The Friendship of the Leopard and the Goat
Leopard-Cub and Goat-Kid used to be friends.
One day Goat-Kid said to Leopard-Cub, "Let's go to my house and play."
"We played there yesterday," replied Leopard-Cub, "and the day before. We can't always just play at your house. My father will be hunting in the forest today and he told me to watch the house in his absence, so today we need to go play at my house."
Goat-Kid agreed, and together they went to the Mr. Leopard's house.
The two friends played until the sun set, and then Goat-Kid went back to his own home. They played the next day at the Leopard-Cub's house, and again the next day. That way, Leopard-Cub could keep an eye on the house while his father was at work.
"What do you do all day while I am at work?" Mr. Leopard asked his son.
"I play with my friend, Goat-Kid!" replied Leopard-Cub.
Mr. Leopard shouted, "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Goats are not our friends! Goats are our food. They are the meat that Leopards like to eat. If he comes here to our house, you cannot let him leave. You can put him here in my sack" — so saying Mr. Leopard handed his son a big sack — "and when I get home, I'll show you how to kill him."
"But how can I put him inside that sack?" asked Leopard-Cub. "I don't think he would like that very much."
"Just tell him it's a game," explained Mr. Leopard. "Then, when he gets in, tie up the sack, and then hit the sack with a big stick until he quiets down."
"I will try, Father!" said Leopard-Cub.
Then Mr. Leopard smiled and went to work in the forest.
When Goat-Kid came to play that day, Leopard-Cub said, "I found this sack to use for a new kind of game."
"How does it work?" asked Goat-Kid.
"Just get in the sack," replied Leopard-Cub, "and then I'll tell you what happens next."
So Goat-Kid got into the sack, and then Leopard-Cub tied it shut.
After a while, Goat-Kid shouted, "I don't like this game, Leopard-Cub! Let me out now and we can play some other game."
"Stay a little longer," Leopard-Cub told him.
"But I've got to pee!" said Goat-Kid. "If you don't let me out, I'll have to pee all over your sack."
"Go ahead and pee," said Leopard-Cub. "I don't mind."
"And I've got to poop!" said Goat-Kid. "If you don't let me out, I'll have to poop inside your sack."
Leopard-Cub was sure his father didn't want anyone to poop in his sack, so he shouted, "Okay! Okay! Get out of the sack! It belongs to my father. Don't poop in the sack! I'll let you out!"
Then Goat-Kid got out of the sack and ran outside. He didn't really have to poop; he just said that to fool Leopard-Cub.
When Mr. Leopard returned home that night, he asked eagerly, "Did you catch Goat-Kid in the sack?"
"I did!" said Leopard-Cub proudly.
"Give him to me then!" said Mr. Leopard. "We'll have goat-stew for supper!"
"Well, I caught him in the sack, but then I let him go," Leopard-Cub explained. "He said he was going to pee inside the sack, and I said okay, and then he said he was going to poop inside the sack, so I let him out of the sack and then he went away."
Mr. Leopard said, "Son, you are an even bigger fool than I had realized. Next time, no matter what the Goat-Kid says, you must not let him out of that sack."
In the morning, Mr. Leopard gave his son the sack again and reminded him, "After you catch Goat-Kid, don't let him go. If he says he's going to pee, tell him to pee. If he says he's going to poop, tell him to poop. We can always wash the sack afterwards. Do you understand?"
"I understand," replied Leopard-Cub, and then Mr. Leopard went to work.
What Mr. Leopard didn't know was that Goat-Kid had arrived early that day and was hiding in the bushes, listening to everything the Leopards said. So when Goat-Kid knocked at Leopard-Cub's door, he already had a plan in mind.
"Hello!" said Leopard-Cub eagerly. "You're early! I've got the sack so we can finish the game from yesterday. Come on and get inside!"
"I got inside yesterday," replied Goat-Kid. "It's your turn to get inside."
This was something Leopard-Cub had not expected. His father hadn't told him what to do if Goat-Kid put him inside the sack. "Okay," he said slowly, trying to think of what to do, but when he couldn't think of anything, he got inside the sack, wondering what would happen next.
As soon as Leopard-Cub was in the sack, Goat-Kid tied it shut.
After a while, Leopard-Cub shouted, "I don't like this game either! Let me out now and we can play some other game."
"Stay a little longer," Goat-Kid told him.
"But I've got to pee!" said Leopard-Cub.
Goat-Kid told him, "Go ahead and pee!"
"But I've got to poop!" said Leopard-Cub.
"Go ahead and poop!" Goat-Kid told him. "But first, I'm going to beat you!" Then Goat-Kid took a stick and beat Leopard-Cub inside the sack. He beat and beat and beat and beat until finally Leopard-Cub was dead.
Then Goat-Kid lay down in Mr. Leopard's bed. He pulled up the sheet over his head and stayed very quiet, waiting for Mr. Leopard to come home.
After a while, Mr. Leopard came home and said, "Son, where are you? Did you catch Goat-Kid inside the sack?"
Goat-Kid answered, imitating Leopard-Cub's voice. "I'm here in the bed, Father! I've got a bad headache, so I'm taking a nap. But I caught Goat-Kid in the sack and beat him with the stick. He's ready to cook; I put salt and pepper and vegetables inside the sack already, so all you have to do is throw the sack in the boiling water; you don't even have to untie it. Throw it in just like that and let it cook."
"What a fine idea, Son!" said the Leopard, surprised and pleased by the day's events. He added wood to the fire so the water in the pot was boiling hot, and then he threw the sack in.
After a while, Mr. Leopard shouted, "Son, our supper is almost ready. Do you feel well enough to come in here and scrape the fur?"
"I'm coming, Father!" said Goat-Kid, still imitating Leopard-Cub's voice. Then he wrapped himself in the bedsheet and, thus disguised, he went into the kitchen, took the sack out of the pot, and carried the sack outside. Next, he skinned Leopard-Cub, cut off his paws, and arranged the meat on a platter which he took back inside and left in the kitchen.
"Your supper is ready!" he shouted to Mr. Leopard. "But I still don't feel well, so I'm going to go sit outside in the cool evening breeze. You can start supper without me."
Then Goat-Kid went outside and waited until he heard Mr. Leopard start to eat his supper inside the house. "Oh, this is truly delicious!" roared Mr. Leopard as he devoured the meat. "It's the best goat I've ever eaten!"
Goat-Kid laughed and shouted back, now using his own voice, "You think you're so clever, Mr. Leopard, but I am more clever than you. I am Goat-Kid, and the meat you are eating is Leopard-Cub, your son!"
Mr. Leopard rushed outside and saw Goat-Kid running off into the distance. Mr. Leopard chased after him, but Goat-Kid had gotten a head start and Mr. Leopard couldn't catch him.
That is what happened when Leopard tried to fool Goat, but Goat fooled Leopard instead: Mr. Leopard ate his own son, and he has been chasing Goats ever since, hoping to get his revenge.
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