Far Away Sky

Why the Sky is Far Away

A Nigerian Folktalke

Retold by: Mary-Joan Gerson

Have you ever wondered, or been asked why the sky seems so far away? Well, five hundred years ago the Binis, a Nigerian Tribe, told this folktale of exactly why the sky was far away. In the beginning of this Prose Narrative the sky was near the earth, and there was no work required to get the food needed to survive. Men and women never had to harvest crops, or prepare food, and the children never had to carry water from the streams or sticks for the fire to help in the food preparations. Whenever the people wanted to eat they just reached up into the sky to find the food they wanted. “Anybody who was hungry just reached up, took a piece of sky, and ate it.” The sky could transform into many different things, such as meat stew, roasted corn, or even ripe pineapple. This is an example of a transformation motif, because the sky could transform into the certain food desired by the person taking a piece of it. With all the spare time the people had they were able to weave beautiful items and prepare for many different festivals. King Oba was the king of the land and had magnificent servants that cut and prepared the sky for the ceremonies.

The sky soon began to realize that the people and servants of the king were becoming wasteful. With all the rubbish bins being full of soured and spoiled leftovers the sky became furious, and when the next morning came the dark clouds overhead covered King Oba’s palace. A loud boom shook from above with a warning to the King saying that if the people continued to be wasteful there would be no more! King Oba was terrified, and sent messengers across the land notifying the people to change their ways and not be as wasteful. The sky scolded “Oba! Mighty one! Your people have wasted my gifts. I am tired of seeing myself on heap of garbage everywhere. I warn you. Do not waste my gifts any longer, or they will no longer be yours.” This captures one of the elements that makes this traditional literature. The magic of the sky shows this motif because the sky can’t really speak, and the actions that When the greatest festival of the year came around to celebrate the power of King Oba, the people rejoiced, but Oba was still afraid that the people would forget about the sky’s warning.

Later in the story a very needy woman, who always wanted more, was invited to the palace of the King to eat and rejoice. She ate and ate and even though she was full she took a piece of the sky and couldn’t finish eating it. After trying to get her family and friends to finish the piece for her she buried it, and this shook the ground and lighting struck! The sky moved far away and forced the people to work for their food on their own. This creation myth tells why you should not be wasteful not take things for granite. It also tells the story of why the sky is far from us, which classifies it as a creation myth.

This traditional literature book would be useful in the classroom because it is a good example to show the children what a creation myth is, and it exposes the children to diversity and different cultures. The vivid pictures also keep children engaged while reading. Some pages in the book have pictures with no words that you could use to have the children tell what they think is happening in the picture and predict what will happen next. We would both use it in our classrooms one day to teach about traditional literature.