Showing results by narrator "Bill Gordh" in All Categories

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.

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.

Twin brothers were the best of friends. When they grew up they became partners and grew corn. They shared the work and what they sold. One evening in the threshing ground, after they had worked all afternoon, they decided to spend the night there to make sure no thieves stole the results of their hard work. In the middle of the night, one of the brothers woke up. He looked at his sleeping brother and began thinking about him with his wife and children.

An old woman who mended nets for the fishermen was out of work for the winter and had run out of food. She begged for flour to make some bread. Finally, a wealthy neighbor let her sweep the flour from the floor of his store room. It was enough to bake three loaves! Just as she removed the three loaves from her oven, there was a knock on the door.

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.

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.

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.

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.

An old farmer was out in the woods chopping wood for his family when his ax slipped from his hands and went flying into the river. The farmer was so upset, he cried out to the river. The river spirit heard him and up out of the river rose a silver ax. "Is this your ax?" asked the River Spirit. The framer would have loved the ax, but he was an honest man and he said, "No."

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

A king with a son and a king with a daughter decided it would be great if their children married. The prince loved the idea, but the princess made a demand. She wanted three rings - one from the stars, one from the moon, and one from the sun. Otherwise she was not interested. No one knew what to do. The prince's father offered half his kingdom for a solution. The wise ones offered nothing of use. The prince was in despair.

In a small village, a mother and her daughter were just getting by. They had very little. One day the girl announced that she was going to go and find some work. There was no work in the village and so she set out on her own. She began to cross a field and there were 2 bulls fighting. The fighting made the girl sad and she sang to the bulls to stop their fighting and they did! She moved on.

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.

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.

A farmer met a fairy and asked her to marry. She finally agreed but said he must never get angry or call her a bad fairy. He said of course he would not do that. They married, and everything went wonderfully. They had three children. One day he was in the upper pastures and saw a storm approaching. The fairy wife knew it was coming and so gathered her fairy clan, and they cut the green wheat and put it in the barn with an alder tree branch between each sheaf.