Two African Tales

"Two African Tales" is a collection of short stories by Davidson Nicol, a Sierra Leonean diplomat, physician, and writer. Published in 1965, these stories, along with others in "The Truly Married Woman, and Other Stories," explore life within the government service and the interactions between Africans and colonial administrators in pre-independent Sierra Leone.1

The tales are examples of the "dilemma tale" genre, a form of short story, often found in African literature, that presents morally ambiguous or open-ended conclusions. These narratives typically raise questions about loyalty, justice, and blame, inviting the audience to speculate on the correct resolution to the presented problems.2