lion nine times out of ten