African Folklore: An Encyclopedia - Marshalls University

African Americans 131
Folktales
One of the earliest folklore forms that children are exposed to is the folktale. Like
lullabies, adults perform these to children in their earliest years, but some older children,
under the supervision of an elder, perform the stories too. They are performed during the
winter, and in the early hours of the evening. There is a taboo that if one performs them
outside the stipulated restrictions, the performer will grow horns. Folktales are an
important medium for socializing children in that they incorporate various other folklore
forms such as songs, jokes, and riddles. They are also constructed in a manner that allows
audience participation. Most of the tales targeted at children carry important moral
messages, such as good behavior, kindness, respect, cooperation, and love. Some of the
messages are contained in the titles of the tales, for example as in “The Greedy Dog” or
“A Kind Woman.” Many of the characters in the tales are animals, as children usually
like animal characters, finding them entertaining and humorous.
A Ndebele tale has an introduction, a conflict, and a conclusion. It also uses stock
phrases that, over time, children are expected to know. Another important aspect of the
tale is the performer, who is expected to be a dramatic narrator of the story. Thus, most of
the performers in Ndebele society are grandmothers or mothers of the family, usually
those that can vocalize, act, and dramatize action, and sing. Schoolteachers also play the
part of the performer, or sometimes they read written folktales to students. Singing is
required as many tales contain a song that plays an important dramatic part in the story,
especially in audience participation. A song’s emotional content is used to dramatize the
high points of the story, and highlight secret messages. In order to prepare an audience,
especially children, to appreciate a character’s feelings or problems, the performer has to
charge them emotionally through song. Some songs contain mysterious, borrowed, or
difficult words for children. So, this gives them the opportunity to expand their
vocabulary. Other things that are used to capture children’s interest are the food served
and the fire around which a tale is built. Since folktaling occurs in the winter months, the
harvesting period, children are treated to corn kernels roasted on the fire. Sometimes
riddling is also used as a means to attract them. Another folklore form that is part of
folktaling is a game called imfumba, in which an opponent has to guess the hand in which
the other person is hiding something. Traditionally the adult performing tales for the
children supervised the game.
Riddles
In traditional Ndebele society, riddling did not exist as a separate oral form. Riddles were
always an adjunct of folktaling under the supervision of an adult. However, today riddles
are performed separately from tales, usually by children, mostly at school. There are
different types of riddles: traditional ones, puzzle riddles, and joke riddles. Traditional
riddles depict traditional Ndebele culture, while contemporary ones depict the
experiences of contemporary society. The following riddles testify to these observations.
The first pair is drawn from traditional society, and the second pair from contemporary
society. Here is an example of a traditional riddle: “Ngikulibha ngentaba ephahlwe
ngabafana ababili—likhanda lendlebe” (I riddle you with a mountain that stands between