Reading Notes: South African Folktales, Part A

This week, I chose to read South African Folktales. In the story "Tink-Tinkje", the birds decide they want to have a king since humans and animals have a king. They cannot decide on who the king should be, and go through many suggestions. First, they suggest Ostrich since he is the largest, but decide against him because he cannot fly. They think suggest Eagle because he is strong, but then decide he is too ugly to be king. The next suggestion is Vulture for his ability to fly the highest, but the birds deem him too dirty and smelly. Someone suggests Peacock since he is beautiful, but someone else says his feet and voice are too ugly. The final suggestion is Owl because he can see well. They decide against him since he only comes out at night. One bird suggests that whoever can fly the highest will become the king of the birds. The other birds all in agreement on this system. Vulture flies for three days straight and thinks he has won the title, but then he hears "T-sie, t-sie, t-sie" above him. He looks up and sees Tink-tinkje, who clung to Vulture's feathers and was never felt because he is so small and light. This continues for another couple days. The other birds are mad at what Tink-tinkje has done and say he must die. He hides in a mouse hole and Owl is ordered to wait for him to leave. When the day comes, however, Owl falls asleep and Tink-tinkje escapes to a tree. White-crow is so disgusted he refuses to speak and hasn't spoken since.

Golden-headed Cisticola (Cistocola exilis) by patrickkavanagh

Story source: South African Folk-Tales by James Honey (1910)

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