The dog lay down in the cow’s grass.
When the cow came to eat the grass, the dog prevented her.
“I don’t understand,” said the cow to the dog. “You don’t eat grass; that’s my food, not yours. Why are you keeping me away from my grass?”
The dog just barked at her, “Wo! Wo!” which means, “Go away! Go away!”
The cow said, “Dog, you are very hard-hearted.”
Ever since, the dog chases the cow. When he chases her, she tries to stab him with her horns, but when the dog barks, the cow gives up and goes away.
[a Hausa story from northern Nigeria]
Inspired by: "Conversation" in Magana Hausa; Hausa stories and fables by J. F. Schon, 1885 edition with English translation.
Notes: You can read the original story online. Compare the medieval story of the dog and the manger (in later Aesop collections, but not found in any classical source).
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