Showing results by narrator "Bill Gordh" in All Categories

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.

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.

Munanchar and Menanchar are two friends who are out picking raspberries. As Munanchar fills his bucket, Menanchar eats them. Munanchar discovers what is happening and tells Menanchar that he is going to go get a stick and hit Menancnhar on the head! So Munanchar sets out and finds a tree that has a branch that will be just the right stick. But the tree tells him he needs an ax. He goes to the ax, and the ax tells him he needs a stone to sharpen the ax. The stone says he needs water to wet the stone.

Pig was tired of his living conditions and went to the farmer. Farmer said the pig should go to the judge, and whatever the judge ruled, the farmer would do. Pig went to court. The judge ruled that Pig could have what he wanted - to sleep on a mat and eat alfalfa.

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.

There were two brothers who fished every day. They were not having much luck. One brother carved a squid from wood. It really looked like a squid, and when he threw it into the water it became a real squid. Happy to be alive, the squid helped the boy by chasing herring close to shore, and the boy could catch them easily. The other brother wanted to have more luck too.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sister Fox tries to get Br'er Rabbit by inviting him to go fishing with her on her rowboat. She knows that he can't swim, and she is tired of being tricked. She also knows that he loves fish and will not pass up an opportunity like getting to fish from a rowboat. They get out in the middle of the lake and sit there singing. Sister Fox is singing about her favorite lunch - rabbit! Br'er Rabbit cannot swim and is getting nervous.

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.

Seven children (traditionally told with boys) are playing a rock game in the space where the dances are held in the village. The mothers call for the children to gather some corn so they can make corn soup. The kids just keep playing. The mothers keep asking. They keep playing. The mothers get mad and put rocks in the soup.

Raven can be either a bird or a man. As a man, he can pull down his pointed hat onto his face, and he transforms into Raven bird. The world is dark. The sun and moon and stars were taken by an evil wizard, and he kept them locked up in his big house on the hill. Raven says that he will bring them back. He flies to the house, but he cannot get in. He decides to play a trick. He pecks on the front door and then flies off and hides behind a tree.

There is a harvest festival in the village. Everyone contributes. Coyote and his wife decide to make a vegetable stew. He tells her if she will clean the pot and boil the water, he will do the rest of the work. In the morning, she does her work and when the water is boiling, wakes Coyote to do the rest. He makes excuses to get her to do the work of gathering the vegetables. This happens again and again until the stew is all ready, except for salt. She tells Coyote to travel to Salt Lake to get the salt.

A hunter is out and hears some geese flying in formation overhead. They are singing! He shoots one of them, and it falls from the sky but continues singing. He brings it home, and he and his wife pluck out its feathers. As each feather is plucked, it flies out the window. They put the goose in the oven, and they can still hear it singing from inside the oven. After a while they bring out the goose and put it on a platter on their dining table. Just then the flock of singing geese come flying through the window.

A poor miller told the king that his daughter could spin straw to gold. The king was delighted and ordered the daughter to come to the palace. He showed her a room full of straw and told her she must spin it into gold by the morning or die. She did not know what to do. She cried. A little man appeared who, after receiving a necklace, spun the straw into gold. The king put her in a larger room full of straw and told her the same thing. This time the girl gave the little man a ring.

Coyote saw Rabbit sleeping under a tree. Often Rabbit tricked him, but this time Rabbit was asleep! Coyote pounced, ready to eat. Something up in the tree gave Rabbit an idea. Rabbit asked, "Could you wait 'til I do my job for you to eat me?" Coyote asked what the job was, and Rabbit told him she had to shake the tree to ring the bell for all the little bunnies to get out of school. Coyote decided he would rather eat some little bunnies than a skinny old rabbit.

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.