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By MARY THERESE BIEBEL marytb@leader.net
 Friday, February 06, 2004 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3 





This lady's walking down a path and sees a snake that was run over by a
cart. She feels sorry for it, takes it home and nurses it back to health. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Then she goes to pet him and he bites her. She asks why. He says, ``You
knew what I was when you brought me home.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lesson learned? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``If something is dangerous, you shouldn't bother it,'' says Deilsie Heath
Kulesa, a Scranton-area storyteller who loved listening to her grandparents
share African folk tales when she was growing up. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Now it's her turn to pass along the legends, not only with nieces and
nephews but with the public. Kulesa will present ``Pigs and Possums and
Snakes'' at 2 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum in
McDade Park, off Keyser Avenue in Scranton. Admission is free. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Based on that first story, we understand that snakes are bad guys. What
about possums and pigs? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``They can go both ways,'' Kulesa said with a laugh. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 You might think a pig a sloppy kind of animal, but it's also a model of
determination. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Most people don't realize pigs like to root,'' she said. ``They take
their snouts, and they dig in the dirt. Most people wouldn't think a pig could
make a big hole doing this, but you should just watch and see how big the hole
can get.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Is there another lesson here? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Just because somebody's put you in a pen'' is no reason to give up. ``You
can find another way of doing things.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Over the years, Kulesa said, she's learned that stories can be a great
teaching tool. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``They were very entertaining to us (as children) and made us stop and
think,'' she said. ``Sometimes they were hilarious, but we always got
something out of it.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I was raised by my father's parents,'' Kulesa reminisced. ``And in our
family, we had great storytellers. I was the little kid who always sat around
and listened.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

African Folk Tales Teach Us Age-old Life Lessons