The Leopard and the Goat: 5 African Fables of Kinship and Survival

'Stupid Goat!' exclaimed the Leopard. 'Pray, why dost thou permit these common folk to lay their long, osseous hands upon thee? Thou wouldst fare far better in my company; for my paws are of a most delicate and furry nature.'

'Nay!' bleated the Goat. 'I shall remain precisely where I am! I entertain not the slightest inclination to accompany thee.'

Thereupon, the Leopard seized the Goat, who then emitted a most piercing cry, 'Me-e-e-e-e-eh!'

'Thou art a veritable fool!' declared the Leopard. 'Why dost thou shriek thus when I but touch thee, yet remain silent when these mortals lay their skeletal hands upon thee? I confess, I find thee quite beyond comprehension.'

The Goat persisted in its lamentations, and the Leopard, seized by a sudden apprehension lest the villagers should arrive, promptly took to its heels.

And from that day hence, the Leopard harbours a profound ire towards the Goat, seeking evermore to bring about its demise.

In days of yore, there existed a lioness who brought forth a cub.

Subsequent to this parturition, she found herself assailed by a most grievous hunger. A full seven days did elapse, and yet no sustenance had she partaken of.

Wherefore, she didst soliloquise, 'I am compelled to embark upon the hunt. I must procure food forthwith, lest both my cub and I succumb to the throes of starvation.'

She espied an antelope, peacefully grazing, and commenced to stalk it with the utmost circumspection and stealth.

Ere long, the antelope, being endowed with a certain perspicacity, became cognisant of the lioness's presence. He didst turn his head and fixed his gaze directly upon her. 'Welcome, cousin!' quoth the antelope, in a most cordial manner.

The lioness, being possessed of a certain innate sense of honour, was overcome with shame and didst abstain from launching an attack upon the antelope. For she could not bring herself to commit violence against one who had acknowledged kinship.

And thus, the antelope didst survive, owing to this peculiar circumstance.

A Hen, whilst perambulating near the riverbank, found herself seized by a Crocodile. 'Pray, desist, good brother,' she squawked with considerable alarm, 'do not subject me to such indignity!'

The Crocodile, being much taken aback by her unexpected vocable, released her forthwith.

Upon the subsequent day, he did once more apprehend the Hen, and she, with like utterance, entreated him, 'Release me, I implore you, my brother!'

The Crocodile found himself in a state of bewilderment, stating, 'She doth reside upon the land, whilst I am confined to the aquatic domain.

How, therefore, can I be construed as her sibling?'

He sought elucidation from his sagacious friend, the Lizard.

'Doth thy understanding yet fail thee?' queried the Lizard. 'Crocodiles deposit eggs, Lizards deposit eggs, and Hens, likewise, deposit eggs. This fact doth establish a familial bond between us.'

For this very reason, Crocodiles are known to abstain from the consumption of Hens.

The Fruit-Bat, alas, had succumbed to illness.

Devoid of any solicitous presence within his abode, his demise necessitated the summoning of his kindred by solicitous neighbours, that the customary rites might be observed.

‘Hither, ye feathered denizens!’ they proclaimed. ‘Your kinsman, Fruit-Bat, hath departed this mortal coil.’

The Aves, in dutiful response, presented themselves; yet, upon beholding the deceased Fruit-Bat, they demurred, declaring, ‘He is assuredly not of our lineage; he doth lack the plumaceous adornments proper to our kind.’

Whereupon, the neighbours extended their summons to the Muridae.

‘Attend, ye Rodents!’ they entreated. ‘Your cousin, Fruit-Bat, hath yielded to the inevitable.’

The Muridae arrived, but their scrutiny of the lifeless Fruit-Bat prompted the rejoinder, ‘He bears no caudal appendage; thus, he cannot be acknowledged as our kin.’

And thus, bereft of kith and kin, the Fruit-Bat remained unburied, a lamentable testament to familial disavowal.

The Lioness emitted a formidable roar.

Whereupon, the Ostrich reciprocated with a roar of its own.

'Verily, thou art a comrade of considerable merit,' the Lioness conceded. 'Let us, therefore, engage in the chase together.'

The Ostrich employed its feet in the pursuit, whilst the Lioness availed herself of her teeth. Together, they brought down elands, which they conveyed to the lair where the Lioness's cubs awaited.

'Pray, avail thyself of the entirety of the meat,' the Ostrich entreated the Lioness. 'For my preference lies in the imbibing of blood.'

Thereafter, the Ostrich, the Lioness, and the cubs took their repose.

The Ostrich's mandibles gaped open as it slumbered.

One cub, seized by curiosity, peered within the Ostrich's mouth. 'Mother,' he whispered with hushed tones, 'the creature possesses no teeth!'

The Lioness, roused to ire, emitted an enraged roar. 'Thou art not a comrade of worth,' she shrieked at the Ostrich, and with that, she launched herself upon the creature, rending it asunder with her teeth.