This is a traditional West African tale that explains why mosquitoes annoyingly buzz in people’s ears. One morning, a mosquito tried to tell the iguana a story. The iguana had no interest in what the mosquito was saying, so he stuck two sticks in his ears. When the python passed the iguana and tried to talk to him, the iguana walked right past him. Thinking that the iguana was angry with him, the python hid in a rabbit hole. The rabbit inside was frightened and ran away. The crow saw the rabbit running, and it was his job to warn the forest of danger. The monkey heard the calls from the crow and went screeching through the woods to warn the other animals. He fell on an owl’s nest, and killed one of the owlets. Mother Owl’s job was to wake the sun each day so the sun would rise. When she saw one of her babies killed, she did not call for the sun. The night grew longer and longer, so the King Lion called a meeting with the animals. The animals were able to trace the source of the problem back to the mosquito, and she was banished. Today, the mosquito has a guilty conscience. Whenever she tries to ask people if they are still angry at her, she gets her answer when people swat at her. “SMACK!”
Origin tales are a category of traditional literature. They tell about how something was originated, in this case, why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears. I think that these are fun tales, because they often come from other cultures and are creative ways to tell a story. Often, stories like these are passed down orally from generations; therefore, I would use this book as a read aloud. This story explains how one event can cause a chain of events. As additions to this read aloud, I could provide students with other origin tales and ask students to create their own. I could incorporate technology into this lesson by having the students create a PowerPoint like a book, and present them to the class. I could even have the students sit around in a circle, create a fake campfire, and let them act out their stories orally. Students could also work in groups to complete the task.
