Ethopian
Gambela region
An Anuak story
Long, long ago, God made the world. He made the forests and the rivers. He made the trees and the grass. He made the fish and the animals. And he made man.
He called the animals and the man to one place, and spoke to them.
“Tomorrow I’m going to give you your gifts,” he said. “Look for the morning star. When you see it, come to me. Listen for the cock. When he crows, come to me.”
So the man and the animals went away.
Now God loved the buffalo more than all the other animals, and he said to him, “Come to me early in the morning. Come before the morning star rises in the sky. Come before the cock crows. Then I will give you the best gift of all.”
The dog was hiding in the trees. He heard God’s words. Quickly, he ran to the man.
“Listen,” he said. “Tomorrow morning don’t wait for the morning star. Don’t wait for the cock to crow. Go to God early. Tell him you are the buffalo, and then you will get the best gift.”
So very early the next morning, the man woke up. He put the skin of an animal on his back and he ran on his hands and feet to God.
“Who are you?” said God.
“I am the buffalo,” the man said. “Is there a gift for me?”
“You are the first,” said God, “and so the best gift is for you.”
And God gave the man a spear.
“Are you happy now?” he said to the man.
“No,” the man said. “I am not happy. Give me all the spears.”
So God gave the man all the spears and the man ran away.
A little later, the buffalo came.
“Who are you?” said God.
“I am the buffalo,” the buffalo said.
“Then who was it who came earlier?” said God.
“It was the man,” said the buffalo. “The foster child of the dog.”
“You’re late!” said God. “Why didn’t you come earlier? I gave the man the spear because he came first. For you there are only horns.”
So God gave horns to the buffalo and to all the cattle, and to the lion and leopard he gave claws, and strong noses, so that they could smell their enemies. But the man became the master of all the animals, because he had all the spears.
The Father’s Plan
Once there was a man called Obang. He was old and sick. He lay in his hut alone.
“Soon I will be dead,” he thought.
Outside, his wives were cooking food and his children were playing.
“Who will look after them when I have gone?” Obang thought.
Then he heard voices. A young man was talking and laughing.
“That’s the voice of my son,” Obang said to himself. “Why is he talking and laughing with his friends in the middle of the day? Why isn’t he working?”
Someone came to the door of the hut.
“Who is it?” Obang called out.
It was Obang’s friend. He came into the hut and sat down beside the old man.
“Ah, it’s you,” Obang said. “I’m very happy to see you. Will you help me?”
“Yes, yes, of course,” said his friend.
“Old friend, I’m dying,” Obang said. “And I’m worried. Who will look after my family when I’m dead?”
“You have a son,” his friend said. “He can …”
“My son is lazy and weak,” said Obang. “Every day he goes out with his friends and eats and drinks. But I have a plan. He must learn to work, and you must be his teacher.”
“How?” said his friend.
“When I am dead, burn my huts,” Obang said. “Burn my foodstore. Burn everything. I can’t take all these things with me. Burn them all.”
“But…” said his friend.
“Please,” the old man said. “Please do this for me.”
A few weeks later, Obang died.
“He was a good man, and a rich man too,” everyone said. “But look at his son!”
Then they smelled something. They looked at each other.
“Fire!” they shouted.
They ran towards the fire. The old man’s huts, his food store, his clothes and his tools – everything was burning.
His wives and children were crying.
“What are we going to do now?” they said. “We have nothing! We’ll all die!”
Obang’s son was drinking with his friends but he heard the noise and ran towards the crowd.
“Come back with us,” his friends said. “Have another drink. You can’t do anything here.”
But Obang’s son looked at his father’s wives and children.
“No, no,” he said. “Goodbye my friends. Now I’ve got to work.”
The young man worked hard. Every morning he started working early. He finished working late every evening. He built more huts on his father’s land. He filled the stores with food. His father’s wives ate well and their children were happy again.
Obang’s friend smiled.
“My old friend’s plan was a good one,” he thought. “His son has learned to work, and I was his teacher.”
Obang and his Dog
Obang had a good dog. It was clever and quick and it could run fast. It knew its master’s voice. It was a good hunter and could catch wild pigs.
One day, Obang and his dog went hunting. The dog ran fast into the forest and Obang followed it. But suddenly, the dog stopped. There was a lion in front of it. The lion was eating a bushbuck.
The lion saw the dog and opened its big mouth. The dog ran quickly back to Obang, its master.
“Why did the dog run back to me?” thought Obang.
Obang went on and found the lion. The dog was behind him. It felt braver now because it was with its master. It ran up to the lion and tried to take its meat. The lion was very angry and ran after it. The dog was frightened, and it ran behind its master again.
Now Obang was between the angry lion and the dog, and the lion was coming after him. Obang tried to run fast, but the lion was running faster. The lion was coming nearer and nearer.
“I’m going to die!” Obang thought. “The lion’s going to eat me!”
Suddenly, he came to the edge of the Alwaro river. He jumped into the water and swam to the other side. The lion stood on the bank and watched him go. He didn’t like to swim.
Obang went home. He was very angry.
“My dog’s a fool,” he said to everyone. “It brought an angry lion to me. It nearly killed me! Where is that dog? I’m going to kill it!”
“What?” said Obang’s friends. “You want to kill your dog? You can’t do that. It’s a good dog. It’s quick and clever. It knows your voice. Perhaps, one day, you will need it.”
A few weeks later, Obang went hunting again. He walked quietly along the forest path and his dog ran on in front of him.
A big python was lying under a tree. Obang didn’t see it. He put his foot on the python’s tail. At once, the python caught him. It climbed up Obang’s legs, then it began to climb up his body.
“Help!” shouted Obang. “Help!”
The dog heard him. It ran back to its master, and saw the python. It went up to it and bit its tail. The dog’s teeth were sharp. The python didn’t like it. The dog pulled harder and harder. At last the python slipped off Obang and went into the bushes.
Obang lay on the path. He couldn’t move. His dog ran round him and barked. At last, Obang sat up. He felt a bit better. He tried to stand. He was all right now.
Then Obang saw the python again. It was coming back! It wanted to catch him again! But the python was weaker now. Its tail was still bleeding. Quickly, Obang took out his knife and killed it. He made a fire and burnt the python. Soon there was nothing but ashes.
Obang and his dog went back to the village.
“You were right,” Obang said to everyone. “Today I needed my dog. A big python caught me. It nearly killed me but my dog bit its tail and pulled it off me. My dog saved my life.”
His friends smiled.
“Yes,” they said. “A man must always be kind to his dog because a good dog is a man’s best friend.”
The Man from the River
One day, Achala and Ajulo went to the river. They wanted to catch some fish with their spears. A big fish swam past them. Achala speared it, but Ajulo pulled it out of the river.
They began to fight.
“It’s mine!” Achala said. “I speared it!”
“No! It’s mine!” said Ajulo. “I took it out of the river!”
Achala caught the fish’s tail and Ajulo caught the fish’s head. They pulled it, and became very angry.
A man was hiding in a dead tree by the river. His head was covered with leaves, and he was catching fish with his harpoon.
“Don’t quarrel,” he called to the two girls. “Listen to me.”
Achala and Ajulo were very surprised. They saw a man in the tree but they didn’t see his face, because his head was covered with leaves. They began to pull at the fish again.
“Stop!” the man called out.
The girls looked round again. They couldn’t see anyone.
“Who speared the fish?” the man called.
“I did,” said Achala.
“You’re right,” said the man. “I saw you. The fish is yours.”
“No!” said Ajulo. “I took it out of the river. It’s my fish and I want to keep it.”
“Oh please,” said the man to Ajulo. “Don’t quarrel. Drop the fish’s head. Do it for me.”
So Ajulo dropped the fish’s head, but Achala could not hold the fish by the tail. It fell into the river and the water carried it away.
“Where’s the fish now?” the man called out.
“I lost it,” said Achala.
“Then catch another fish,” said the man. “You must work for your food.”
The girls went home and spoke to everyone in their village.
“We were quarrelling over a fish,” they said, “and a strange voice called to us. A man judged our quarrel, but we didn’t see him.”
The next day, Achala and Ajulo went fishing again. This time, Ajulo speared a fish, but Achala took it out of the river. They began quarrelling again.
“It’s mine!” Ajulo said. “I speared it.”
“But I took it out of the river,” Achala said.
Then Achala caught the fish’s tail and Ajulo caught the fish’s head. They both pulled it, and became very angry.
The man was hiding in the tree by the river again.
“Don’t quarrel!” he called to the two girls. “Listen to me.”
The girls looked round, but they couldn’t see anyone.
“Who speared the fish?” the man said.
“I did,” said Ajulo.
“Then the fish is yours,” said the man.
“No!” said Achala. “It’s my fish. I took it out of the river.”
“Oh please,” said the man. “Don’t fight. Drop the fish’s tail. Do it for me.”
So Achala dropped the fish’s tail. But Ajulo was holding the fish’s head and she didn’t drop it.
“Where’s the fish now?” the man called out.
“I’ve got it,” said Ajulo.
“Catch some more fish,” said the man. “You must work for your food.”
The two girls went back to their village.
“The strange man spoke to us again today,” they said. “He judged our quarrel but we didn’t see him.”
The next day, the chief told everyone in the village to go down to the river to look for the strange man. After a while, they heard his voice.
“It’s coming from the river bank,” one person said.
“No, it’s coming from behind that rock,” said another.
“No, no! There’s someone in the tree!” a third person said. “Look! There he is!”
Everyone looked up, and saw the man. They climbed up and pulled him down out of the tree.
“Let’s take him to our village,” they said.
So two men held on to the stranger’s arms, and they all began to walk towards the village.
Suddenly, Achala shouted, “Look! He’s not a man now! He’s a bull!”
It was true. The man was not there now. In his place was a black bull.
Then Ajulo shouted, “Look! He’s not a black bull now. He’s white!”
It was true. The bull was white now.
The white bull tried to run away, but the men held him. He couldn’t escape.
Then they felt something strange in their hands. The bull was changing again. He wasn’t a bull now, he was a bush, with leaves and branches and fruits. Then, suddenly, the bush was not there. A beautiful woman was in its place.
At last they reached the village and the stranger changed into a man again. The people gave him food, but he refused to eat.
“He came from the river,” they said. “Let’s give him water to drink,” so the chief’s daughter brought him a gourd of water.
“Where’s the mat to cover the water, and where’s the stand for the gourd?” the man said. “I can’t drink from an uncovered gourd.”
So the chief’s daughter brought him a mat to cover the water, and a stand for the gourd, and the stranger drank the water.
The people said to the chief’s daughter, “He has drunk your water, so you must take him into your hut.”
So the stranger stayed with the chief’s daughter.
When the morning came, the stranger was not there.
“Where is he?” everyone said. “Why didn’t he speak to us before he went?”
The chief’s daughter came out of her hut with something in her hand. It was a necklace made of cowries. She showed it to her father.
“The stranger left this under my cowskin,” she said.
The chief was angry.
“He took you but he didn’t pay for you,” he said. “All he has given me is this necklace.”
Nine months later, the girl had a son. No one knew the father’s name so they called the boy Ony-ya, ‘the son of the stranger’. Ony-ya ate and ate. He grew fast. He became very tall and strong. He became the king of the Anuak people.
And from that time to this, the king of the Anuak wears the necklace of cowrie shells when he is crowned. He takes the name of his mother, but the people call him, Ony-ya, ‘the one who comes from the river’.
Achok goes Fishing
One day, Achok went to the river to fish. He caught many fish, and he took them back to his uncle’s house. He took out the sharp spines that grew on the fishes’ backs, and cooked them.
Achok’s uncle was sleeping, so Achok woke him up.
“Uncle, come and eat!” he said. “Look, I’ve caught some fish. I’ve cooked them for you.”
“Oh,” said his uncle happily. “I like eating fish.”
He sat down and began to eat.
“They’re delicious!” he said. “How did you catch them? I’ll go tomorrow and catch some too.”
“Ahha,” thought Achok. “I’ll fool my uncle. I’ll play a trick on him.”
“Well, uncle,” he said. “I took some beer from the bottom of the pot and I threw it into the river. All the fish came up to drink the beer. Then I jumped into the river, the fish swam to me and their spines ran into my body. I climbed out of the river and pulled the fish out of my body.”
“Did it hurt you?” asked his uncle.
“Oh no!” laughed Achok. “Look at me, uncle! I’m fine!”
The next morning Achok’s uncle took some beer from the bottom of the pot and went down to the river. He threw the beer into the river and all the fish came up to drink it. Then Achok’s uncle jumped into the river. The fishes’ spines ran into his back. He climbed out of the river, but he couldn’t pull the fish out.
“Help me! Someone help me!” he shouted.
The olwaro bird heard him and ran to the river.
“Oh, please,” said Achok’s uncle. “Take the spines out of my back.”
“Let me eat the biggest ones,” said the olwaro bird. “Then I’ll take them out.”
“Oh no,” said Achok’s uncle. “I want to eat the biggest ones myself.”
“Then I won’t help you,” said the olwaro bird, and he went away.
“Help!” shouted Achok’s uncle again. “Come and help me!”
The pelican heard him and ran to the river.
“Oh, please,” said Achok’s uncle. “Take the spines out of my back.”
“Let me eat the biggest fish,” said the pelican. “Then I’ll take them out.”
“Oh no,” said Achok’s uncle. “I want to eat the biggest ones myself.”
“Then I won’t help you,” said the pelican, and he went away.
“Oh, please! Please! Help me!” Achok’s uncle shouted, louder than before.
The marabou stork heard him and ran to the river to find him.
“Take the spines out of my back,” said Achok’s uncle. “But I’m telling you now, I won’t give you the biggest fish.”
“Then I’ll take the smallest ones,” said the marabou stork.
Carefully, he pulled all the big fish out of Achok’s uncle’s back and ate them.
“Are you eating the big fish?” said Achok’s uncle.
“Oh no,” said the marabou stork.
He pulled out another big fish and ate it.
“Wasn’t that a big one?” said Achok’s uncle.
“No, it was the smallest,” said the marabou.
At last, all the fish were out of Achok’s uncle’s back and the marabou stork flew away. All the big fish were gone.
Sadly, Achok’s uncle picked up the little fish and went home.
“Oh, my back! My fish! My back!” he was crying.
“What’s the matter, uncle?” Achok said to him. “What happened?”
“You said, ‘Take beer to the river and throw it in,'” his uncle told him. “‘Then jump in and you’ll catch a lot of fish.’ So I did. But the spines hurt! And I couldn’t get them out of my back! Why did you tell me to catch fish this way?”
“Who? Me?” laughed Achok. “I never said that! I said, ‘Go to the river and take the fish out carefully, with your hands.’ That’s what I said, uncle!”
The Magic Cow
Once upon a time there was a man who had two wives. One day, his first wife became ill. She called her two children and said to them, “My dear children. Soon I will die. Now kiss me, and say goodbye.”
Her children were very sad.
“Mother,” they said. “Our father’s second wife hates us. If she doesn’t give us food, what shall we do?”
“Don’t worry,” their mother said. “When you’re hungry, go into the forest. You’ll find someone to feed you there.”
The mother died, and the two boys cried for many days. Then they went to their father’s second wife.
“Please,” they said. “We’re hungry. Let us eat with you.”
“What?” said their stepmother. “You want me to give you food? I don’t have enough for my children. Go away. I haven’t got anything for you.”
The younger brother began to cry.
“I’m hungry,” he said to his older brother. “I want something to eat.”
His older brother took his hand.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “Remember what our mother said. We’ll go into the forest and find someone to feed us there.”
So the two children went into the forest, and there they found a cow. The cow was very kind to them. Every day she gave them food to eat. The children were happy. They were never hungry now.
The children of the second wife could not understand it.
“Who feeds you?” they asked their brothers. “Why are you never hungry? And why do you go to the forest every day?”
One morning, the oldest girl said, “I’m coming with you to the forest today. I want to know where you find your food.”
Her two stepbrothers tried to stop her.
“No, don’t come,” they said. “You’ll be tired and hungry. We don’t do anything in the forest. We have no mother to give us food, so we just walk all day until we’re tired.”
But their sister asked them again and again, so at last they agreed to take her.
They walked about in the forest all day, until they came to the home of the cow. The older boy didn’t want to tell his stepsister about the cow. He wanted to keep the secret. But his little brother was very hungry, and he said, “Please, I’ll die if I don’t have some food. Call the cow and let’s eat.”
So they called the cow and she came and gave food to the brothers, and they ate it.
When they got home, the children’s stepsister said to her mother, “I know my brothers’ secret. There’s a cow in the forest who gives them food every day.”
The next day, the woman went to her husband.
“Husband,” she said. “You know that I’m pregnant and our new baby will soon be born. I need to eat very good food. If I don’t eat well, the baby won’t be strong. Bring me the cow from the forest.”
“What cow?” her husband said. “I don’t have a cow.”
His wife became angry.
“I know your secret,” she said. “I want the cow that feeds your children.”
So her husband brought the cow from the forest and gave it to his wife.
“Kill it,” she said. “I must eat its meat to make my baby strong.”
Her husband tried to argue with her but she didn’t listen to him. At last, he agreed to kill the cow. He picked up his knife and cut the cow’s throat, but the cow refused to die.
Then his wife said, “If the cow doesn’t die, I will kill your two children.”
When the children heard this, they said, “Let the cow die,” and she died.
The woman tried to skin the cow, but the skin refused to come off the meat.
“If this skin doesn’t come off the dead cow,” the woman said, “I will kill the children.”
When the children heard this, they said, “Let the skin come off,” and the skin came off the dead cow.
The woman put the meat into the pot and tried to cook it, but the meat refused to cook.
“If the meat doesn’t cook, I will kill the children,” said the woman.
When the children heard this, they said, “Let the meat cook,” and the meat began to cook.
When the meat was cooked, the woman tried to take the pot off the fire, but the pot didn’t move.
“If the pot doesn’t come off the fire, I will kill the children,” said the woman.
When the children heard this, they said, “Let the pot come off the fire,” and it came off the fire.
Then the woman took the meat out of the pot, and ate it.
The two brothers were worried now.
“Our stepmother has killed our cow and now she wants to kill us,” they said. “We must run away.”
So they ran away into the forest. There, they lost each other. One brother went one way. The other went another way. Years passed, and the brothers grew up. The younger brother went away, but the older brother stayed near the forest.
One day, as the older brother was walking near a village, he saw a girl, and he fell in love with her. She was the daughter of the chief. The chief had many daughters, but this one was the most beautiful of them all.
The young man began to meet the girl secretly, and she fell in love with him, too.
Now, there was a war between the villages at that time. Every night, when it was dark, enemies came to fight against the village where the chief and his daughter lived. So every night, the young man came to fight for the chief.
One day, the chief said to his men, “Who is the stranger who comes every night and fights beside me? I want to meet him.”
“Ask your daughters,” his men said. “They will know.”
So the chief told everyone to come to a meeting. When they were all together, he called his daughters and said to them, “Bring your husbands and your lovers here, so that I can see them all.”
So all the chief’s daughters came with their husbands and their lovers. But the young man from the forest, who loved the chief’s most beautiful daughter, had smallpox and he was very ill. He sat far away from the others and did not look up at the chief.
The chief’s beautiful daughter ran up to him and took his hand.
“What are you doing?” said the chief. “Come away from that man. He has smallpox.”
“But father,” said the girl, “this is the man who fights beside you every night. He is brave and strong. I love him and I want to marry him.”
The chief was angry when he heard this. He didn’t want his daughter to marry a man with smallpox. He began to shout at her. Then he stopped. Everyone was looking at him.
“What’s the matter?” asked the chief. “Why are you all looking at me?”
“Your – your head, sir,” the people said. “Look! It’s growing! It’s getting bigger and bigger!”
The chief put his hands up to his head. It was true. His head was growing bigger and bigger.
“Please, father,” his daughter said, “please let me marry this man. If you don’t let me marry him, your head will grow and grow. If you do, it will become the right size again.”
Everyone said, “Yes, sir, let her marry the young man. Do what she says.”
So the chief agreed to the marriage. At once his head stopped growing and became the right size again.
Then the young man and the chief’s daughter were married, and they lived happily ever after.
The Song from the Tree
Once there was a woman who had three daughters. For many years she lived happily with her husband and children, but then, one day, her husband died. The woman was very sad. She didn’t like living alone.
After a few years, the woman met another man. He was a good, kind man, whose name was Shigosh. Shigosh couldn’t walk easily because he had a broken thigh. He limped. But the woman loved Shigosh. She wanted to marry him.
The woman’s daughters didn’t like Shigosh. They laughed at him because he limped. They were rude and angry, and their mother was afraid of them.
“My daughters don’t want a new father,” she said to Shigosh. “They’ll never let me marry you. We must meet each other secretly.”
Outside the woman’s village, there was a big tree. Every day, the woman went to the tree and hid among the leaves. Then she sang,
“Shigosh, Shigosh,
Here in the tree,
Your wife is waiting.
Come to me!”
When Shigosh heard her, he began to sing too, as he limped quickly to the tree.
“My wife, yes! Waiting for me!
My wife, yes! Under the tree!”
The woman heard his song, and she smiled.
“Shigosh sings like he walks,” she thought. “His song goes with a limp.”
She loved Shigosh. She even loved his broken thigh. She was happy with him, in their hiding place under the tree.
One day, the woman’s oldest daughter heard about her mother’s lover. She ran to tell her sisters.
“Our mother loves Shigosh,” the oldest daughter says. “She meets him secretly under the big tree near the village.”
“What?” said the second girl. “She loves that stupid old man who can’t even walk? The man who limps?”
“We don’t want him to take our father’s place,” said the youngest. “Come on, sisters. We must make a plan.”
So the three sisters decided to catch Shigosh. They took some bark from a tree and put it in water. The bark became very slippery. Then they took the slippery bark out of the water and put it on the path near the big tree.
“Your voice is like our mother’s voice,” the two oldest daughters said to the youngest. “You can sing like her. Climb up into the tree and sing her stupid love song. That old man will come running to find her. He’ll slip on the bark and fall. Then we’ll kill him.”
So the youngest daughter climbed into the big tree and began to sing,
“Shigosh, Shigosh,
Here in the tree,
Your wife is waiting.
Come to me!”
Shigosh heard her singing. At once he began to limp to the tree. He sang,
“My wife, yes! Waiting for me.
My wife, ye…”
But he never finished his song. His feet slipped on the slippery bark and he fell down. At once, the three sisters ran up to him. They hit him with their sticks and killed him. They hid his body under the leaves of the big tree.
Then the daughters ran across the river and hid in another tree near the river bank.
“Mother!” they called. “Go to your lover. He’s waiting for you!”
The woman was worried when she heard this.
“Oh!” she thought. “My daughters know about Shigosh. What will they do?”
Quickly, she ran to the meeting place, but Shigosh wasn’t there. Then the woman heard the noise of flies. She looked under the leaves and found Shigosh’s body.
The woman was very sad, and very angry with her wicked daughters. She looked up, and saw the girls hiding across the river. She crossed the river, and stood beneath the tree where they were hiding. She looked up. She could see her oldest daughter’s legs between the branches. She called out,
“My oldest child,
Up there in the tree.
I carried you in my womb.
Come down to me!”
But the oldest girl said, “No, Mother, I won’t come down.”
The woman looked up again. She could see her second daughter’s arms round the branches, and she called out,
“My second daughter,
Up there in the tree.
Your blood is my blood.
Come down to me!”
But the second girl said, “No, Mother, I won’t come down.”
The woman looked up again. She could see her youngest daughter’s face through the leaves.
“My youngest daughter,
Up there in the tree.
I love you best.
Come down to me!”
But the youngest girl said, “No, Mother, I won’t come down.”
Then the mother was very, very angry, and she picked up an axe and started to cut down the tree. The tree fell across the river and made a bridge. The first and second daughters ran across the bridge, away from their mother. But the tree fell on top of the youngest daughter and broke the bone in her thigh. The girl’s leg never got better, and from that day she could not walk easily. She limped.
“Look at her,” everyone said. “She and her sisters were cruel to a man because he limped. They laughed at him, and then they killed him. Now God wants her to suffer too.”
How the Dog Lost her Voice
Long ago, when the world was young, the dog was the friend of man. In those days, the dog could speak. She lived with men and talked with them.
One day, the dog quarrelled with the men. They could not agree with her.
“We must find a wise man,” said the dog. “He can decide who is right.”
“Let’s go up to the sky,” the men said. “We’ll find the best person there.”
So the dog and the men went up to the sky. They found a wise man there who judged their quarrel, and the men and the dog were happy. But up in the sky, the men and the dog saw something new and wonderful. It was fire.
“What is it?” the men said.
“I don’t know,” said the dog, “but it’s lovely and warm. I’m going to lie beside it.”
The men began to leave the sky.
“Come on,” some of them said. “Aren’t you coming with us?”
“I like it here, beside this beautiful thing,” said the dog. “I can run fast. I’ll follow you later.”
So the men went back to the earth.
After the last man left, the dog picked up a burning branch from the fire with her tail. She ran after the men, carrying the fire, and that is how fire came down to earth.
Some time later, the dog went out hunting with the men. On the way, they met a lion. They were afraid when they saw the lion.
“This animal eats other animals,” they said. “Perhaps it will eat us.”
So they ran away from the lion.
At last, they caught a buffalo. They killed it, skinned it and began to cut up the meat.
“Wait,” one of the men said. “Before we can eat this meat, we must give some to the spirits.”
“But the spirits live far away,” another man said.
“Our friend, the dog, can run fast,” said a third man. “She can take some meat to the spirits.”
So the men put a piece of the best fat meat into the dog’s mouth.
“Go to the spirits,” they said. “Give them this meat. Then we can begin to eat.”
The dog began to run. She ran and ran. She was hot and tired. She wanted to let her tongue hang out of her mouth but she couldn’t because of the meat. So she stopped to rest and put the meat down on the ground. Some of the juice from the meat ran down her throat. It was delicious.
“This meat is delicious,” thought the dog, “and I’m very hungry, but it’s a gift for the spirits. I mustn’t eat it.”
She picked the meat up and ran on. Soon she was hot and tired again. She stopped to rest. Again, some of the juice from the meat ran down her throat.
“I’ll just eat a little bit,” she thought. But after the first little piece, she took another, then another and soon the meat was all gone.
Slowly, the dog went back to the men.
“Dog,” they said, “have you taken the meat to the spirits?”
The dog said nothing. She put her tail between her legs, and put her ears back, and howled.
“What’s the matter with her?” the men said to each other. “Perhaps she’s tired. Did she take the meat to the spirits? Perhaps she didn’t.”
But they took the buffalo meat anyway, and roasted it on the fire from the sky.
“Come, dog, and eat with us,” they said.
But the dog didn’t answer. And after that day, she never spoke again. The spirits had taken her voice away from her, because she had eaten their meat.