CHAPTERIIITHE LEOPARD AND THE DOGOnthe third night of the Alo Man’s stay in the village there was a great disturbance out near the goat pen. The frightened bleating of the goats was almost drowned by the barking and growling of dogs, and the angry snarl of some fierce animal.Some of the hunters caught up their spears and ran to see what the matter was, and Mpoko, catching up his own little spear, raced after them, for he could hear the furious barking of his own dog in the pack. Even the baby brother, who could only just stand on his feet, lifted his head and listened, saying, “Mfwa! Mfwa!” Mpoko’s dog was one of the family; he had played with the children ever since he was a little yellow-brown flop-eared puppy.hunters with trophyBut the trouble was soon over. Before any one had had time to ask many questions, the hunters came back in triumph with the body of a big, fierce leopard. He had leaped upon the roof of the goat pen and tried to break in, but the dogs had found it out at once. They had set up such a baying and yelping that the robber was frightened, and he was trying to get away when the hunters arrived with their spears. They tied his paws together and slung him over a pole carried on their shoulders, and tomorrow he would be taken about to all the villages and exhibited. And the chief would have the skin.Mpoko was very proud to be able to tell his sister that he had seen the leopard killed, andthat his dog had been in the very thick of the fight. Moreover, he was sure that when he flung his own spear at the leopard it had gone through the skin somewhere, even if he could not point out the exact place.“Mfwa! Mfwa!” said the baby, with his fat fists waving at the dog, and all the dogs strutted about, very proud of their night’s work.“I wonder why dogs hate a leopard so,” said Nkunda, as the excitement quieted down.“My dog belongs to me, and he knows the leopard is my enemy,” said Mpoko.“Cats and dogs hate each other too, and the cat is not my enemy,” said Nkunda, trying to coax her pet cat down from the branch of a tree where she crouched, hissing at the dogs.“Cats and dogs always hate each other,” said Mpoko, and he seemed to think that that was reason enough.cat treed by two dogs“There is a good reason why the dog and the leopard do not like each other,” said the AloMan. Then he told the story of the Leopard and the Dog.I often tell of the time when all the animals lived in a country by themselves, and the mother of leopards had two fine young cubs in her cave in the forest. As they grew older, she knew she must go out to find food for them, and she was afraid that if she left them alone, they would be stolen from her.She began to look about among the animals to find some one to take care of her cubs while she went hunting.“What will you give me to come and take care of your cubs?” asked the Hyena.“I will give you a good home in my cave and plenty of food,” said the Leopard.“He-yah! he-yah! he-yah!” laughed the Hyena, in a loud, harsh voice that almost frightened the Leopard herself.leopards“Your voice is too loud,” she said. “You would make such a noise that my cubs would be frightened to death.”The Hyena laughed again louder than before and went away to tell how he had scared the Leopard with his laughing.“What will you give me to take care of your cubs?” called the Owl up in the tree top.“I will give you a good home in my cave and plenty of food,” said the Leopard.“Hoo! hoo! hoo-oo!” hooted the Owl, glaring down at the Leopard with great round eyes that almost frightened the Leopard herself.“Your eyes are too large and bright,” said the Leopard. “My cubs would be frightened out of their wits when you stared at them.”The Owl hooted even louder than before and flew away to tell all the animals how he had frightened the Leopard by staring at her.“What will you give me to take care of your cubs?” asked the Snake from the tall grass.“I will give you a good home in my cave and plenty of food,” said the Leopard.“Tsz! tsz! tsz!” hissed the Snake, so loudly that the Leopard jumped and was almost frightened at the noise.“I do not want you to take care of my cubs,”said the Leopard. “If they heard you hiss like that, they would be frightened to death.”The Snake hissed again louder than before, and slid away through the tall grass to tell all the other animals how he had startled the Leopard by hissing at her.“What will you give me to take care of your cubs?” asked the Dog.“I will give you a good home in my cave and plenty of food,” said the Leopard.“Mfwa! Mfwa!” barked the Dog, wagging his tail as hard as he could, and grinning so that every one of his white teeth showed. The Leopard looked at him and was pleased.[Here the Alo Man, who had imitated the voice of each animal in the story, barked so well that all the dogs barked and whined, and came to rub their heads against his legs. Everybody laughed, and it really seemed as if the dogs understood the story as well as any one.]The Leopard went to her cave, with the Dog trotting after her and sniffing at her tracks. She gave him a good supper of rabbit bones, and when she told him how to take care of the cubs he listened very carefully.The next day the Leopard went out to hunt, and the Dog stayed in the cave and did exactlyas he had been told. After a while the Leopard came back, dragging a fine Antelope.“This is for my supper and the cubs’ supper,” she said, “and tomorrow you shall have the bones for your dinner.”The Dog thought of the good dinner he would have off those large bones, and he wagged his tail and grinned.“But remember this,” went on the Leopard, “you must never take bones outside the cave. We never eat outside our caves, but always inside. If people change their customs, there is no telling what will happen.”dog in caveNext day the Leopard went to hunt, and the Dog lay down across the doorway of the cave and watched over the cubs. At dinner time he began to gnaw at the bones of the Antelope, as he had been told, inside the cave. But it was inconvenient. The rock floor was uneven, andhe could not get his teeth into the bones properly. When he cracked the bone to get at the marrow he got some earth into it, and he did not like that at all.“I may as well take the bones out on the clean grass and finish my dinner,” said the Dog to himself. “Nobody will ever know.”But when he had taken the bones out of the cave upon the grass, the strangest things began to happen. The bones began to move about as if they were coming to life. Before the Dog could catch them and drag them back into the cave, one of the great leg-bones of the Antelope hit a Leopard cub on the head and killed it dead.This was a dreadful thing indeed. The Dog had never dreamed of hurting the cub. He dragged all the bones back into the cave as quickly as he could, for fear the other cub might be killed. He could not think what he should do in this terrible situation, and while he stood trembling and whimpering with fear and grief, he heard the Leopard coming.“I will try to hide the dead cub until the Leopard has gone to sleep,” he said to himself, “and then I will run away.”The Leopard came up to the cave, dragging afine fat wild pig. First of all she asked, “Are the cubs well and happy?”The Dog was very much frightened, but he went into the cave and fetched out the live cub. “See how well he looks,” he said.The Leopard looked the cub all over and licked it with her strong tongue. Then she said, “This one seems very well. Now show me the other.”The Dog took the live cub back into the cave and brought it out again. The two cubs looked so much alike that he had never been able to tell them apart, and he thought that perhaps the Leopard would be deceived.But the Leopard gave one look at the cub and then sprang at the Dog.“You stupid creature,” she snarled, “do you think you can fool me in that way?”The Dog made one dash away from the cave entrance and down the path through the forest, with the Leopard at his heels. He ran out of the forest and across the plain, up hills and down valleys, with the Leopard at his heels. He ran until he was almost dead, and when he had hardly strength to go another step he saw a hollow tree with a hole in it big enough for him to get into, but too small for the Leopard tofollow him. Into it he went, his tail curled between his legs and all four feet gathered under him. Hard as she tried, the Leopard could not quite reach him with her paw.In the tree sat a Monkey, watching the goings-on and chattering with excitement. The Leopard looked up and saw him.“Come down out of that tree and watch this hole for me,” said the Leopard. “I am going to gather sticks and kindle a fire to burn up this good-for-nothing Dog.”The Monkey dared not refuse, and he came down and sat in front of the hole.When the Leopard had gone away, the Dog peeped out very cautiously.“I know where there is a tree full of ripe nuts,” he said to the Monkey. “If you will let me get away, I will show you where it is.”“But I am afraid of the Leopard,” chattered the Monkey.“The Leopard will never know,” said the Dog. “When the tree burns, she will think that I am burning inside of it.”Finally the Monkey let the Dog out, and he crept into the grass and hid, for he saw the Leopard coming back with a load of sticks.“Have you kept close watch of the hole?” asked the Leopard.“I have not gone away for a minute,” said the Monkey. “I have kept my eyes on the hole ever since you went away.”Then the Leopard made a fire and the tree began to blaze up.“Hear the Dog’s bones crackle!” chattered the Monkey as the branches began to snap in the flames.The Dog thought that this might be a good time for him to escape through the grass, but the Leopard saw the grass wave where he was hiding, and she made a quick jump for the place. Away ran the Dog once more for dear life, with the Leopard coming after him in great leaps.leopardIt would have been a sad day for the Dog if there had not been coming that way a partyof Men. He rushed up to them and crouched at the feet of the Chief and looked up into his face for protection.When the Chief saw the Leopard, who had often carried off goats and cattle from his village, and looked down at the panting, terrified Dog, he was sorry for the Dog and, bending over, patted him on the head.“Do not be afraid,” he said. “The Leopard shall not hurt you.”The Leopard looked at the sharp spears of the Chief and his followers, and went growling away to her cave in the forest. Ever since that time the Dog loves man better than he does any of the animals of the forest, and serves him against all his enemies; and if the Leopard comes to steal from the village, the Dog will call for the man to drive him away.“Mfwa! Mfwa!” said Mpoko’s dog, looking up into his master’s face and then grinning at the leopard. And Mpoko and Nkunda were certain that he had understood every word of the story that the Alo Man had told.hunters for leopard
Onthe third night of the Alo Man’s stay in the village there was a great disturbance out near the goat pen. The frightened bleating of the goats was almost drowned by the barking and growling of dogs, and the angry snarl of some fierce animal.
Some of the hunters caught up their spears and ran to see what the matter was, and Mpoko, catching up his own little spear, raced after them, for he could hear the furious barking of his own dog in the pack. Even the baby brother, who could only just stand on his feet, lifted his head and listened, saying, “Mfwa! Mfwa!” Mpoko’s dog was one of the family; he had played with the children ever since he was a little yellow-brown flop-eared puppy.
hunters with trophy
But the trouble was soon over. Before any one had had time to ask many questions, the hunters came back in triumph with the body of a big, fierce leopard. He had leaped upon the roof of the goat pen and tried to break in, but the dogs had found it out at once. They had set up such a baying and yelping that the robber was frightened, and he was trying to get away when the hunters arrived with their spears. They tied his paws together and slung him over a pole carried on their shoulders, and tomorrow he would be taken about to all the villages and exhibited. And the chief would have the skin.
Mpoko was very proud to be able to tell his sister that he had seen the leopard killed, andthat his dog had been in the very thick of the fight. Moreover, he was sure that when he flung his own spear at the leopard it had gone through the skin somewhere, even if he could not point out the exact place.
“Mfwa! Mfwa!” said the baby, with his fat fists waving at the dog, and all the dogs strutted about, very proud of their night’s work.
“I wonder why dogs hate a leopard so,” said Nkunda, as the excitement quieted down.
“My dog belongs to me, and he knows the leopard is my enemy,” said Mpoko.
“Cats and dogs hate each other too, and the cat is not my enemy,” said Nkunda, trying to coax her pet cat down from the branch of a tree where she crouched, hissing at the dogs.
“Cats and dogs always hate each other,” said Mpoko, and he seemed to think that that was reason enough.
cat treed by two dogs
“There is a good reason why the dog and the leopard do not like each other,” said the AloMan. Then he told the story of the Leopard and the Dog.
I often tell of the time when all the animals lived in a country by themselves, and the mother of leopards had two fine young cubs in her cave in the forest. As they grew older, she knew she must go out to find food for them, and she was afraid that if she left them alone, they would be stolen from her.
She began to look about among the animals to find some one to take care of her cubs while she went hunting.
“What will you give me to come and take care of your cubs?” asked the Hyena.
“I will give you a good home in my cave and plenty of food,” said the Leopard.
“He-yah! he-yah! he-yah!” laughed the Hyena, in a loud, harsh voice that almost frightened the Leopard herself.
leopards
“Your voice is too loud,” she said. “You would make such a noise that my cubs would be frightened to death.”
The Hyena laughed again louder than before and went away to tell how he had scared the Leopard with his laughing.
“What will you give me to take care of your cubs?” called the Owl up in the tree top.
“I will give you a good home in my cave and plenty of food,” said the Leopard.
“Hoo! hoo! hoo-oo!” hooted the Owl, glaring down at the Leopard with great round eyes that almost frightened the Leopard herself.
“Your eyes are too large and bright,” said the Leopard. “My cubs would be frightened out of their wits when you stared at them.”
The Owl hooted even louder than before and flew away to tell all the animals how he had frightened the Leopard by staring at her.
“What will you give me to take care of your cubs?” asked the Snake from the tall grass.
“I will give you a good home in my cave and plenty of food,” said the Leopard.
“Tsz! tsz! tsz!” hissed the Snake, so loudly that the Leopard jumped and was almost frightened at the noise.
“I do not want you to take care of my cubs,”said the Leopard. “If they heard you hiss like that, they would be frightened to death.”
The Snake hissed again louder than before, and slid away through the tall grass to tell all the other animals how he had startled the Leopard by hissing at her.
“What will you give me to take care of your cubs?” asked the Dog.
“I will give you a good home in my cave and plenty of food,” said the Leopard.
“Mfwa! Mfwa!” barked the Dog, wagging his tail as hard as he could, and grinning so that every one of his white teeth showed. The Leopard looked at him and was pleased.
[Here the Alo Man, who had imitated the voice of each animal in the story, barked so well that all the dogs barked and whined, and came to rub their heads against his legs. Everybody laughed, and it really seemed as if the dogs understood the story as well as any one.]
The Leopard went to her cave, with the Dog trotting after her and sniffing at her tracks. She gave him a good supper of rabbit bones, and when she told him how to take care of the cubs he listened very carefully.
The next day the Leopard went out to hunt, and the Dog stayed in the cave and did exactlyas he had been told. After a while the Leopard came back, dragging a fine Antelope.
“This is for my supper and the cubs’ supper,” she said, “and tomorrow you shall have the bones for your dinner.”
The Dog thought of the good dinner he would have off those large bones, and he wagged his tail and grinned.
“But remember this,” went on the Leopard, “you must never take bones outside the cave. We never eat outside our caves, but always inside. If people change their customs, there is no telling what will happen.”
dog in cave
Next day the Leopard went to hunt, and the Dog lay down across the doorway of the cave and watched over the cubs. At dinner time he began to gnaw at the bones of the Antelope, as he had been told, inside the cave. But it was inconvenient. The rock floor was uneven, andhe could not get his teeth into the bones properly. When he cracked the bone to get at the marrow he got some earth into it, and he did not like that at all.
“I may as well take the bones out on the clean grass and finish my dinner,” said the Dog to himself. “Nobody will ever know.”
But when he had taken the bones out of the cave upon the grass, the strangest things began to happen. The bones began to move about as if they were coming to life. Before the Dog could catch them and drag them back into the cave, one of the great leg-bones of the Antelope hit a Leopard cub on the head and killed it dead.
This was a dreadful thing indeed. The Dog had never dreamed of hurting the cub. He dragged all the bones back into the cave as quickly as he could, for fear the other cub might be killed. He could not think what he should do in this terrible situation, and while he stood trembling and whimpering with fear and grief, he heard the Leopard coming.
“I will try to hide the dead cub until the Leopard has gone to sleep,” he said to himself, “and then I will run away.”
The Leopard came up to the cave, dragging afine fat wild pig. First of all she asked, “Are the cubs well and happy?”
The Dog was very much frightened, but he went into the cave and fetched out the live cub. “See how well he looks,” he said.
The Leopard looked the cub all over and licked it with her strong tongue. Then she said, “This one seems very well. Now show me the other.”
The Dog took the live cub back into the cave and brought it out again. The two cubs looked so much alike that he had never been able to tell them apart, and he thought that perhaps the Leopard would be deceived.
But the Leopard gave one look at the cub and then sprang at the Dog.
“You stupid creature,” she snarled, “do you think you can fool me in that way?”
The Dog made one dash away from the cave entrance and down the path through the forest, with the Leopard at his heels. He ran out of the forest and across the plain, up hills and down valleys, with the Leopard at his heels. He ran until he was almost dead, and when he had hardly strength to go another step he saw a hollow tree with a hole in it big enough for him to get into, but too small for the Leopard tofollow him. Into it he went, his tail curled between his legs and all four feet gathered under him. Hard as she tried, the Leopard could not quite reach him with her paw.
In the tree sat a Monkey, watching the goings-on and chattering with excitement. The Leopard looked up and saw him.
“Come down out of that tree and watch this hole for me,” said the Leopard. “I am going to gather sticks and kindle a fire to burn up this good-for-nothing Dog.”
The Monkey dared not refuse, and he came down and sat in front of the hole.
When the Leopard had gone away, the Dog peeped out very cautiously.
“I know where there is a tree full of ripe nuts,” he said to the Monkey. “If you will let me get away, I will show you where it is.”
“But I am afraid of the Leopard,” chattered the Monkey.
“The Leopard will never know,” said the Dog. “When the tree burns, she will think that I am burning inside of it.”
Finally the Monkey let the Dog out, and he crept into the grass and hid, for he saw the Leopard coming back with a load of sticks.
“Have you kept close watch of the hole?” asked the Leopard.
“I have not gone away for a minute,” said the Monkey. “I have kept my eyes on the hole ever since you went away.”
Then the Leopard made a fire and the tree began to blaze up.
“Hear the Dog’s bones crackle!” chattered the Monkey as the branches began to snap in the flames.
The Dog thought that this might be a good time for him to escape through the grass, but the Leopard saw the grass wave where he was hiding, and she made a quick jump for the place. Away ran the Dog once more for dear life, with the Leopard coming after him in great leaps.
leopard
It would have been a sad day for the Dog if there had not been coming that way a partyof Men. He rushed up to them and crouched at the feet of the Chief and looked up into his face for protection.
When the Chief saw the Leopard, who had often carried off goats and cattle from his village, and looked down at the panting, terrified Dog, he was sorry for the Dog and, bending over, patted him on the head.
“Do not be afraid,” he said. “The Leopard shall not hurt you.”
The Leopard looked at the sharp spears of the Chief and his followers, and went growling away to her cave in the forest. Ever since that time the Dog loves man better than he does any of the animals of the forest, and serves him against all his enemies; and if the Leopard comes to steal from the village, the Dog will call for the man to drive him away.
“Mfwa! Mfwa!” said Mpoko’s dog, looking up into his master’s face and then grinning at the leopard. And Mpoko and Nkunda were certain that he had understood every word of the story that the Alo Man had told.
hunters for leopard