What's So Funny, Ketu?: A Nuer Tale

When Ketu rescues a small snake from his dog in this Nuer folktale, he is rewarded with the ability to hear the thoughts of animals. This new-found skill becomes more of a curse than a blessing however, when his continuous laughter at the animals' thoughts raises his wife's ire. How can he explain his laughter, when the snake has warned him that to give away his new skill will result in death...?

Adapted from the tale The Man and the Snake, to be found in Ray Huffman's 1931 Nuer Customs and Folk-Lore, this story was originally retold by Aardema in her 1960 picture book, Otwe. This second retelling is illustrated by Marc Brown, the creator of the popular Arthur series. Recommended to young folklore enthusiasts, and to fans of Verna show more Aardema's retellings. show less

Traditional literature, African folk tale of the Nuer people.
Ketu is blessed by a snake with the dubious gift of being able to hear what animals say. Once he starts to hear them, he laughs so hard it disrupts his family life (baby wakes up, wife gets irritated....) I loved the line drawn illustrations by Marc Brown and the design of this book, but the story didn't add up to much for me. Usually a tale like this has a clear lesson - what am I missing?