• Fairy Tales from South Africa by Mrs. E.J. Bourhill

  • By: ciesse
  • Podcast

Fairy Tales from South Africa by Mrs. E.J. Bourhill

By: ciesse
  • Summary

  • The stories in this collection come from the oral traditions of the people from Swaziland, Matabeleland (Ndebele people) and Zululand in South Africa. The authors, Mrs. E. J. Bourhill and Mrs. J. B. Drake, or more properly the collectors and editors of the stories assert that: "All the stories in this book are real Fairy Tales, just as much as Jack the Giant-killer or The Sleeping Beauty. By this I mean that they are traditional, handed down by word of mouth. Nobody knows how old they are, or who told them first." The stories are full of witches and magicians and monsters, as well as heroes and princesses and good and bad rulers.
    They have done a marvellous job of putting these stories into English but admit that there is much lost in the translation and in not being able to see the storyteller who would not only tell the story but act it out while doing so. Mrs. Bourhill and Mrs. Drake were concerned that, as the way of life and the customs of the people were slowly changing, these wonderful traditional stories might fade away. They thus decided to write them down for posterity. - Summary by Noel Badrian
    Copyright ciesse
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Episodes
  • The Serpent's Bride Part 1
    31 mins
  • The Rabbit Prince
    21 mins
  • The Story Of Semai-Mai Part 2
    24 mins

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.