Tales & legends

The oral tradition

In the Comoros, tales are told in the evening, once work is done. In Mayotte, the storyteller calls out “Hale!” and the audience replies “Halele!”: the story can begin. These tales entertain, but they also teach: respect for elders, hospitality, wariness of the proud, the cunning of the weak against the powerful.

Djinns and spirits

Djinns, invisible beings mentioned in the Koran, people the stories and popular beliefs. They are said to live in certain craters, lakes, trees, rocks or places, called ziara, and one must know how to protect oneself from them or win their favour. In Mayotte and in some parts of the archipelago, possession cults of Malagasy (trumba) or local (patros) origin still call on the spirits during ceremonies accompanied by songs and drums.

Legends of places

• Lac Salé (Grande Comore), swallowed up for refusing water to a stranger.
• The ring of the Queen of Sheba, said to have dug the crater of Karthala.
• The king's daughter and Lake Dziani (Mayotte).
• Mtsanga Tsoholé, the islet of white sand born of the rice of a royal wedding.
• The women of Iconi, at the time of the raids.
• Mtswa Mwindza, the founding story of Comorian Islam.

These stories, passed on by word of mouth, exist in several versions depending on the village and the storyteller.

Characters in the tales

Comorian tales feature figures common to the whole Swahili coast and to Madagascar: the cunning hero who outwits the powerful, like Ibnasya, the man-eating djinn disguised as a handsome stranger, the girl who is too proud, the despised child who ends up saving their people. Animals talk, spirits mingle with humans and the moral often comes at the end.

Proverbs and riddles

Proverbs punctuate conversations and the speeches of notables: knowing how to use them at the right moment is a sign of wisdom. Riddles, traded as a game among children or to open storytelling evenings, sharpen the mind and the art of speaking.