When Oxen Were Wild Mulao People – China There was a time when oxen were wild and our ancestors ploughed the land with hoes. It was hard work: digging furrows and raising endless ridges of earth, only to start another furrow and another ridge from the beginning… and they always twisted halfway through! But…
How Woodchuck Tought Gluskabe Penobscot People – USA Here starts my story of Gluskabe. He lived with his grandmother Woodchuck. She raised him and taught him everything; how to hunt, fish, and how to make his living. When he grew large enough to use a bow and arrow, he said to his grandmother: ‘Make…
Close to the Heart of Doh Ki Kiowa People – USA There was a man who the Kiowas say was one of the greatest Kiowas who ever lived, but no one remembers his name so only for the purpose of this story I will call him Kahn Hayn (ph) which means ‘No Name’ in…
King Bahaudin and the Sufi Sage Persian Sufism – Afghanistan Praise be to God, the Gracious, the Merciful, who granted me the grace to see His face in each of His creatures. Despite all the long years that I have been living in these mountains, I have not been able to remove from my…
The Stone Horse Shui People – China Once upon a time, in Lasuo, in the Sandu region, there was a stone horse. And they say that the horse was not only exceedingly intelligent, but seemed even wiser than the wisest men in China at that time. The horse would not let anyone ride him…
Spreading the Fingers Suriname There was a time, when sugar cane plantations covered extensive areas of Suriname’s coastal regions, that former African slaves began to take control of their lives, after more than two hundred years of forced labour and abuses. Among them was Ba Yau, a sharp-minded and good-natured man, who was offered…
The Silent Buddha Indian Buddhism In Benares, in northern India, there once lived a very rich man who, on the death of his father, saw both his possessions and his wealth increase. The man wondered what he wanted so much wealth for when he already had everything he could possibly need, until he thought…
Legacy Jing People – Jing Islands, China There was a time when the ocean was in chaos, a place of fear, and the weaker, softer-fleshed ocean creatures lived with their souls in turmoil. Sharks and whales, in their voracious appetite, swallowed and gobbled up massive quantities of those softer creatures, and threatened to exterminate…
The Spring of Bats Nahua People – Mexico A long time ago a tribe arrived in the lands of Tlazincahuatl in San Luis Potosi. They did so exhausted from the obstacles overcome in a long pilgrimage that for years took them across deserts and lakes to find a promised sign. Weak and lost, they…
Wolves in the Neighbourhood Naukan People – Siberia, Russia In Western culture, old children’s tales depict wolves as evil and dangerous beings; and although there is no doubt that they are fierce animals, it is nevertheless true that this reputation is undeserved. This is also conveyed by the stories of other peoples of the…