Contes et Fables d'Afrique
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Authors
Brouillet, Claire
Vary, Andrée
Issue Date
2003
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Issue
Type
Book, Whole
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Abstract
"Here is apparently a textbook meant for English-speaking students learning French. There is an introductory section in English informing readers about the importance of elders, of oral tradition, and of storytelling today in Africa. There are also plentiful vocabulary helps at the bottom of text pages. The sixteen stories themselves, identified by their country of origin, are listed in the T of C on iv. Each story gets a full-page monochrome illustration. Many of the stories seem to tend toward pourquoi stories. I sampled several. "Tortue visite Faucon" (85) from Congo describes an early falling out among animals once all friends with one another. Tortoise, a good cook, invited miserly falcon to dinner and introduced him to her children. Falcon, as was custom, returned the invitation, with no intention of fulfilling it. He and his children laughed over the invitation. How could tortoise get to falcon's nest? Tortoise, unhappy at being mocked, plotted with her children. She became a boxed surprise gift for falcon to pick up "while tortoise happens to be away." Falcon thus delivered her himself. When he was surprised to find her inside the package as the gift, he asked her how she would get down, hooked her, and dropped her. That was the end of their friendship -- and the beginning of her cracked shell! The introductory note to "Tortue fait la Course contre Léopard" begins "Le conte suivant ressemble à une des fables de La Fontaine" (67). A good fable, I would say, is "Le Roi du Désert" (81). A lion and a palm tree are arguing -- effectively -- about which is king of the desert when a swarm of grasshoppers attacks. By the end of their attack "L'oasis est dévastée. Le palmier est rasé; le lion est en pièces" (83)."
Description
Citation
Publisher
McGraw Hill Glencoe
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DOI
Identifier
10927 (Access ID)