The typical native African Ekano or legend is marked by repetition. The same incidentsoccur to a succession of individuals; monotony being prevented by a variation in theconduct of those individuals, as they reveal their weakness or stupidity, artificeor treachery.

Narrators, while preserving the original plot and characters of a Tale, vary it, andmake it graphic by introducing objects known and familiar to their audience. Theseinconsistencies do not interfere with belief or offend the taste of a people withwhom even the impossible is not a bar to faith; rather, the inconsistency sharpenstheir enjoyment of the story.

Surprise must not be felt at the impossibility of some of the situations; e.g., the swallowing by an animal of his wife, baggage and household furniture, as a meansof hiding them. The absurdity of such situations is one of the distinctive attractionsto the minds of the excited listeners.

Variations of the same Tale, as told in different Tribes, were inevitable among apeople whose language was not written until within the last hundred years; the Taleshaving been transmitted verbally, from generation to generation, for, probably, thousandsof years. As to their antiquity, I believe these Tales to be of very ancient origin.No argument must be taken against them because of the internal evidence of allusionto modern things, or implements, or customs of known modern date; e.g., “cannon,” “tables,” “steamships,” etc., etc. Narrators constantly embellish by novel additions; e.g., where, in the original story, a character used a spear, the narrator may substitutea pistol.

Almost all these Tales locate themselves in supposed pre-historic times, when Beastsand Human Beings are asserted to have lived together with social relations in thesame [4]community. An unintended concession to the claims of some Evolutionists!

The most distinctive feature of these Tales

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