How the Maasai Got Their Cattle

The Maasai were cowherds, but they had no cows.
The Dorobo were hunters, and they also had cows.
A god came to a hunter and told him, "Meet me here tomorrow at dawn to get more cows."
A cowherd was eavesdropping, and he arrived there before dawn. "Here I am," he said, and the god lowered cattle from heaven using a rope. The cowherd took the cows, and the hunters' cattle joined the herd. The cowherds had all the cows.
The angry hunters then shot arrows at the rope from heaven, and the god went far away, never to return.



Inspired by: "How the Masai Got Their Cattle" in African folk tales by Roger Abrahams, 1983; Abrahams' source is Hollis' The Masai: Their Language and Folklore.
Notes: You can read the original story online. And you can find out more about the Maasai and about the term Dorobo, the hunters of this story, at Wikipedia.

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