The Somali Community living in London has long thought of a way of passing on their ancient folk stories to both their children and to other communities living in multi-cultural Britain. It is in this spirit that the authors have translated these Somali stories and written them down for their friends to share.


Shamis Dirir
Khadra Farah
Marian Mohammed

WHERE HAS EVERYTHING GONE?

Once upon a time there was a clever theif called Yonis Tuk. He had seven sons who were also theives like their father. One day he saw a man carrying two kumbas and leading six sheep. A kumba is a container made of hardened skin used to carry ghee.
A kumba of ghee is a useful thing in nomadic life. So when Yonis Tuk saw the man, he pretended to be blind. Then Yonis Tuk shouted out, hitting his walking stick on the grass in front of him. "I can't see. I can't see". The man replied, "oh dear, what can I do for you? I have two kumbas to carry and six sheep to lead". Yonis Tuk said, "if you give me your two kumbas to look after, you can hold my hand.
So the man gave him the kumbas and held his hand. But two of Yonis Tuk's sons came and took the kumbas. Then Yonis Tuk said, "give me the sheep; I can look after those, too. You just hold my hand". So the man did as he said. Now, while this stranger was leading the blind man, as he thought, another two of Yonis Tuks sons came and took charge of the sheep. After a while, Yonis Tuks said, "look, I am very light. I don't seem to be carrying anything. The lead for the sheep has gone too".
The man replied, "well, where has everything gone? But I suppose its no good asking you, because you are blind man". So Yonis Tuk said, "well, I'll sit here while you go and look". You have guessed the ending. When the man came back, Yonis Tuk had disappeard too.

LISTEN TO ME, LISTEN TO ME!

There was once a time when the people managed to catch Yonis Tuk. So he thought of a very clever plan. He called his sons and told them to dig holes in the ground. Came to find him, they heard voices coming from the sky and from the ground. "listen to me! Listen to me!" echoed the voices. "leave Yonis Tuk alone. He hasn't done anything". Now all the people were amazed and Yonis Tuk said, "you see! Even the ground and the sky believe me; so why don't you believe me, too?" and the people said to one another, "just listen! He is a real saint. We had better leave him alone. It must be one of the mysteries of life".

I'VE HEARD YONIS TUK IS HERE

Everybody knew that Yonis Tuk was a thief. One day he disguised himself. He pretended he was looking for Yonis Tuk. He came across a group of camelherders. There were four of them. The camelherders started singing, "may you be stabbed all over, Yonis Tuk," and Yonis Tuk sang with them, "everybody knows you're a bad man". He said. "I've heard Yonis Tuk is here. Look! This is what we will do. There are five of us. We will take it in turns to sleep and look after the camels". First, it was one mans turn to look after the camels for an hour. Then, a second man looked after the camels. Then came the turn of Yonis Tuk. All the others were asleep. After a while, Yonis Tuk began shouting, "Ooh. My god! Ah!" he cried in pain. "They hit my legs and took all the camels". By this time, Yonis Tuks sons and the camels were far in the distance well out of sight.

YONIS TUK, YOU'RE A THIEF

As two men were watering their camels at a well Yonis Tuk came along and began to sing a song. Now, the men didn't know it was Yonis Tuk and they would never have guessed because he was singing a song about himself, "Yonis Tuk, you're a theif. Yonis Tuk, you're a theif. You're forever stealing things from the people. You say, 'turn left; take the first one. Now turn right; take the next one," giving instructions of how to steal to his sons. And so he kept on singing describing to his boys how they should steal the camels. All the while his boys were out of sight, listening to Yonis Tuks orders. "Yonis Tuk, you're a very bad theif," he went on singing to his boys. The poor men didn't realise what was going on. "Turn left; take the first one. Now get the one on the right," he went on singing. By the time the camels had finished drinking, half of them had disappeared.

How well I remember this man. His name was Egal Shidad. He lived in a small village with his wife and he was a dreadful coward.

As often happened in those days, a war broke out between two tribes. Egal and his wife belonged to one of the tribes.

Now, Egal and his wife kept two horses, which they prized greatly. One morning, Egal and his wife were sitting outside their house when they heard the sound of hooves. Egals wife looked up and saw some enemy warriors riding on horseback towards their house.
"Oh my God, Egal" said his wife. "They are after our horses".
But before his wife had even finished speaking, Egal had run into the house in terror.

"Egal, Egal. Come back here. Can't you see? The enemies are coming to steal our horses".

"Nonsense, dear," shouted Egal from inside the house. Theres nothing to worry about. They're not interested in our horses. Wait until something happens. If they try to take the horses I will stop them".

As the enemies drew closer Egals wife trembled with fear. "Egal, Egal. Please do something quickly or they will take the horses". "Don't worry," shouted back Egal from inside the house. "Just you wait and see what I will do to them if they dare touch my horses". Hardly had Egal finished speaking when one of the horsemen swept past taking one of the horses with him. In despair, Egals wife cried out again,

"Egal, for gods sake! They have taken one of your horses. Please come out here and stop them!"

"Huh!" grunted Egal. "Forget it. Just let them take the other one. If they take them both I will kill them".
Just then, another rider came galloping towards the second horse and rode off taking it with him.

"Oh! Egal! See now what has happened. We have lost both of our horses. What is to become of us?"

"What? Both of them?" shrieked Egal, creeping out of his house.

"Are you sure both horses have gone? "
Of course I'm sure. Oh dear! What will happen to us now?" cried Egal's wife.

"don't worry, my dear. At least the enemies have gone away and we have been spared. If they come back tomorrow, I will kill them all," said Egal to his wife, trying to comfort her.
It was no secret that Egal Shidad was a terrible coward. Everyone knew he would never really dare to fight.

I remember another story about Egal Shidad. As I have told you already, he was a coward. Once again, Egal's tribe was at war. One morning Egal was outside his house with his wife. She had been milking the goats. Suddenly, Egal's wife looked up. She could hear the sound of hooves. Some of the enemies were riding towards them.

"Hey, Egal! Look! Here come our enemies. They look as though they want to fight".

"Oh, goodness! Quick! Come inside with me! I must hide," said Egal, trembling with fear.

"Here! I will lay on the bed and you will cover me with lots of blankets". Egal's wife obeyed his wishes and covered him with blankets.

"Good, good!" said Egal to his wife. "Now then, this is what you must do. When the enemies reach the house, you must be crying. If they ask you what is the matter, you must tell them you are very upset because your husband has been killed fighting".

"Yes, very well. I will do as you say, I promise you". Said Egal's wife. So, Egal got under the blankets and pretended to be dead. As soon as she heard the enemies coming closer, Egals wife started crying loudly.

"Ooh! Aaaaaa!" she wailed. "My poor husband. Why did you had to fight and get killed. How shall I live without you? Oooooh!" as soon as the enemies heard the women sobbing they entered her house and asked,

"What is the matter with you, old woman? Why are you weeping like this?" but before Egals wife could open her mouth to speak, Egal shouted from under the blankets,

"TELL THEM I DIED YESTERDAY!" I hardly need to tell you, Egal was not only a very cowardly man, and he was also extremely stupid.

Link to:
Hibo's Story
My Story in Somaliland
Poems written by women of the counselling group