"Humans feed me," Dog replied. "Come watch!"
While Jackal hid and watched, Dog approached a hut. A human came out and gave Dog a bone!
Jackal was amazed.
"Did you see?" Dog asked Jackal afterwards. "I get bones every day!"
Curious, Jackal hid again the next day and watched. This time, Dog got so excited when he saw the bone that he knocked over a pail of milk. The human became angry and beat Dog.
"Humans don't feed me," said Jackal to himself, laughing, "but at least they don't beat me either."
Inspired by: "Jackal and Dog" in Talking Animals by Wilfrid Hambly, 1949. Hambly does not give the origin of this story, and I am not sure if it is one of the Nigerian or Angolan stories; this motif of the jackal (or fox or wolf) who is tempted by the village but sees the dog being beaten is a common folklore motif, and not just in Africa.
Notes: You can read the original story online. Illustration by James Porter:
Inspired by: "Jackal and Dog" in Talking Animals by Wilfrid Hambly, 1949. Hambly does not give the origin of this story, and I am not sure if it is one of the Nigerian or Angolan stories; this motif of the jackal (or fox or wolf) who is tempted by the village but sees the dog being beaten is a common folklore motif, and not just in Africa.
Notes: You can read the original story online. Illustration by James Porter:
No comments:
Post a Comment