Showing results by author "Bill Gordh" in All Categories

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.

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.

Lion was declared king and invited all the animals to come for a greeting, so he could thank them all. Little Ant was representing all the ants and she was so excited she got up extra early and got to the greeting place before any other animals. She didn't care.

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.

Spider wants scrambled eggs for breakfast but doesn't want to cook them. He pretends to have a stomach ache. He begs his wife to go to the doctor. She goes. Spider takes a shortcut and gets to the Doctor's house. Spider knows the doctor is not home. Spider goes in and pretends to be the Doctor. When the wife gets there, Spider tells her through the door to feed Spider scrambled eggs. She goes back home. Spider rushes back home and gets back into bed.

A sad man walks up the road. He stops when he sees an old man sitting on his porch. The old man asks what the trouble is. The sad man describes how he has lost everything. The old man sees a green lizard on a leaf and catches it.

Spider is walking through the jungle one day when he hears about a party that is to happen in the east. He decides he will go, as there will be lots to eat and drink. He walks on and hears about a party in the west, then on and hears about a party in the north and then one in the south. He wants to go to all the parties, but he neglected to find out the times they started. He just knows they are all on the same night. He gets an idea. He asks four of his cousins to come over.

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.

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.

Little Half Chick was just that - a half-chick! But he was tired of the farm and thought he deserved a better life. He decided to go and visit the king in Madrid. He hopped along. Along the way, he hopped over a bridge.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The girl made such beautiful lace that they called her Sister Lace. Her lace would take the forms of flowers and birds and beasts. Girls from all over came to learn from her the art of lace making. She was a devoted friend and teacher. The emperor heard of her lace making and ordered his guards to go and bring her to him. She did not want to go. They forced her into the carriage. When she arrived at the palace, she refused to leave the carriage. They forced her out.

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.

A traveler met another traveler walking through an African jungle. The sun was going down, and they knew that soon some of the beasts would be out hunting for food. They stopped in the next village and asked the chief if they could stay for the night. The chief welcomed them but told them that if either of them snored, they should probably go to the next village, because his people hated snoring so much, if someone snored they would sharpen their knives and kill the snorer.

Gecko eats a mosquito. Yum. Then he settles into sleep. Gecko can't sleep. Firefly keeps flashing its lights. Gecko goes to the chief. Chief goes to the firefly. Firefly says it's Woodpecker who is knocking on a tree, trying to tell everyone there is an earthquake, and that is why firefly is flashing. Chief goes to Woodpecker. Woodpecker says it got the message from Frog. Frog says it is not saying that. It is saying that Ox is dropping plop on the road. Ox says it is just trying fill potholes caused by Rain.

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.