African Stories
Hyena and The Goat
One day, Goat was on her way home from the market. She had gone there to buy salt for her family and was now carrying it back. On the way, she ran into Hyena, who being very hungry, wanted to eat her. To save her skin, Goat had to think quickly. "Hello Uncle" said Goat.
Hyena was surprised, as he did not recognise the Goat as someone
he knew in his family. Contrary to popular belief, all members of the Hyena family are usually very close and considerate to one another. Hyena therefore hesitated trying to remember who in his family was related to Goat. He did not want to appear ignorant and admit to goat that he did not know who she was.
Hyena therefore thought back to his parents, his grandparents, his great grandparents and so on. While he was trying to think and remember, goat made her escape. Turning quickly and with a great leap Goat bolted to a nearby cave, where she had heard in the market that Lion was recovering from a broken leg.
Hyena followed Goat into the cave, not knowing that Lion was inside. The three of them met face to face. Goat being the least surprised thought quickly again and taking the salt she had bought in the market, she faced Lion and proudly announced;
"Lion, I bring you the remedy for your broken leg. To be cured you must devour salted Hyena meat. See here, I have brought you the salt".
Lion looked at the salt Goat was holding out, then he looked past Goat straight at Hyena and gladly replied;
"It is good of you to have brought the salt, and I see that there is also a Hyena here".
Then with his good leg, Lion reached out with one giant paw and knocked Hyena to the floor. He took a big bite out of his back, rubbed the flesh in the salt and swallowed it. He loved the taste, so asked Goat if he could have some more.
"Certainly" Goat replied, "you can keep it all!" and slowly backed out of the cave before running off.
Lion took a second bite out of Hyena's back. While he rubbed the morsel in the salt, Hyena took his chance and ran off out of the cave. Until this day, Hyena still walks with a low back because of the large mouthfuls that Lion took out of him.
The End
Hare, Elephant, & Hippo
One hot breezy day, all the animals were gathered at the riverside to quench their thirst. At this particular place the river was wide and the muddy waters moved along very slowly making it a nice spot to drink and relax. It was very peaceful.
That day, nobody was afraid of being caught or eaten by anybody else. A very good rainy season had just passed, which meant there was more then enough food for everyone. Food such as grass, fruit, and insects everybody had eaten well.
Leuk the Hare was feeling a little bored with the slowness of life and started to look around for some entertainment. He had a sudden cunning thought and wandered over to where elephant was grazing. After watching elephant eat for a short while Leuk remarked,
"Hi elephant, you have a very big appetite, I expect you think you must be the biggest and strongest of all the animals at this waterhole".
Elephant looked scornfully at Leuk and replied, "Who else do you think is as strong as me? Of course I am the strongest!".
Leuk jumped back in surprise at Elephants words, and then started laughing. "Why I am of course! Why does everyone think that just because I am small, I am also weak?".
Elephant was irritated by Leuk's answer, but before he could reply, Leuk added; "Let's have a tug-of-war to see who is the stronger between you and me".
Elephant quickly agreed, pleased that he would have the chance to prove to little Leuk once and for all that he was the stronger. Leuk said that he could provide a rope and so the two agreed to meet in that same place the following morning at sunrise to do the tug-of-war.
That evening, as the red sun moved down to hide behind the craggy savannah trees and the mosquito's came out to look for fresh blood, Leuk spotted Hippo on the other side of the river.
Hippo always stayed up late so he could avoid the strong sun and eat the grass on the riverbank during the cool of the evening. Leuk crossed the river and as he passing by Hippo, he suddenly stopped as if a thought had just occurred to him.
"Good evening Hippo", said Leuk, "You know, I see you eating a lot and growing bigger and stronger every day. No doubt you think you are now the strongest animal around here".
Hippo felt insulted there was certainly no doubt that he was the strongest and was willing to prove it to anyone.
"In that case" said Leuk, "I challenge you to a tug-of-war tomorrow because I think I am the strongest even though I'm only small".
Hippo thought that it would be a waste of time but agreed if only to prove to anyone watching how strong and powerful he really was. Leuk again said that he could provide a rope, and so the two animals agreed to meet in that same place the following morning at sunrise for the tug-of-war contest.
That night Leuk stayed up very late weaving a very long thick rope. At sunrise he took the rope to where he and elephant had agreed to meet. Elephant was already waiting there in the cold morning air, along with most of his family and a lots and lots of friends and supporters.
Leuk gave Elephant one end of the rope and then said that because the rope was so long, he would cross to the other side of the river. That way, there wouldn't be any bushes in the way which might tangle up the rope. "Wait for my signal to start!" cried Leuk as he crossed the river.
On the other side of the river Leuk found Hippo waiting patiently with his friends and supporters. Leuk gave Hippo the other end of the rope and told him the same thing he had told to Elephant.. "Wait for my signal to start!" cried Leuk as he crossed back to the other side of the river. On reaching the riverbank, Leuk hid in a small hole and shouted out in a loud voice so both Elephant and Hippo could hear, "Start pulling when I say Go; - Ready, Steady, Go!"
When they heard the signal, Elephant and Hippo started pulling as hard as they could, and they were both very surprised at how strong little hare was. Not wishing to lose in front of their supporters they pulled and pulled and pulled all day long until the sun set. When it grew dark all the supporters went back to their homes leaving Elephant and Hippo laying down exhausted on opposite sides of the river. Leuk went to see first Elephant, then Hippo and told them both that he was the winner because he was still fresh while they were too tired to move.
The next day Leuk went to the riverside where he found Elephant and all his supporters gathered together. Leuk loudly announced to all the animals there that he had won the tug-of-war competition. When Elephant kept quiet everyone agreed to vote Leuk the Hare 'Strongest Animal for the Day'! Leuk thanked everyone and then laughing to himself, he swam across the river to find Hippo.
Hippo was also with his supporters and so Leuk proclaimed himself as winner of the tug-of-war competition to everybody there also. Again, because Hippo did not argue with Leuk, all the animals on the other side of the river also voted Leuk the Hare as 'Strongest Animal for the Day'!
The End