06x10 - Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters

[bunniefuu]

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go anywhere ♪

♪ Friends to know ♪

♪ And ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be anything ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

Hi.
Do you hear that sound?

It's an invitation
to a festival

Happening in new york's
central park.

Everywhere
people are singing...

Dancing...

Dressing up...

And getting together

To celebrate the music
and culture of africa.

All black americans
have roots in africa,

Since our ancestors
came from there.

Africa is very much a part
of who we are today.

One of my favorite things
about africa

Is the tradition
of storytelling.

Here's one
of my favorite stories.

It's called
mufaro's beautiful daughters.

A long time ago,
in africa,

A man named mufaro
lived with his two daughters,

Manyara and nyasha.

Everyone agreed

That manyara and nyasha
were very beautiful.

Manyara was almost always
in a bad temper.

She teased her sister
and said,

"Someday, nyasha,
I will be a queen,

And you will be a servant
in my household."

Nyasha responded, "I will
be pleased to serve you,

But why do you say
such things?"

"Because everyone praises you,"
manyara replied.

"But when I am queen,

"Everyone will know
that your silly kindness

Is only weakness."

Nyasha was sad
that manyara felt this way,

But she ignored
her sister's words

And went about her chores.

One day,
nyasha noticed a snake

Resting beneath
a yam vine.

"Good day, little nyoka.
You are welcome here."

From that day on,

Nyoka was always
at nyasha's side

When she tended
her garden.

Early one morning,

A messenger
from the city arrived.

"The most worthy daughters
of the land

Are invited to appear
before the king,"

He proclaimed.

"The king will choose one
to become queen."

Mufaro called
manyara and nyasha.

"It would be
a great honor

To have one
of you chosen," he said.

"Prepare yourselves
to journey to the city."

That night,
when everyone was asleep,

Manyara stole quietly out
of the village.

In her hurry,

She almost stumbled
over a small boy

Who suddenly appeared,
standing in the path.

"Please," said the boy,
"I'm hungry.

Will you give me
something to eat?"

"Out of my way!"
Manyara replied.

"I will become
your queen!

How dare you stand
in my path!"

After traveling for what
seemed to be a great distance,

Manyara came
to a clearing.

There was an old woman
seated on a stone.

"Manyara," she said,
"I will give you some advice.

"You will see
a grove of trees.

"They will laugh at you,

But you must not laugh
in return."

"How dare you advise
your future queen!"

Manyara scolded.

"Stand aside,
you ugly old woman!"

Just as the old woman
had foretold,

Manyara came
to a grove of trees.

They did seem
to be laughing at her.

"Ha ha ha!
Ha ha ha!

I laugh at you, trees!"
She shouted and hurried on.

In the morning,

The wedding party
assembled outside,

But manyara was missing.

Everyone bustled about,
searching for her.

When they found
her footprints on the path,

They decided to go on
as planned.

They were in the forest
when nyasha saw the small boy.

"You must be hungry,"
she said.

She handed him a yam
she'd brought for lunch.

The boy smiled
and disappeared.

The old woman appeared

And pointed the way
to the city.

Nyasha thanked her

And gave her
some sunflower seeds.

When the party came
to the towering trees,

Their uppermost branches
seemed to bow down

To nyasha as she passed
beneath them.

At last, they were near
their destination.

Nyasha ran ahead.

She stood transfixed
at her first sight of the city.

But as they entered,

The air was rent
by piercing cries,

And manyara ran out wildly.

When she saw nyasha,
she fell upon her.

"Do not go
to the king!

Father, don't let her go!"
She cried.

"There's a monster there--
a snake with five heads!

"He would have swallowed me
if I had not run!

Oh, my sister, please,
don't go inside!"

It frightened nyasha
to see her sister so upset.

Leaving her father
to comfort manyara,

She bravely made her way
to the king's chamber

And opened the door.

On the seat
of the great chief's stool

Lay the little garden snake.

"Ha ha ha!" Nyasha laughed,
with relief and joy.

"My little friend,"
she exclaimed,

"It's a pleasure
to see you.

Why are you here?"

"I am the king,"
nyoka replied.

And there
before nyasha's eyes,

The garden snake
changed shape.

"I am the king.

"I am also the boy
with whom you shared a yam

"And the old woman to whom
you gave sunflower seeds.

"Because I have been
all of these,

"I know you to be

"The most worthy daughter
in the land.

"It would make me
very happy

If you would be my wife."

And so it was that nyasha
agreed to be married.

Villagers from all around

Were invited
to the celebration,

And a great feast
was held.

Mufaro proclaimed

That he was the happiest father
in the land,

For he was blessed

With two beautiful
and worthy daughters,

Nyasha, the queen,

And manyara, a servant
in the queen's household.

Whoo!

Sounds great!

When the call went out
for nyasha's wedding,

It was probably played
on a drum.

Drums are the heartbeat
of african life.

It's how a drum is made
that gives it its power,

So it's really important
who the drummaker is.

I'm kobla mensadente.
I'm an african drummaker.

When I make a drum,

I feel connected
to our ancient tradition

That goes back
many centuries.

When I carve a drum,

I feel I've become
a part of that tradition.

When I carve the drum,
I take my tool, the aso,

And take off the bark.

I have to be careful.

I can hurt myself
with this tool.

When I choose a log
to make a drum,

I look for something

That will be large
and strong enough

To make
the instrument I want.

The wood I like
is red cherry or red oak.

These woods
make good drums.

Today, I'm making
a djimbe drum.

This drum comes fr
the old mali empire.

It is a drum of celebration.

After I finish
shaping the drum,

I hollow out
inside of the shell.

I use a gouge chisel.

It's like a Kn*fe
with a curved blade.

This allows me
to scoop out the wood.

I put my energy, spirit,
and soul into making a drum.

It's important to me

That the person who plays
the instrument

Understands that this drum
is something we share.

@
When you can take something
out of a piece of wood

And create an instrument,
then you're making magic.

Depending upon the drum
you want to make,

You use different types
of animal skins.

For this djimbe drum,
I use a goatskin.

I soak the skin in water
till it gets soft

So I can mold it
onto the drum shell.

The skin stays fastened
onto the drum by cradles.

You have one cradle on top
and one on the bottom.

I let the skin dry for a day
before playing it.

When I complete a drum,
I feel very satisfied.

This instrument can make
its own sound

And have a life
of its own.

The drum is one
of many voices

In african music.

Kimate dinizulu
will show us others.

He collects
authentic instruments

That originated
in africa.

What is the instrument
you're playing?

This instrument
is called a twanga.

It's known
by many names.

It's said to be
an ancestor

To the modern-day
piano and organ.

What else
do you have?

I brought the hu-hu.

It's an ancient form
of a trumpet

Found in
two african countries,

Chad and cameroon.

It's made out of
a calabash gourd,

Which is a vegetable
in the pumpkin family.

This part is made
out of bamboo.

It has
a beautiful sound.

You can also feel it.

Let's hear.

[Low-pitched sound]

Wow! What a feeling!

It's a beautiful
instrument.

It's very ancient.

Kimate, this looks like
an ordinary seashell.

How can this possibly be
a musical instrument?

I'll show you.

♪♪♪♪
♪♪♪
♪♪♪

I like it.

It's a conch shell.

It's called lambi
in haiti,

Which is
a caribbean island.

How do you turn it
into an instrument?

You count down
three rings from the tip,

And you put it
to your lips.

♪♪♪
♪♪♪♪
♪♪♪

Here.

Wow!

Three rings, huh?

[Rasping sound]

♪♪♪♪

Oh!

That's great!

♪♪♪♪

That was good.

This is amazing.

What else
do you have?

Whoa! Great sound!

Levar, I want
to show you something.

In africa,
the instruments
are not played

Solely by one person,
but in large groups.

This is called
an akasa.

It's from ghana.
The ga people play it.

This here
is an instrument.

It's called a gome.

It's played with
your hands and feet.

The akasa is played
like this.

Can you do that?

Yeah.

All right.

You got it?

Right. You play
the gome.

Ooh!

Yeah!

You played good,
real good!

Thank you for being
with us today.

We really
enjoyed it.

Listening to
the music of africa

Makes you feel
like you're there.

Reading about it
does, too.

If africa is a place
you want to visit,

Here are some books

That are
just the ticket.

You don't have to
take my word for it.

Jambo means hello
in swahili,

A language spoken
in many african nations.

This book will
introduce you to swahili.

It's called jambo means hello,
by muriel feelings.

It's written
as an alphabet book.

It's sort of like
a dictionary.

There's a word
for every letter.

Each page tells you
the word's meaning and a story.

For example,
rafiki means friend.

In africa, friends work
and play together.

The drawings in the book
are done by tom feelings.

I think the pictures
are so lifelike

You can almost
tell the meaning

Without looking
at the word.

This is
no ordinary storybook,

But it's fun to read.

You'll find out
about a world

You probably
never knew existed.

Africa is
thousands of miles away,

But to get a taste of it,

Travel to your library
and take out this book.

Tell them
andrew yalley sent you.

Hello. I'm josette.

If you're interested in learning
about life in africa,

I suggest you read
the jafta series

By hugh lewin.

They're all about
a little boy named jafta.

" Fta's a sweet,
understanding kid.

He loves animals
and treats them well.

He doesn't have toys,
but has many pets.

Jafta has a special relationship
with his father.

Sometimes his father
carries him

Across the river
on his shoulders.

The pictures are great,

And they have
a real african feel.

If you want to go
to africa,

Go to the library
and pick up the jafta series.

Hi. I'm katherine.

I'm here to tell you
about a story

With strange animals
and interesting words.

It's an african folktale
called who's in rabbit's house?

It's about a play put on
by an african village.

The villagers act and dress up
like different animals.

There's a ferocious leopard,

A strange elephant,

And a peculiar rhinoceros.

Some parts of the story
made me laugh,

Especially when the caterpillar
came out of the rabbit's house.

The pictures in this book

Are painted
in the colors of nature,

Which make them
very unique.

If you'd like to read
a story from another country,

Try who's in rabbit's house?

It's different and fun.

We're about to begin
a highlight of today's festival.

It's a performance by the group
forces of nature.

They're going to dance
a lamban, or celebration,

That's based on the west african
folkloric tradition.

Although much of what we'll see
is rooted in the past,

Forces of nature
mixes the old with the new,

Creating something
entirely unique.

You did great, man!
Yeah!

What a celebration!

It makes me proud
of my african heritage.

I'm glad that heritage

Is now a part
of our american tradition.

See you next time.

Today's
reading rainbow books are

Mufaro's beautiful daughters
by john steptoe,

Published by
lothrop, lee & shepard books.

Jambo means hello
swahili alphabet book

By muriel feelings,

Illustrated by tom feelings,

Published by
dial books for young readers.

Jafta series
by hugh lewin,

Illustrated by lisa kopper,

Published by
carolrhoda books, inc.

Who's in rabbit's house?
By verna aardema,

Illustrated by
leo and diane dillon,

Published by
dial books for young readers.