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1001 Stories Collection

The Freedom Song

1001 thefreedomsong
Added on 01st July 2020

Oral tradition Thai folktale

Asia Animals Fables
1001 , Audio , Text , Storymap

A folktale with a message that freedom cannot be silenced.

Story

A hunter kills a beautiful bird because he doesn’t like the sound of his song. However no matter what he does he can still hear the song – he cannot silence the sound of freedom.

Why we chose it

The Freedom Song is one of the stories in The Story Museum’s original audio stories collection. These stories are particularly suitable for learning to retell.

Where it came from

Storyteller David Holt tells of hearing the story from a boy in Chiang Mai, Thailand (Ready To Tell Tales, 1979). However when Chris Smith told it to a group from Ghana they were sure it was from Ghana.

Where it went next

The story has become popular with storytellers today. A version called The Freedom Bird can be found in in David Holt’s Ready to Tell Tales. It is also in Chris Smith’s 147 Traditional Stories for Primary School Children to Retell.

Added on 01st July 2020

Oral tradition Thai folktale

Asia Animals Fables
1001 , Audio , Text , Storymap

Story Resources

  • The Freedom Song story text PDF (197.271 KB)
    Download
  • The Freedom Song story map PDF (253.855 KB)
    Download