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The Gunny Wolf
an African American tale adapted from the United States
A man and his little daughter lived alone near the edge of the
forest. Now, that man knew there were wolves in the forest, so he built a fence
around the house, and told his little daughter she must on no account go outside
the gate while he was away. One morning when he had gone away,
the little girl was hunting flowers, and she thought it would do no harm just
to peep through the gate. As she did so, she saw a little flower so near that
she stepped outside the gate to pick it. Then she saw another flower just a little
ways off, and she picked that one too. She saw another, and another, and little
by little she walked farther and farther away from home. And as she walked, she
sang a song:
Tray-bla, Tray-bla,
Kum-kwa,
Ki-mo.
All of a sudden she heard a noise. She stopped picking flowers, and looked
up, and what should she see but a great big gunny wolf. The gunny wolf said, "Sing
me that good, sweet song again." So the little girl sang,
Tray-bla, Tray-bla,
Kum kwa,
Ki-mo.
And the gunny wolf lay down, and fell asleep.
Pit-a-pat, Pit-a-pat, Pit-a-pat,
 and
the little girl tiptoed away.
But the gunny wolf woke up!
Hunk-a-cha! Hunk-a-cha! Hunk-a-cha!
he ran after the little girl,
and when he caught her he said, "Sing me that good, sweet song again." So the
little girl sang,
Tray-bla, Tray-bla,
Kum-kwa,
Ki-mo.
And the gunny wolf lay down, and fell asleep.
Pit-a-pat, Pit-a-pat, Pit-a-pat,
the
little girl tiptoed away, and she was almost to the front gate when the gunny
wolf woke up!
Hunk-a-cha! Hunk-a-cha! Hunk-a-cha!
he ran after the little girl, and when he caught her he said, "Sing me that
good, sweet song again." So the little girl sang,
Tray-bla, Tray-bla,
Kum-kwa, Ki-mo.
And the gunny wolf lay
down, and fell asleep.
Pit-a-pat, Pit-a-pat,
Pit-a-pat,
the little girl tiptoed all the way home, and she closed
the gate, and went inside the house, and locked the door, and after that, she
stayed away from the woods where the gunny wolf lived.
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