The Hunter and the Bush-Goat

A hunter caught a bush-goat in his snare, but when he went to slit the goat's throat, he accidentally cut the rope and the goat broke free.

The hunter chased the goat for hours. 

Finally the hunter shouted, "Wait! You know that twins cannot eat goat meat. I'm a twin, my wife is a twin, and my children are twins. You've got nothing to be afraid of. I was just joking with the knife."

"If you, your wife, and your children are twins who can't eat my meat," the goat replied, "then why have you been chasing me for hours?"

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Inspired by: "The Man and the Goat" in Negro Culture In West Africa by George W. Ellis, 1914.
Notes: You can read the original story online. These are Vai stories from Liberia. The animal called "bush goat" in the story is a kind of duiker.

duiker photo by Jean