Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, West Africa

***One of the most important collections of African folklore ever published. *** "The most striking point in the tales is the combination of good humour and good feeling with horrible cruelties, and the reign of terror of the Egbos and lesser societies. European influences can scarcely do much harm, apart from whisky, in Nigeria. As to religion, we do not learn that the Creator receives any sacrifice: in savage and barbaric countries He usually gets none. Only Ju Jus, whether ghosts or fiends in general, are propitiated. The Other is "too high and too far."I have briefly indicated the stories which have variants in ancient myth and European Märchen or fairy tales." (from the introduction)