Told Again
Old folktales and proverbs, 
told again for today
A folktale or a proverb every Saturday, retold for today, with a note on how I told it.
What you get
A folktale or a proverb every Saturday, retold for today, with a note on how I told it.
- 3,100 readers
- Free, and you can leave any time
Sample issue · Thursday 5 November 2026
The Tortoise and the Long Road
Hi, it’s Zawadi. Here’s what’s new this week.
New this week
- The Tortoise and the Long Road: A slow traveller, a short-cut and a lesson that arrives late and stays.
- The Boat That Waited: An old boat, a young captain and the tide that does not hurry for anyone.
- Cloves on the Mat: A proverb about patience, told through a week of drying spice in the sun.
In the shop
Ten Old Tales for Today. Ten folktales retold in plain modern words, each with a short note on where it came from.
You asked
How do the downloads arrive? After checkout you receive an email with a download link, and the same link is shown on the confirmation page. The collections and the deck are PDFs made to print on ordinary A4 or Letter paper.
See you next week, Zawadi
Start here
New here? Start with these.
Colouring the Story
Why I put a picture to colour beside every tale, and how children use it.
A Proverb for a Slow Morning
One saying about not hurrying the day, and a short tale to go with it.
How I Retell a Tale Without Spoiling It
Three rules I keep when I change an old story for new readers.
Told again
A folktale or a proverb every Saturday, retold for today, with a note on how I told it.
The Tortoise and the Long Road
A slow traveller, a short-cut and a lesson that arrives late and stays.
The Boat That Waited
An old boat, a young captain and the tide that does not hurry for anyone.
Cloves on the Mat
A proverb about patience, told through a week of drying spice in the sun.
Hello, I’m Zawadi
I grew up on the evening porch of my grandmother’s house, where the old men sat on a stone bench and told stories to anyone who stopped. They told the same tales for fifty years and never told one the same way twice. I did not know then that I was learning how to write.
Now I collect those tales and the proverbs that go with them, and I write them down again in plain words for readers who never sat on that bench. I keep what matters, the turn of the tale and the lesson hidden in it, and I change what needs changing so a child or a grown-up today can hear it.
Every Saturday I send one tale or proverb, with a few lines on where it came from and how I told it. What I sell is what I use myself: story collections, a deck of proverb cards, read-aloud audio and two courses for people who want to retell a tale of their own.
Downloads, a course and merch
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- 3,100 readers
- Free, and you can leave any time
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