The Girl Who Married a Lion and Other Tales from Africa

by Alexander McCall Smith

Gathered here is a beguiling selection of folktales from Zimbabwe and Botswana. This treasury contains most of the stories previously collected in Children of Wax and seven new tales from the Setswana-speaking people of Botswana.

A girl discovers that her young husband might actually be a lion in disguise, but not before they have two sons who might actually be cubs... When a child made of wax follows his curiosity outside into the heat of daylight and melts, his siblings shape him into a bird with feathers made of leaves that enable him to fly into the light.... Talking hyenas, milk-giving birds, clever cannibals who nonetheless get their comeuppance, and mysterious forces that reside in the landscape -- these wonderful fables bring us the wealth, the variety, and the particular magic of traditional African lore.

Letter from Mma Ramotswe --
Guinea fowl child --
Bad way to treat friends --
Girl who lived in a cave --
Hare fools the baboons --
Pumpkin --
Sister of bones --
Milk bird --
Beware of friends you cannot trust --
Children of wax --
Brave hunter --
Stone Hare --
Tree to sing to --
Blind man catches a bird --
Hare fools Lion, again --
Strange animal --
Bad uncles --
Why Elephant and Hyena live far from people --
Wife who could not work --
Bad blood --
Sad story of Tortoise and Snail --
Old man who saved some ungrateful people --
Lazy baboons --
Great snake --
Girl who married a lion --
Two bad friends --
How a strange creature took the place of a girl, and then fell into a hole --
Greater than Lion --
Head tree --
Grandmother who was kind to a smelly girl --
Baboons who went this way and that --
Two friends who met for dinner --
Thathana moratho tree --
Tremendously clever tricks are played, but to limited effect

Genres: Fiction, Africa, Short Stories, Fantasy, Mythology, Folklore, Botswana

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Reviews

[Friederike Knabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those familiar with Precious Ramotswe can easily imagine her listening to the tales from this delightful collection. Relaxing after a day's work as No. 1 Ladies' Detective with a cup of bush tea, her mind might wander back to the stories of her childhood. Those new to McCall Smith's books will find in "The Girl Who Married a Lion" an excellent introduction into the gentle and caring world of Mma Ramotswe and her friends. The same warmth and affection that McCall Smith conveyed through his Botswana series has found expression in this latest book. It is a real treasure.

Folk tales in any culture, told and retold from one generation to the next, have special meaning within and beyond their geographic beginnings. They often combine the best of humanity's wisdoms with the local flair of their original source. Sometimes they are revealing, tongue in cheek irony, usually reflecting on one or the other human weakness or strength. They end with a gentle lesson in morality and local customs. The tales in this collection from one particular region of Africa are no different. As in fables everywhere, animals can speak and/or disguise themselves as humans; good and evil spirits test the resolve of the brave and award the deserving. While we might recognize some themes and characters, such as the hare or the tortoise, in all tales the African context shines through very strongly. We hear about a colourful bird that gives milk to sustain a poor family. In another, "children of wax" shape their restless brother into a bird to help him explore life during the hot sunny day. Or crocodiles that are feeling pity for a young girl too weak to carry the calabashes for the daily water needs of her family.

McCall Smith always finds the right tone, the proper nuances and illuminating details to bring the stories alive within their culture and environment. He has been collecting these tales, told to him over decades while living in Botswana and in what is now Zimbabwe. His sensitive retelling them for us conveys the local context vividly. Adding some detail on a landscape here or on a different local custom there makes his narratives rich reading. Enjoy this heart-warming treasure of a book, share it with your children and friends and explore this glimpse of an African vision.

[Trelawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting collection of folk stories from Zimbabwe and Botswana. Animals play a prominent role in many of the stories, the strength and supremacy of the lion, the trickery of the hare etc are recurring themes. Deceit is shown time and again to be punished and virtue and morality rewarded. I particularly liked the tale " A Tree to Sing to".

[Fr. Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

It feels a bit strange to give a rating to this book, because I am in no way an expert on folktales. I cannot comment on the presentation in comparison to other compilations of similar stories, nor on the scholarship which may or may not be present here. However, I can say with full confidence that I did not in anyway enjoy this experience, filled as it was with the virtues of taking revenge on those who have tricked you, or murdering or skinning alive your foes. As it is presented as a children's book of charming little tales, I'm puzzled as to what I'm supposed to take away from this.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved, absolutely loved "Guinea Fowl Child".

These tales are collected from Zimbabwe and Botswana, and cover a wide range for types. There are trickster tales (mostly with a hare being the trickster), just so tales (why animals do this), and family tales. Anyone who is familiar with Joel Chandler Harris will recognize "Tremendously Clever Tricks are Played, but to Limited Effect". Hare in many of these tales is the forerunner of Brer Rabbit.

I'm not sure how this ties into the Ladies No1 agency series because I haven't read it. Yet, these tales are wonderful to read.

[Beb ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Queste fiabe sono davvero simpatiche, è un piacevole intraprendere questa lettura. Il libro è breve e si legge molto velocemente e la scrittura non è per niente impegnativa, ma a misura bambino. I luoghi e gli avvenimenti sono descritti molto bene e non rischierete di perdervi nemmeno un dettaglio.

Recensione completa

[Book Concierge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of fables, legends and myths from two countries in Africa – Zimbabwe and Botswana. These traditional stories share many characteristics with folk tales from neighboring regions. But while they may be a part of the oral literature of Southern Africa, the lessons taught are universal in that they explore emotions common to all humankind – greed, envy, pride, ambition, love, kindness, generosity.

Smith explains in the forward that he has done little more than record the stories, though he has added some description of landscape and expanded on emotional reactions to make them more understandable and entertaining to a wider readership.

I found them interesting – some more than others – but I got bored. Part of this I think is due to my realization about half way through the collection that I was missing the humor and “lilt of the language’ present in Smith’s #1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I guess I had expected to find more his signature style in his telling of these stories. I’m sure I would be similarly bored by a steady diet of Aesop’s fables or The Brothers Grimm. After all, in an oral tradition you would hear only one or two such stories at a time, not 30+ in one sitting.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of folktales from Botswana and Zimbabwe that have been collected by the author of the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series.
I was disappointed. It would have been interesting to me to know which tales were from which of the countries but there is no mention anywhere. At the beginning there is a Letter from Mma Ramotswe and I'm struggling to know why Smith felt this should be included unless he was trying to play off the recognition of the series and the fact that some of the stories are from Botswana. However it isn't hard to imagine Precious telling these stories to the children.

[Michaela June · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed these stories. They were well written and lend themselves well to being read aloud. That being said, I don't know anything about Zimbabwe or Botswana, so I have no clue if these are accurate representations of folktales from those places. But they are quite fun to read and the morals and revenge stories are akin to other fables, legends, and fairy tales I have read.

My favorite tales were "An Old Man Who Saved Some Ungrateful People," "Sister of Bones," and "The Sad Story of Tortoise and Snail." The last one is particularly full of revenge and was comical to me in it's absurdity. I freaking loved it. But others may not have the type of humor that I have.

One thing that I didn't get about this was why the author thought that a letter from Mma Ramotswe was necessary. I haven't read Smith's books series, so I thought Mma Ramotswe was a real person for about a minute. I'm guessing that letter was used a tie in to The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, but it was unneeded and added nothing to the collection of tales.

[Venus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book full of stories based on African folklore. An easy and enjoyable read. Recommend for reading before bed, especially if you have kids! I liked it.

[Karishma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically an African version of the Panchatantra or Aesop's fables.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting set of folk tales from Southern Africa.

[Ann Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many of us have read Aesop’s Fables, which teach us about man’s foibles and morality, but I had never heard of many of these tales from Africa. These folk tales from Zimbabwe and Botswana are told by former law professor Alexander McCall Smith, a native of Zimbabwe, who now makes his home far to the north in Scotland. Africa maintains a rich tradition of oral literature and these stories are told with humor and spirit. Allow me to describe two of these tales to give the reader some idea of what I mean.

In A Girl Who Lived In A Cave, a cannibal confronts a girl returning to her family’s home. When the family invites him to share a meal with them, he gobbles it up and abruptly leaves. The cannibal’s appearance makes the family uneasy and they decide to depart. The young girl objects to leaving her beautiful home, but decides to live in a nearby cave while her family is gone. Soon, the girl’s brother returns to check on his sister, singing her a special song to gain entrance to the cave. Unfortunately, the cannibal overhears the tune and later tricks the girl into allowing him to enter her sanctuary. The girl is captured and trussed up, while the cannibal lights a fire, preparing to eat her for his dinner. Like an avenging angel, the brother returns, pushes the cannibal into the flames instead and happily frees his sister.

The Girl Who Married A Lion is about Kumalo’s daughter, who married a fine strong man. Soon, the woman’s brother begins to worry that his sister has really married a lion in disguise. Several years go by and the woman bears two fine sons, but the brother worries that his brother-in-law still may have deceived his bride. Using a goat as bait, they trick the brother-in-law, finally driving him off. Now, the woman worries that her sons may somehow become lions, too. In a daring test, they cage the two sons in an area infested by lions, judging that if the boys are truly lions, the huge carnivores will not attack two of their own kind. The uncle is forced to defend his nephews to save the boys from the charging lions. Thus reassured, the woman once again welcomes her sons home.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! Children will really like this rare and wonderful departure from the more traditional folk tales. I embraced the difference and am the better for it.

[Cynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars.
Read for UK Black History Month with GR group Reading for Pleasure.

TThese stories clearly have been passed down from generation to generation from time immemorial. The elements with the stories speak of a people's close connection to the Earth.
1. The narrators often remember fondly when humans and animals shared a language and lived more closely and sometimes worked together.
2. People were often concerned about having enough food, avoiding starvation due to crop or herds being ruined.
3. Relationships were a matter of survival, so good friends anf family members were loved and remembered while bad friends and tricksters were discovered to be wrong and either paid with their lives or left communities in shame.

I wish to find a collection that keeps truer to the stories to both the traditional storytellers and the children sharing their stories with the story-collector McCall Smith hires. The stories are made accessible for those who want to know about the Earth connection of these stories but who are not prepared to take time to listen, Google, and understand some. The truth of the stories seem to be there. Watered down. Like many collections of traditional stories.

I learned new folktale elements to be included--like how to bring people back from seeming death and folkways of determining truth. Plus I laughed out loud a few times. So I enjoyed the collection.

[Alyssa Peters]

Alyssa Peters
Traditional Literature

This book has many short stories in it. The stories originated in Africa and have been passed down from generation to generation. Some of the stories were neat to read, others were gruesome. One of the stories talked about a cheetah who tricked her friend the goat into going across the river. While she was gone, cheetah grabbed goat’s children and wrapped them up to cook later. Others had seen what cheetah had done. They distracted cheetah, and switched goat’s children out for cheetahs. Cheetah wound up cooking her own children.
There was another story that talked about children made of wax who had to live in a dark hut during the day so they would not melt. One day, one child left the hut to see the world. He quickly melted and his sister waited until night time, came out of the hut and formed the melted boy into a bird.
I thought the book was really neat. I didn't like all of the stories, but that is my opinion. I enjoyed reading most of the stories and if you like to read folktales, see what you think of this book!

[Miss Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh man I just want to mine this collection for future novels. Or to be more accurate I want someone else to mine this collection for novels and write them so I can read them. :D Sister of Bones? Children of Wax? Brave Hunter? The Wife Who Could Not Work? Head Tree? Guys where are my books based on these, I'm waiting. I'd include 'A Strange Creature Took The Place of a Girl' but it has enough similarities with The Goose Girl that I feel satisfied that I have in fact read this novel several times. There are so many wonderfully strange things in this collection! And they all get played in that low key way people like to call magical realism, like a dude has a tree growing out of his head and everyone's like 'well kinda odd do you suppose we could cut it out, nahh what if it's part of your head, it'd probably end in blood everywhere. Talk to that old magical lady? :D?' And Sister of Bones is so creepy and sweet, I really want to see it expanded. Crocodiles brought my drowned older sister back to life so she could help me carry heavy water calabashes! They're so sweet. <3 3 stars

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was under the misconception that this is a children book. It's actually an anthology of traditional stories from Mma Ramotwse's land, and if you like the The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency this is a sweet addendum to your library. Moreover, I'm into fairytales and folklore.
In these short stories we meet animals and people whose adventures explain traditions, behaviours and the dos and donts of life in the south of Africa.
I'm always amazed at how such tales look alike all over the world. Here you have elephants, lions and hyenas instead of european cats or wolves, but the outcome is the pretty much the same.
The nicest touch? A brief introduction from Mma Ramotwse herself, who remembers how much she enjoyed these stories as a child and hope to provide the same enjoyment to today's kids.

[writer... · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the simplicity of writing style and wordsmithing which supported the oral tradition of the African folktales.

Not all were positive stories - some having horrific outcomes when the story or ending was actually considered. Wide variety of topics covering hunting, gathering, family, marriage, relationships, death, life, weather, travel, animals vs people or animals in relationship with people. Definite insights into the African culture with settings and situations unusual to Western culture. An enjoyable read as each folktale is a brief 2-3 pages. Easy to pick up in spare moments, or for longer sessions when the impact of the African life is realized.



Another recommendation for Scots author Alexander McCall Smith's writing.






Africa travelled for GiraffeDays.com Around the World Challenge

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of folk tales from Zimbabwe and Botswana. They were either told to him by local people when he lived in that part of the world or he came across them via a local friend who had collected and made translations of them into English. In his intro AM says he has kept to the original stories but has "added some descriptions of landscape and deepened the treatment of certain emotions" and that in doing so he hopes "to bring out the beauty and poetry of these stories." They make a very quick easy read and, for those with good memories, excellent cross cultural camp fire stories, being typical moral tales in which the human emotions of good, evil, jealousy, love, greed, loyalty
are anthropomorphed onto animals - elephants, hyenas, hares, lions, jackals and the like.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of fables and folklore from Africa. Although there is mention that the neighboring countries where these stories originate share so much similarities there isn't much other description as to which ethical group was the actual contributor.

I didn't know or have ever read the series where Precious was a character so that part was a bit of a loss.

Otherwise the rest of the stories were quite refreshing while keeping the basic elements that make them a part of African lore. And two of the actual stories will remind the reader of Aesop and the Br'er Rabbit stories if they had read or heard any of those tales.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of African folk stories. I kept thinking that many of them ended rather abruptly, but then I wondered if "and they all lived happily ever after" really would add anything to the story. Hare is an asshole -- don't trust hare! That is the primary lesson I learned (and it was repeated on several occasions). Lion is a braggart, but not an awful person. And death is the punishment for almost everything. Be obedient to your parents and don't try to trick people or you'll get what is coming to you.

[BJ Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting variety of folktales from Africa. I loved the "introduction" by Mma Romatswe from The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series - such a good series!

[Ashley]

I absolutely love fairy and folk tales, and love reading tales from other countries. Such an interesting collection of stories :) I certainly enjoyed some more than others, and thought some were rather... odd, but overall found this short collection to be a delightful treat. :)

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of Folk Tales from Botswana. The audio book is short, only 4 discs and is read by three different narrators with African accents. Very fun!

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was unique and sweet.

[Autumn V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book, 'The Girl Who Married a Lion: And Other Tales from Africa', talks about the tales the author was told when he was younger, when he lived in what is now, known as Zimbabwe, Africa. The book takes place in Africa and has multiple characters (3-4) in each folk tale. I found this book in my English teachers library, what lured me to the book was the dull and boring book cover.

In the book it only and mainly talks about the folk tales the author was told when he was child living in Zimbabwe, Africa. One of my favorite folk tales would have to be "The Milk Bird", because its talking about selfishness, and greediness, heroism, sacrifice and repayment. The plot is mainly just a bunch of folk tales with morals, for example, there's a story about a young girl who loves where she lives, and her family is moving and she decided to stay and lives in a cave. Nearby, here is a cannibal who tries to eat the girl but is later saved by her brother. This folk tale has a moral to always be aware and cautious of your surroundings.

The book didn't really end, but the folk tales did, every chapter. The folk tales would always leave off with a happy ending. For example, a family and a girl loses their daughter/sister, but there are alligators who put the dead girls bones back together and brings the girl back to life. For again, with the milk bird, the milk bird has been captured or kidnapped, and eventually escapes. But the bird is later surrounded by young boys who are trying to hurt the bird, but is later saved by the kidnappers. The bird stays with the kidnappers and provides them milk till their death. The happy part is that the kidnappers got the milk and the bird was saved.

My opinion of this book was that it always provided you with new stories to be entertained by. The stories were unrealistic, but were very fascinating and gave you a taste of what the African culture and their tales are like. There was nothing I disliked about the book, it wasn't too long, nor too short. I haven't come across any books that are similar to this one, but I really hope that one day, I'll come across a similar book.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read was called The Girl Who Married A Lion and Other Tales from Africa by Alexander McCall Smith. I chose this book because when i was in the library picking out my independent reading book this book popped out because the title looked interesting and I decided to choose it. This book talks about many details what it would be like living in Africa and also while learning the African Culture. “A baby was soon to be born and if it was a boy, then it would be as brave as its father and if it was a girl, then it would be more beautiful than any other children”. This quote stands out to me because it encourages other people to do the same thing naming them after their mother or their father.
In the book everybody was happy when kumalo’s daughter got married. Kumalo’s wife was happy that she would no longer have to worry about what sort of man her daughter would marry. The daughter herself was pleased that she had found such a fine, strong husband. Kumalo’s daughter who just got married, her brother was the only one unhappy because he thought that his sister married a lion, he told his friends, and said this is really a lion disguised as a man.
Kumalo and his family had lived in a cave with a river nearby where she could draw water. Then something terrible happened which spoiled the happiness of the family. The girl had gone to fetch water from the river and she was walking back to her hut with a large calabash on her head. When she was walking back to the hut, she got a feeling that she was being followed. She turned around and saw nothing besides the tall grass, then she took a couple of more steps and looked back again and saw a man behind her, crouching down half in the grass and half out. It ended up being a guy that was looking for food and went back to their hut to eat. I would recommend this book to little kids because I believe they would enjoy a book about tales from Africa and how The girl married a lion.

[T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this "supplement" to the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, a series I adore. The Girl Who Married a Lion starts with a letter from Mma Ramotswe, as she is the one recounting these stories as told to her by her father's aunt.

In truth, this collection of African folktales and morality tales were compiled by Alexander McCall Smith and come from both Botswana and Zimbabwe.

I'm glad I read them slowly over time, and not all at once, because they are better read as stand alone pieces and I didn't want them to blur together. Also, some of the meanings should be pondered as they would have been when told to young child (I often thought, when/why would this tale be told to children, in what context, to teach what lesson?)

Some explain how animals and animal behavior comes to be, such as the Baboons Who Went This Way and That, while others offer morality lessons or act as cautionary tales.

In particular I liked the lesson of Great Snake, which shows the cleverness of a young boy.

[Gláucia Renata]

O livro reúne uma série de pequenas histórias de tradição oral africanas, parecidas com as fábulas que conhecemos aqui no ocidente. Diferentes mas na essência semelhantes.



Histórico de leitura
21/07/2017

"Tremendously Clever Tricks Are Played, But To Limited Effect"

"The Thathana Moratho Tree"

"Two Friends Who Met For Dinner"

"The Baboons Who Went This Way And That"

"The Grandmother Who Was Kind To A Smelly Girl"

"Head Tree"

"Great Snake"

"Lazy Baboons"

"And Old Man Who Saved Some Ungrateful People"

"The Sad Story Of Tortoise And Snail"

"Bad Blood"

"The Wife Who Could Not Work"

"Why Elephant And Hyena Live Far From People"

"Bad Uncles"

"Strange Animal"

"Hare Fools Lion - Again"

"A Blind Man Catches a Bird"

"A Tree To Sing To"

"Stone Hare"

"Brave Hunter"

"Children Of Wax"

"Beware Of Friends You Cannot Trust"

"Milk Bird"

"Sister of Bones"

"Pumpkin"

"Hare Fools The Baboons"

"A Girl Who Lived In a Cave"

"A Bad Way To Treat Friends"

"Guinea Fowl Child"

[SK Lim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book is a collection of many short stories, it does have a unifying story behind them.
This theme was clear throughout all areas of this book, in every story.
Each of these stories are clear with their message and this message tags along with you in your daily life.
One example is from the story "A Blind Man Catches a Bird" on page 69-72. This story has many themes of trust that is a great wake-up call of how we are living our lives.
Although this book was read for a school project, I really loved it and it helped me learn the importance of short and concise stories and lessons we can learn in almost anything.
This book helped me learn that it isn't the amount of words that is important, but the message.

[Donna Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of short stories, all on animals relating to each other and to people. It personifies a lot of the animals, and we are told what they are thinking, and often that thinking gets them into trouble or out of trouble. I found a couple of them funny --- or they had ironic endings --- or had a really good lesson to teach. But others didn't go any where to me. I enjoyed listening to them --- the readers were very very effective (one was the woman who does all of the no. 1 ladies detective agency books, etc.) And I loved listening to their accents and calming voices. It was only 4 discs so the book went very quickly. I would recommend it to people who like McCall Smith's writing and who like short stories.