STORYTELLING WITH ANTO

There once was a beautiful woman name Afiong. All of the men of the land and lands far beyond were interested in her; they all tried to woo her, but one by one they were shut down. Afiong's parents tried relentlessly to convince her to take a man, they even arranged several marriages for her, but it was useless. Afiong refused each and every proposal, for she thought herself far too beautiful for any of them, and worthy only of the finest specimen of manhood.  Rumors of the woman's beauty spread all over the world, even reaching the far corners of the spirit land. The Skull, a spirit known for his ugliness, heard of Afiong and deeply longed and to meet her. He was ashamed of his looks, so he traveled all throughout the spirit land asking for body parts. One friend offered him his legs, another his face, then eyes, torso, arms, until his body was complete and he looked like the most handsome young man. The Skull then traveled to Afiong's country, and for days he watched...

The Lighting and the Thunder Story source:  Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria  by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910). Lighting Wikimedia Commons In the olden days, the lighting and the thunder lived among the people, but the king made them live far away from everyone. The thunder was an old mother sheep and the lighting was her son, a ram that often burned house and knocked down trees, even killed people. Whenever the lighting did any damage, the thunder would call for him very loudly, but alas her did not care. The people then complained to the king, who ordered the thunder and lighting to live out of town in a bush. This did not last long, for the ram burned down the forest, and the flames would sometimes spread to the farms. The people complained once again, so the kind vanished them from the earth, thus now when the lighting becomes angry he does damage from the sky, and soon his mother's loud voice can be heard. 

The Disobedient Daughter Who Married a Skull Front view of Skull There was a young woman named Afiong who was very beautiful but also very vain. Many men wanted to marry her and her parents tried to arrange it, but she refused them as she wanted a young, strong and good looking man to love her properly. The Skull, who lived in the spirit land, heard of the woman and wished to possess her. He borrowed several body parts to make up a fine young man and went to find Afiong. He admired her, and when she saw him, she fell in love with him and invited him to her house. The Skull met Afiong's parents and asked for her hand in marriage, at first they refused but eventually agreed. After two days, he decided he wanted to take Afiong back to her country, which her parents tried to prevent her from doing but failed. After they had gone, the father consulted his Ju Ju man, who discovered that Afiong had married The Skull from the spirit land and would soon be killed. When Afiong and The...