The Man and His Goats

A man once had seven goats and seven sons.
"Take the goats to the pasture!" he told his eldest son.
There the boy fed and watered the goats.
That evening, the man asked the goats, "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"
"YES! YES!" bleated the goats.
So the man killed his son.
One by one he killed all his sons.
Then he himself tended the goats, feeding and watering them.
That evening, he asked, "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"
"YES! YES!" bleated the goats.
Then the man killed the goats... but one she-goat escaped to the mountains and she still lives there today.



Inspired by: "A Child's Tale" in Algerian Folktales (in Folklore) by P. P. H. Hasluck, 1925.
Notes: You can read the original story online. In the story he also has a wife and he sends her to tend the goats after the sons are all gone, and he kills her too. There is a second part to the story: an evil spirit (Bazghugh?) eats the goats' kids in the mountains; the goat then summons the evil spirit and kills him with her horns.

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