Quwwatu-Llah Oyebode

An illustration of tortoise flying with birds to sky feast, African Cameroon folktale scene.

The Tortoise and the Feast in the Sky

African Folktales·Cameroonian Folktales·Central African Folktales

In a time long ago, when animals still spoke and gathered as people do, the land stretched wide beneath a great and endless sky. Forests whispered with life, rivers sang softly over stones, and the creatures of the earth lived by wit, strength, and the bonds they shared with one another. Among them lived Tortoise, a creature small in size,

A hunter kneeling before forest spirits in sacred Cameroon forest clearing.

African Folktales·Cameroonian Folktales·Central African Folktales

The Hunter and the Forest Spirits

Long before the forest paths were worn by many feet, when the great trees still whispered secrets only a few could hear, there lived a hunter whose name was spoken with respect across the villages of southern Cameroon. He was known not only for his skill, but for his discipline.