Ethiopian Folktales

Stories were collected from the Gambela region in February and September 1997. The collection was facilitated with the collaboration of Ogota Agiw of the Gambela Education and Culture Bureau. Translations from Anuak were made by Ogota Agiw, from Komo by Gosay Teressa, and from Nuer by Pastor James Duotdol. Other stories were narrated in Amharic and translated into English by Ogota Agiw and Michael Ambatchew of the British Council.

Reverend James Duotdol, Nuer storyteller from Gambela

This fascinating collection of stories from five different cultural traditions in the Gambela region contains a number of animal fables (eg The Story of the Fox, The Hyena and the Fox), and the exciting tale of a cannibalistic ogre with the power of shape-shifting (Ngap and Nyakwiy). The outrageous trickster Achok and the gentler trickster Agenga feature in the Anuak stories. Lave and Wallock are their counterparts in the Majangir stories, with Ganya in the Nuer stories. The Anuak story Separation of Animals and Human Beings at Creation is an interesting mirror of the blessing of Jacob in Genesis, while Hunting Fish with Long Narrow Spears describes the coming of the kings to the Anuak people.

Contents:

	Story	Narrator
Anuak Stories
1	Agenga and the Maize	Obothi Cham
2	Agenga Tricks the King	Obothi Cham
3	Agenga and his Friend	Kwot Awak
4	The Young Guest	Opiew Amwong
5	Omot and Guur – The Two Brothers	Opiew Amwong
6	The Forest of Secrets	Opiew Amwong
7	The Hungry Snake	Opiew Amwong
8	The Widow	Obang Oboti
9	The Brave Woman	Ariet Peta
10	Fooling the King	Amino Ojulo
11	The Mouse Catchers	Peter Ochande
12	Shooting the Hippopotamus	Peter Ochande
13	The Baboon, the Monkey and the Fox	Odolla Owar
14	Achok and his Uncle	Odolla Owar
15	The Dog and his Master	Okok Ojulo
16	The Hyena who Looked up	Okok Ojulo
17	The Pregnant Woman and the Lions	Akway Ojulo
18	Adurat and her Sisters	Ajulu Ojwatto
19	Traditional Way of Life	Chame Kwer
20	Achok and his Mother	Chame Kwer
21	Achok and Lerro go Fishing	Chame Kwer
22	Achok and Lerro Collect Honey	Chame Kwer
23	Separation of Animals and Human Beings at Creation	Akwai Gora
24	Hunting Fish with Long, Narrow Spears	Akwai Gora
25	The Father’s Lesson	Obang Oboti
26	The Magic Cow	Ajulo Okogn
27	The Greedy Husband	Akuchchwach Chibi
28	The Lion's Song	Alami Akwur
29	The Cruel Father	Achan Okogn
Majangir Stories
30	Lave and Wallock	Marcos Damene
31	How the Dog Lost her Voice	Tito Bangey
Opo Stories
32	The Lottery Ticket	Duwal Pul
33	The Landlord	Duwal Pul
Komo Stories
34	The Man with the Limp	Sambo Likasa Haya
35	The Bush Rat and the Lady	Sambo Likasa Haya
Nuer Stories
36	The Hyena and the Fox	Pastor James Duotdol
37	The Elephant and the Rooster	Niall Gatch
38	Kulang in Prison	Niall Gatch
39	Ganya, the Greedy Man	Niall Gatch
40	Ganya and the Hyena	Niall Gatch
41	The Blind Man	Niall Gatch
42	The Story of the Fox	John Kurang
43	The Lion and the Monkey	Rhamsey Schwoll
44	God and Man	Rhamsey Schwoll
45	Ngap and Nyakwiy	Rhamsey Schwoll

Audio Recordings: