Fairy tales from South Africa by Sarah F. Bourhill and Beatrice L. Drake
"Fairy Tales from South Africa" by Sarah F. Bourhill and Beatrice L. Drake is a collection of traditional folk tales written in the early 20th century. This book gathers and arranges indigenous South African stories, especially those from Swazi, Zulu, Shangani, and Suto origins, retold for children and general readers interested in folklore. The topic centers on classic fairy tales featuring magical creatures, brave and clever heroes, transformations, and the customs and
daily life of South African tribes before colonial times. The opening of the book begins with a warm introduction addressed to children and all lovers of fairy tales, explaining the origins and oral tradition of these stories among Kafir (now known as Nguni) peoples—stories told by elders around evening fires. The introduction describes how such tales are shared in secret and guarded with ritual, reflecting their cultural significance. Following the preface, the contents list reveals a diverse set of tales, each with its own magical or moral focus. The first stories introduce a variety of characters: Setuli, the deaf and mute son of a chief who gains magical powers from a fairy, proving his wisdom and bravery; a king’s son who loses and regains his father’s cattle through a magical song and the help of a fairy; clever animals, enchanted objects, ogres, and helpful woodland creatures—all weaving a rich tapestry of South African lore in their beginnings. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Setuli; or, the king of the birds -- The story of the king's son and the magic song -- The story of the little birds who lived in a cave -- The story of the shining princess -- The rabbit prince -- The unnatural mother -- The three little eggs -- The serpent's bride -- The fairy bird -- The cock's kraal -- Baboon-skins -- The reward of industry -- The story of Semai-mai -- The fairy frog -- Nya-nya Bulembu; or, the moss-green princess -- The enchanted buck -- The beauty and the beast -- The white dove.
Credits
Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
Reading Level
Reading ease score: 88.0 (6th grade). Easy to read.
