Showing results by narrator "Bill Gordh" in All Categories

A fisherman who fished from the land out into the sea was fishing one day when he heard singing and laughter coming from a grotto. He went around the rocks to discover seven women dancing in the shallow water. They were not dressed, but on the rock where the fisherman was standing, he saw seven fish-tail skins! He watched the dancers. He fell in love with the youngest. He found the smallest tail, rolled it up, and tucked it into his belt. He threw a rock into the middle of the dancers and hid behind the rock where he was standing.

Brer Rabbit lives in the Briar Patch, and so cannot have a garden. He remedies this by taking from everyone else's garden. He loves peanuts and goes into Sister Fox's patch and eats a bunch, until he hears her coming. She then builds a fence, but he digs under. Then she makes a rope trap and while she's home, Brer Rabbit steps into the rope trap and is now hanging upside down. He can't get out but when he hears Brer Bear coming; he thinks up a trick.

Masha lived with the grandparents in a village alongside of a great forest. One day, she went out looking for mushrooms. She carried a big basket and as her grandmother had reminded her, she often stopped, listened for the village dog, and looked for the smoke from village chimneys to be sure she knew where she was, so she wouldn't get lost. But after a while, she forgot to keep checking and she went too far.

Manka was a clever girl. Her father was a shepherd and did a job for a neighbor. The neighbor had promised him a calf for pay, but when the job was done the wealthy farmer refused to give him the young cow. They wound up in court.

Brahma throws a party for the animals, and one representative of every kind of animal heads for the party. The celebration begins. Everyone is there except Turtle. Brahma wonders where Turtle is, but the party goes on. Finally Turtle arrives. Brahma asks Turtle why it is so late. It says it wanted to come to the party, but every time it started to leave home it started missing home and stayed a little longer.

Caterpillar is small but has a big voice. When Rabbit goes out and leaves her door open, Caterpillar decides to play a trick on rabbit. It crawls inside rabbit's house and slams the door. When rabbit returns, she gets scared because she sees scratchy marks on the ground and her door is closed. She asks who's in her house.

Nasruddin made a bet with some friends that he could stand all night long outside, in the middle of the square, with no clothes on. They all said it was too cold. They all decided that if he could make it through the night with no heat, they would make him dinner, and if he failed he would cook them dinner. He went into the square. As it got later it got colder. Colder and colder and colder. Nasruddin was about to give up and go inside to get warm when he saw a candle in a window across the square.

An old man put the teakettle on the stove and went out to sit on his porch. When the water began to boil, the pot began to transform. It became a tanuki (sort of like a badger) and began racing around his house, causing all kinds of noise and trouble. The old man realized it was a magical kettle, as the tanuki became the kettle again when the old man came inside. He made a box and, before it could change again, put the teakettle into the box.

There was a king who was a fair and wise ruler who had three daughters. He was fair in most things, but he could not stand ever to admit that he might be wrong. He felt he should make all the big decisions for his daughters. He called them together and asked if each of them agreed that he would make all the important decisions for them since he was so wise and their father. The two oldest daughters agreed, and the king embraced them and told them he would always take care of them.

A princess was born to the king and queen. They sent out invitations to the christening and included a group of fairies. However, one fairy was not invited. The other fairies all came and bestowed wonderful wishes on the young princess. Just before the lilac fairy gave her blessing and gift, the uninvited fairy arrived, and she was angry.

The chief sends his three sons out to find something special. He declares that the one that returns with the most valuable thing will become the new chief. They set out together. At a crossroads, they split up. They agree to meet back at the crossroads in a month. The first finds a mirror that you can look into and see anyone you wish to.

Crow was always causing trouble wherever he went, doing tricks and being mean. One of his tricks was to call a stranger who he wanted something from "Brother-in-law" so that they would treat him like family and give him food. He would always make up how some great ancestor had married into the other animal's clan.

The wealthy young man and all his family and servants are preparing for his wedding. Later in the day, he will travel by horseback to his fiancée's family's home for the ceremony. One old servant hears a noise down the hall from the kitchen. He sees the story bag where the young man used to store his stories when he was a little boy. He loved stories so much. The stories are angry about being left behind and forgotten about. They are planning to hurt the young man.

A young woman named Pirili lived in a village. She was kind and generous. A hunter named Mangowa from another village saw her and wished to marry her. She did not wish to marry him. He brought gifts and food and flowers. He hunted just for her and brought her everything he caught. He did not bring food to his own.

A boy was always wishing for things he didn't have. An old magician told the boy if he put salt on a magpie's tail, he could have any wish he made. The boy went out with salt into the woods. All the magpies flew away. One finally spoke with him and told him if he brought her a nice clasp knife, she would let him put salt on her tail.

The rabbits lived near a beautiful pond up in the hills. The elephants bathed and drank from a pond to the south. The elephants' pond dried up. They began looking for a new pond. Finally they came to the rabbits' pond. When they saw it, the elephants stampeded toward the water. The rabbits went flying in every direction as the elephants stomped around in the water, spraying and playing. The rabbits did not know what to do. The old grandmother rabbit got an idea.

Hare and Hyena are great friends and decide to start a farm together. They will have a garden and buy 10 cows for milk. They share the work. One day one tends the garden, milks the co

Award-winning storyteller Bill Gordh (Film Advisory Board Award of Excellence winner, National Association of Parenting Periodicals Gold Award winner) presents this folk tale live with no script, accompanied only by his own dynamic banjo playing.

Twin brothers were the best of friends. When they grew up they became partners and grew corn. They shared the work and what they sold. One evening in the threshing ground, after they had worked all afternoon, they decided to spend the night there to make sure no thieves stole the results of their hard work. In the middle of the night, one of the brothers woke up. He looked at his sleeping brother and began thinking about him with his wife and children.

A father and son went to camp out in the forest and do some hunting. They found a place to set up camp. Before going to sleep, the father told the boy some stories including one about the monster that lived in the forest. The boy fell asleep and his father went to do some night hunting. The boy woke up, was scared and went looking for his father. His father had heard an animal up in the trees and climbed a tree to hunt. The boy heard his father in the tree and called to him. The father was startled and thought it was the forest monster.

Mouse Deer was down by the river one day when Crocodile swam up and chomped on little Mouse Deer's leg. Mouse Deer could not pull his leg from the clamped jaws of the crocodile. Mouse Deer did some quick thinking and began talking about how lucky he was that the crocodile had accidentally chomped on a stick instead of Mouse Deer's leg. Mouse Deer picked up a stick, which he extended from his body. Without thinking about it, Crocodile let go of Mouse Deer and chomped on the stick.