His wife said, “Then it is mine. I sent your sons to find you.”
The first brother said, “No, it is mine. I put your bones back together.”
The second brother said, “No, it is mine. I put skin back on your bones.”
The third brother said, “No, it is mine. I made your heart beat again.”
The fourth brother said, “No, it is mine. I made you move again.”
The hunter looked at them all. He smiled and shook his head. “No,” he said. “This is for the little one. He is the one who remembered me. As long as a person is remembered and treasured by someone, he is not really lost.” The hunter lifted the fifth son onto his knee. Then he put the beautiful carving into his son’s hands.
Charlotte Blake Alston
No one knows who made up “The Forgotten Treasure,” but people have been telling stories like it for thousands of years. In West Africa, a storyteller is called a griot (grē-ō). Stories are not written down, so griots must be able to remember them all. Griots are also the keepers of history.
Today, many American storytellers tell stories aloud. Charlotte Blake Alston gathers folk tales from West Africa. She visits schools to share the stories. Alston uses the “power of the voice” when she performs.