Once-upon+a-story

A man and his wife had for their heart, a son, for their arms, work, for their body, a small hut and a mat to sleep on, for their stomach, a little food, and on their neck not the slightest little shellfish.  The one with the shells had everything.  When he wanted something, he could have it all in exchange for shells. A day while the boy was playing, he smelled an extraordinary perfume.  He followed the aroma.  He ran to the other end of the village.  There sat men eating the food from which this delicious aroma came.  The one who ate the most was the man sitting in the middle.  He was gobbling non-stop, and was so big that his stomach felt like it was going to burst. The boy came up and asked, “Who are you to eat things that smell so good?”  » The man turned his head and shouted in a voice that made the boy feel smaller than the smallest ant: "How come you don't know who you're talking to? ?  What I wear on my neck, don't you recognize it?...

There was a boy who went out into the world alone.  He went to the deserted plain.  All the animals were running away from him. He went first to the gazelles;  they fled from him. He went to the antelopes;  they fled from him. He went to the impalas;  they fled from him. He went to the zebras;  they fled from him. He went to the lions;  they fled from him. He went to the giraffes;  they fled from him. He went to the elephants;  they fled from him. And always so until he came to the ostriches;  they remained near him.  He lived with them and became their companion.  When they lay down, they opened their wings and he fell asleep between them.  They dressed him with their feathers.  He ate their food, except the small stones which were too hard for him.  When he grew up, his hair grew with him and he came to wear it trailing on the ground. u n day, men rode on horses to hunt ostriches.  They followed the boy be...

I A long time ago, the Peuhls, from the family of a famous chief named Diâdié, founded a village which they called Bambéro, named after a nearby mountain.  The village gradually grew in importance and soon counted 333 arrows or warriors. The Tomaranké (from the Medina region) took a dim view of the rapid prosperity of these newcomers and, driven by jealousy and greed, declared war on them. The Peuhls were still few in number to resist so many enemies but, despite this, they resolved to put up the most fierce resistance.  A marabout, named Malick Sy, who was traveling in the region, then came to Bambéro.  He proposed to the Peuhls to prepare for them a grigri which would assure them victory despite their great numerical inferiority: “But,” he added, “you will have to subscribe to the condition that I am going to ask you… — Speak !  said the Peuhls. — Here is my condition: you will attach this charm to the tip of an arrow.  At the start of the fight, one of you, a...

The Meng family once planted a gourd along the wall of their garden.  The flowering was magnificent and from one flower an exceptionally large fruit was born.  When it reached maturity, a pretty golden yellow, the Meng family decided to pick it.  But when they cut the fruit, the Mengs were surprised to find an adorable little girl in its heart.  They decided to raise her and named herDjangog. The Meng lived under the reign of Emperor Shihuang, famous for his injustice and cruelty.  Fearing the Huns who did not give him respite and were tired of their incessant invasions, the emperor decided to build a wall along the northern border of China.  Alas! The  architects were not very brilliant and no sooner had one part of the wall been completed than another collapsed.  Years passed and the wall was still not finished. One day, a wise man from the kingdom came to the emperor and after bowing respectfully before him, he said: “Sire, we cannot build a wa...

Once upon a time, there lived a very beautiful young girl named Hina.  All the fairies of the sky had bent over her cradle and had endowed her with all the qualities: grace, beauty, intelligence, kindness.  Never had the island of Raiatea known a queen who brought together so many qualities. At twenty years old, her heart had not yet been made, despite the assiduous courtship of many suitors.  However, a day came when Hina met the young man who made her heartbeats  She got engaged without delay and announced the upcoming date of her wedding.  As a token of love, the fiancé, very smitten, offered her the most extraordinary gift which was matched only by the very pure feelings he held for her.  Upon discovering his present, Hina was amazed.  Neither all the gold of his palace, nor the diamonds of his crown, nor the splendor of his houses, equaled such wonder.  In all of Polynesia, no fisherman had ever imagined that pearls of such size, of such perf...