PaginePaginepagineapp.comMoonlight stories. Free printable Nigerian folk tales, retold simply for reading aloud — the kind told by grandparents under the moon.
The birds were invited to a feast in the sky. Tortoise begged each bird for a feather and flew up with them. "At feasts we take new names," said Tortoise. "Mine is All of You." When the food came, he said, "This is for All of You!" — and ate the best of it. The angry birds took back their feathers. Tortoise asked Parrot to tell his wife to lay out soft things for him to land on. Instead, Parrot told her to bring out the hard things. Tortoise jumped — CRACK! His shell broke into pieces. It was mended, but the cracks are still there today. Lesson: Greed and tricks bring trouble.
Long ago, the Sun and his wife the Moon lived on the earth. Their friend was Water. "Please visit us," said Sun. "I would need a very big house," said Water. So Sun built a huge compound. Water flowed in with the fish and all the water creatures. The water rose higher and higher, until Sun and Moon had to climb onto the roof — and then up into the sky. They have lived in the sky ever since. This story comes from Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria (1910).
Tortoise collected all the wisdom in the world and sealed it in a gourd. He decided to hide it at the top of a tall tree. He tied the gourd to his front and tried to climb — but he kept slipping. His young son watched and said, "Papa, why not tie it to your back?" Tortoise realised that he did not have all the wisdom after all. In frustration he let the gourd fall, it broke, and wisdom spread across the whole world for everyone to share. Lesson: Nobody knows everything — even a child can teach us.
A tiny mouse woke a sleeping lion. The lion caught him, but the mouse pleaded, "Let me go and one day I will help you." The lion laughed and let him go. Later the lion was trapped in a hunter’s net. The mouse heard him roar, ran over and nibbled the ropes until the lion was free. Lesson: Kindness is never wasted, and small friends can be mighty.
These are traditional Nigerian folk tales retold by Pagine for young readers. Read the 1910 collection Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria free in the library. Find stories to match in the Nigerian collection.