Long ago, Dog brought the people a message: “You will die as the moon dies. But, like the moon, you can live again, provided you give me milk from your gourd and let me drink beer through your straw. Then I will make it possible for you to return from death, like the moon.”
The people laughed. They gave Dog milk and beer, but they didn’t let him drink from their gourd or use their straw.
Dog got angry. “The moon will return to life,” he said, “but you people will die and you will not come back to life.”
[a Nandi story from Kenya]
Inspired by: "The origin of death" in The Nandi, their language and folk-lore by Alfred C. Hollis, 1909.
Notes: You can read the original story online. There are MANY versions of this "origin of death / message of the moon" story, but this Nandi version with the indignant dog is quite different than the others.
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