Smith. Annancy Stories.

Today's free book is Annancy Stories by Pamela Colman Smith, with illustrations by the author. This collection of stories about the Jamaican trickster Anansi (ultimately of West African origin) was published in 1899, which makes it roughly contemporary to Joel Chandler Harris's Brer Rabbit publications,

I have found this book at Internet Archive, Google Books, and Hathi Trust.

Here is a list of stories in the book:

Annancy and Chim-Chim
De Man An' De Six Poach Eggs
Why Toad Walk 'Pon Four Leg
Annancy An' Tiger Ridin' Horse
Mr. Titman
Why John Crow Hab Peel Head
Candoo
Mother Calbee
How Annancy Win De Five Dubbloon
Morass
Annancy And Gingy Fly
How Annancy Went To Fish Country
Haylefayly An' Pretty Peallope
Paarat, Tiger, An' Annancy
Bull-Garshananee
Annancy An' De Nyam Hills
Ticky-Picky Boom- Boom
De Golden Water, De Singin' Tree An' De Talkin' Bird
How Annancy Fooled Death
The Three Sisters
Annancy And Dry Kull; Or, Why Hog Hab A Long Mouth
Dog An' De Duckanoo

Barker-Sinclaire. West African Folktales

Today's free book is West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair. You can find out more about this book in the West African Folktales unit of the Myth-Folklore UnTextbook.

For the table of contents, check at the bottom of this post below the image.

The book is available at Internet Archive, Hathi Books, and Sur La Lune. There is also a free audiobook at LibriVox.

I. Anansi, or Spider, Tales

How We Got the Name "Spider Tales"

How Wisdom Became the Property of the Human Race 

Anansi and Nothing 

Thunder and Anansi 

Why the Lizard Moves His Head Up and Down 

Tit For Tat 

Why White Ants Always Harm Man's Property 

The Squirrel and the Spider 

Why We See Ants Carrying Bundles As Big As Themselves 

Why Spiders Are Always Found in Corners of Ceilings 

Anansi and the Blind Fisherman 

Adzanumee and Her Mother 

The Grinding-Stone That Ground Flour By Itself 

Morning Sunrise 

Why the Sea-turtle When Caught Beats Its Breast With Its Forelegs 

How Beasts and Serpents Came into the World 

Honourable Minu 

Why the Moon and the Stars Receive Their Light From the Sun

II. Miscellaneous Tales

Ohia and the Thieving Deer 

How the Tortoise Got Its Shell 

The Hunter and the Tortoise 

Kwofi and the Gods 

The Lion and the Wolf 

Maku Mawu and Maku Fia 

The Robber and the Old Man 

The Leopard and the Ram 

Why the Leopard Can Only Catch Prey On Its Left Side

Quarcoo Bah-Boni 

King Chameleon and the Animals 

To Lose an Elephant For the Sake of a Wren Is a Very Foolish Thing To Do

The Ungrateful Man 

Why Tigers Never Attack Men Unless They Are Provoked 

The Omanhene Who Liked Riddles 

How Mushrooms First Grew 

Farmer Mybrow and the Fairies

Werner. The Mythology of Africa.

Today's free book is The Mythology of All Races: Armenian and African (volume 7); the African section is by Alice Werner. Pages 105-361 covers African traditions, although it is not organized quite like a collection of stories. You can see the topics covered, chapter by chapter, in the list of contents below. This is a really wonderful resource, especially if you have a specific interest in the topic of one of the chapters.

Chapter 13 is about Anansi: spider stories!

The book is available at the Internet Archive. I've linked to the Internet Archive edition for the chapter titles below:

High Gods and Heaven
Myths of Origins
Myths of the Origin of Death
The Ancestral Spirits
Legends of the Spirit-World
Heroes
Nature Myths
Tales of Demons and Ogre
The Little People
Totemism and Animal Stories
Hare and Jackal Stories
Tortoise Stories
Spider Stories
Stories of Witchcraft and Werewolves
Recent and Imported Myths

Herskovits. Suriname Folklore

This post has moved.

Jekyll. Jamaican Song and Story (Anansi Stories)

Today's free book is Jamaican Song and Story: Annancy Stories, Digging Sings, Ring Tunes, and Dancing Tunes, collected and edited by Walter Jekyll with an Introduction by Alice Werner. For the table of contents, check at the bottom of this post below the image.

The book is available at Internet Archive, Hathi Trust, and Google Books. You can get a free Kindle ebook from Amazon too!

PART I.: ANNANCY STORIES
1. Annancy and Brother Tiger
2. Yung-Kyum-Pyung
3. King Daniel
4. Tomby
5. How Monkey manage Annancy
6. Blackbird and Woss-woss
7. The Three Sisters
8. William Tell
9. Brother Annancy and Brother Death
10. Mr. Bluebeard
11. Annancy, Puss and Ratta
12. Toad and Donkey
13. Snake the Postman
14. Doba
15. Dry-Bone
16. Annancy and the Old Lady's Field
17. Man-Crow
18. Saylan
19. Annancy and Screech-Owl
20. Annancy and Cow
21. Tacoma and the Old-Witch Girl
22. Devil's Honey-Dram
23. Annancy in Crab Country
24. Gaulin
25. Annancy, Monkey and Tiger
26. The Three Pigs
27. Dummy
28. Annancy and Candlefly
29. Parson Puss and Parson Dog
30. Chicken-Hawk
31. Pretty Poll
32. Annancy and Hog
33. Dry-River
34. Yellow Snake
35. Cow and Annancy
36. Leah and Tiger
37. Timmolimmo
38. Calcutta Monkey and Annancy
39. Open Sesame
40. Sea-Mahmy
41. Crab and his Corn-piece
42. Dry-Grass and Fire
43. John Crow
44. Tiger's Death
45. The Old Lady and the Jar
46. John Crow and Fowl-Hawk
47. Finger Quashy
48. Annancy and his Fish-Pot
49. Hog and Dog
50. Devil and the Princess
51. Wheeler

PART II.: DIGGING SINGS
52. Oh hurrah, boys!
53. Ho biddybye
54. Tell Mr. Linky
55. Tell Mr. Bell
56. Bad homan oh!
57. Bell a ring a yard oh!
58. The one shirt I have
59. Jessie cut him yoke
60. T'ree acre of Cahffee
61. Away, away
62. Wednesday morning before day
63. Oh Samuel oh!
64. Oh 'liza oh!
65. Aunty Mary oh!
66. Oh me yerry news!
67. Jes' so me barn
68. Tell Mary say
69. Me tell them gall
70. Gold, amber gold
71. Gee oh mother Mac
72. Leah married a Tuesday
73. Cheer me oh!
74. Me cock a crow
75. Oh Selina!
76. Sambo Lady
77. John Thomas
78. Whé mumma dé?
79. Toady
80. Me know the man
81. Minnie
82. You want to yerry Duppy talk
83. Me know Sarah
84. Me donkey want water
85. A Somerset me barn
86. Timber lay down 'pon pit
87. Me want go home
88. War down a Monkland

PART III.: RING TUNES
89. Little Sally Water
90. Poor Little Zeddy
91. Whé me lover dé?
92. Ring a diamond
93. Carry Banana
94. Pass the ball
95. Me los' me gold ring
96. Old mother Phœbe
97. Deggy
98. Me go da Galloway Road
99. Rosybel
100. Bull a pen ho!
101. Two man a road
102. Adina Mona
103. Palmer
104. Mother Freeman
105. Me have me goosey a me yard
106. Drill him, Constab!
107. If you make him come out
108. Oh me Toad oh!
109. There's a Black boy in a ring
110. Johnny
111. Me lover gone a Colon bay
112. Good morning to you, mother
113. Johnny Miller
114. Bahlimbo
115. Oh den Jacky
116. Ha, ha, ha, ha!

PART IV.: DANCING TUNES
117. When I go home
118. Guava root a medicine
119. Crahss-lookin' dog up'tairs
120. Goatridge have some set a gal
121. Me carry me akee a Linstead market
122. Since Dora Logan
123. Fire, Mr. Preston, Fire!
124. Tief cahffee
125. Fan me, soldierman
126. Manny Clark
127. Bungo Moolatta
128. Bahl, Ada
129. Rise a roof in the morning
130. Oh we went to the river
131. Aunty Jane a call Minnie
132. Marty, Marty
133. What make you shave old Hall?
134. Run, Moses, run
135. Whé you da do?
136. Mother William, hold back Leah
137. Oh, General Jackson!
138. Soldier, da go 'way
139. Don't cry too much, Jamaica gal
140. Dip them
141. Very well, very well
142. Oh trial!
143. Father, I goin' to join the confirmation
144. Obeah down dé
145. The other day me waistcoat cut
146. All them gal a ride merry-go-round
147. Merry-go-round a go fall down
148. Try, dear, don't tell a lie
149. Look how you mout'
150. Breezy say him no want Brown lady
151. Isaac Park gone a Colon
152. Matilda dé 'pon dyin' bed
153. Mas' Charley
154. Me buggy a sell
155. Oh 'zetta Ford, gal
156. Birdyzeena
157. Me an' Katie no 'gree
158. Down-town gal
159. Sal, you ought to been ashame
160. Good morning, Mr. Harman
161. Hullo me honey!
162. When mumma dere
163. Oh Jilly oh!
164. James Brown, you mahmy call you
165. When I go home
166. Feather, feather, feather
167. Quaco Sam
168. Anch a bite me
169. Me know one gal a Cross Road
170. Moonshine baby
171. I have a news
172. Once I was a trav'ller
173. Oh me wouldn' bawl at all
174. You take junka 'tick
175. Yellow fever come in
176. Jimmy Rampy
177. Susan, very well why oh!
178. Bahss, Bahss, you married you wife
179. Blackbird a eat puppa corn, oh!
180. Me da Coolie sleep on Piazza
181. Notty Shaw
182. You worthless Becca Watson
183. Since the waggonette come in
184. Them Gar'n Town people
185. Young gal in Jamaica, take warning
186. Me no min dé a concert
187. Complain, complain, complain
188. I can't walk on the bare road
189. Come go da mountain
190. Amanda Grant
191. Last night I was lying on me number
192. Me lassie, me dundooze
193. Mister Davis bring somet'ing fe we all
194. A whé the use
195. Quattywort' of this!
196. Mahngoose a come

Appendix:
A. Traces of African Melody in Jamaica—C.S. Myers
B. English Airs and Motifs in Jamaica—L.E. Broadwood

Milne-Home. West Indian Folklore

Today's free book is Mamma's Black Nurse Stories: West Indian Folklore by Mary Pamela Milne-Home. For the table of contents, check at the bottom of this post below the image.

The book is available at Hathi Trust. Some of these stories come from the "Ananzi Stories" (Anansi Stories) collected by George Webbe Dasent, which you can also find at Sacred Texts Archive. There is one story there which is not included here: Nancy Fairy.

Anansi and Alligator    
Brother Death      
The Lady and the Bull    
The Snake and the King’s Daughter
The Story of Anansi and Tiger  
The Snake    
The Affassia      
Goat and Anansi      
Anansi, His Wife, and Tiger  
The Story About Rat and Cat  
Anansi, Tiger, and Goat    
Garshan Bull      
The Lady and the Little Doggie  
The King and the Peafowl  
The Lion, Goat, and Baboon  
The Little Child and the Pumpkin-Tree
The King and the Ant’s Tree  
The Girl and the Fish    
The Dancing Gang    
Anansi and Baboon    
Anansi and the Lion    
Anansi and Quanqua    
The Brother and His Sisters  
Why the Jack Spaniard’s Waist Is Small
The Man and the Doukana Tree  
The Ear of Corn and the Twelve Men

Beckwith. Jamaica Anansi Stories

Today's free book is Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith. You can find out more about this book in the Jamaica Anansi Stories unit of the Myth-Folklore UnTextbook.

For the table of contents, check at the bottom of this post below the image.

The book is available at Internet Archive, Sacred Texts Archive, and Hathi Books.

ANIMAL STORIES.

1. Tying Tiger. 

2. Tiger as Substitute. 

3. Tiger as Riding-horse. 

4. Tiger's Sheep-skin Suit. 

5. Tiger Catching the Sheep-thief. 

6. Tiger's Breakfast. 

7. Eggs and Scorpions. 

8. Tiger's Bone-hole. 

9. The Christening. 

10. Eating Tiger's Guts. 

11. Throwing away Knives. 

12. Grace Before Meat. 

13. Day-time Trouble. 

14. New Names. 

15. Long-shirt. 

16. Shut up in the Pot. 

17. House in the Air. 

18. Goat on the Hill-side. 

19. Dog and Dog-head. 

20. Tacoomah's Corn-piece. 

21. Anansi and the Tar-baby. 

22. Inside the Cow. 

23. Cunnie-More-Than-Father. 

24. The Duckano tree. 

25. Food and Cudgel. 

26. The Riddle. 

27. Anansi and Brother Dead. 

28. Brother Dead and the Brindle Puppy. 

29. The Cowitch and Mr. Foolman. 

30. Dry-Head and Anansi.  

31. The Yam-hills. 

32. The Law against Back-biting. 

33. Fling-a-mile. 

34. But-but and Anansi. 

35. Tumble-bug and Anansi. 

36. Horse and Anansi. 

37. Anansi in Monkey Country. 

38. Curing the Sick. 

39. Anansi, White-belly and Fish. 

40. Goat's Escape. 

41. Turtle's Escape. 

42. Fire and Anansi. 

43. Quit-quit and Anansi. 

44. Spider Marries Monkey's Daughter. 

45. The Chain of Victims. 

46. Why Tumble-bug Rolls in the Dung. 

47. Why John-crow has a Bald Head. 

48. Why Dog is always Looking.  

49. Why Rocks at the River are covered with Moss. 

50. Why Ground-dove Complains. 

51. Why Hog is always Grunting. 

52. Why Toad Croaks. 

53. Why Woodpecker Bores Wood. 

54. Why Crab is afraid after Dark. 

55. Why Mice are no Bigger. 

56. Rat's Wedding. 

57. Cockroach Stories. 

58. Hunter, Guinea-hen and Fish. 

59. Rabbit Stories. 

60. The Animal Race.  

61. The Fasting Trial (fragment). 

62. Man is Stronger. 

OLD STORIES, CHIEFLY OF SORCERY.

63. The Pea that made a Fortune. 

64. Settling the Father's Debt. 

65. Mr. Lenaman's Corn-field. 

66. Simon Tootoos.  

67. The Tree-wife.  

68. Sammy the Comferee. 

69. Grandy-Do-an'-Do. 

70. Jack and Harry. 

71. Pea-fowl as Messenger. 

72. The Barking Puppy. 

73. The Singing Bird. 

74. Two Sisters. 

75. Asoonah. 

76. The Greedy Child. 

77. Alimoty and Aliminty. 

78. The Fish Lover.  

79. Juggin Straw Blue.  

80. The Witch and the Grain of Peas.  

81. Bosen Corner. 

82. The Three Dogs.  

83. Andrew and his Sisters.  

84. The Hunter. 

85. Man-Snake as Bridegroom.  

86. The Girls who married the Devil. 

87. Bull as Bridegroom. 

88. The Two Bulls. 

89. Ballinder Bull.  

90. Bird Arinto.  

91. Tiger Softens his Voice. 

92. Hidden Names. 

93. Anansi and Mr. Able.  

94. The King's Three Daughters. 

95. The Dumb Child. 

96. The Dumb Wife. 

97. Leap, Timber, Leap. 

98. The Boy fools Anansi. 

99. The Water Crayfish. 

MODERN EUROPEAN STORIES.

100. Ali Baba and Kissem. 

101. Bull-of all-the-Land.  

102. The Boiling Pot. 

103. The Twelve One-eyed Men. 

104. Bird and Hunter. 

105. Jack and the Devil Errant. 

106. The Magic Hat and the Staff of Life. 

107. Uncle Green and Jack. 

108. Big Begum and Little Begum. 

109. The Fool and the Wise Brother. 

110. The Children and the Witch. 

111. The Boy and the Mermaid. 

112. Difficult Tasks. 

113. The Grateful Beasts. 

114. Jack and the Bean-stalk. 

115. Jack and the Devil. 

116. Jack's Riddle. 

117. Jack as Fortune-teller. 

118. Robin as Fortune-teller. 

119. Jack and the Grateful Dead. 

120. The Boy and his Master. 

121. The Language of Beasts. 

122. The Three Pieces of Advice. 

123. Three Brothers and the Life-tree. 

124. The Skilful Brothers. 

125. The Three Sillies. 

126. A Misunderstanding. 

127. Big-head, Big-belly, and Little-foot. 

128. The Goat in the Lion's Den. 

129. The Donkey, the Cat and the Lion's Head. 

130. Clever Molly May. 

131. Dancing to Anansi's Fiddle. 

132. Anansi claims the dinner. 

133. Anansi seeks his Fortune. 

134. The Pannier-jar. 

135. Anansi kills his Grandmother. 

136. White Belly and Anansi. 

137. Monkey hunts Anansi. 

138. Anansi and the Pig coming from Market. 

DANCE AND SONG.

139. The Fifer.  

140. In Come Murray.  

141. Tacoomah makes a Dance. 

142. Anansi makes a Dance. 

143. Red Yam. 

144. Guzzah Man.  

145. Fowl and Pretty Poll.  

146. The Cumbolo. 

147. John-crow and Fowl at Court.

148. Wooden Ping-ping and Cock.

149. Animal Talk. 

WITTICISMS.

Old-time Fools. 

Duppy Stories. 

Animal Jests. 

Lies. 

Philosophy. 

RIDDLES.