Dog and Goat went from town to town, stealing food. Goat looked for cassavas; Dog looked for meat and rice.
When people saw the thieves, they beat them with sticks, driving them away.
Dog would howl when people beat him. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" he said each time he got hit.
Goat, on the other hand, said nothing at all.
"Why don't you howl when they beat you?" asked Dog.
"What's the point of howling?" said Goat. "Of course they're going to beat us. You need to stop stealing or stop howling. As for me, I plan to keep on stealing."
[a story from Liberia]
Inspired by: "Dog and Goat" in Folktales from Liberia (in Journal of American Folklore) by Richard C. Bundy, 1919.
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