Pourquoi Tales

Core Idea

A pourquoi tale is a folk story that explains why something in nature is the way it is, such as why the leopard has spots or why mosquitoes buzz. *Pourquoi* is the French word for "why." These stories come from cultures all over the world, and their explanations are imaginative, not scientific. The plot usually builds through cause and effect to a final change that is still true "to this day."

How It's Best Learned

Read two pourquoi tales from different cultures, then find the sentence near the end that tells what changed forever. Fill in a chart with three boxes: what things were like before, what happened, and how things are now. Then let students pick an animal feature, such as a rabbit's long ears, and write their own short pourquoi tale.

Common Misconceptions

• A pourquoi tale gives the scientific reason for something. (It gives a story reason. Science explains the leopard's spots through biology, while a pourquoi tale invents a memorable event.)
• Pourquoi tales come from only one country. (They are found in many traditions, including West African, Native American and Asian folklore, and authors such as Rudyard Kipling have written their own.)
• Every story with an animal in it is a pourquoi tale. (It must explain the origin of something. A fable with animals usually teaches a lesson instead.)

Explainer

Long before people had science books, they still wondered about the world. Why does the turtle have a cracked shell? Why do mosquitoes whine in our ears? Why does the sun live in the sky? One way people answered these questions was with stories. We call them pourquoi tales. *Pourquoi* (say "poor-KWAH") is French for "why."

A pourquoi tale usually starts by describing a time long ago when things were different. Maybe the leopard had no spots, or the camel had a flat back. Then something happens. A character does something foolish, proud, clever or kind. That action causes a change. At the end, the story tells us the change has lasted "to this day." So the leopard still has spots, and the camel still has a hump.

Cause and effect drives these stories. In the West African tale "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears," a mosquito tells the iguana a silly lie. The iguana gets annoyed and puts sticks in his ears so he will not hear any more nonsense. That causes a chain of accidents among the other animals, and one of them leads to a sad loss. In the end, the animals blame the mosquito. Ever since, the mosquito buzzes in people's ears to ask if everyone is still angry. The ending makes sense because of every step before it.

Pourquoi tales come from all over the world. Some are very old folktales, passed down by storytellers. Others were written by authors who liked the form. Rudyard Kipling wrote a book of them called *Just So Stories* (1902), with titles such as "How the Camel Got His Hump" and "How the Leopard Got His Spots."

A scientist would explain a leopard's spots using evidence about how leopards hunt and hide. A pourquoi tale gives an imaginative reason instead. Both can be enjoyable, but they do different jobs.

When you read a pourquoi tale, ask three questions. What was the world like before? What happened? What is still true today because of it? Then try writing one of your own.