An African Fable
How Giraffe came to be at the Pyramids
By
Salome Byleveldt
Copyright Salome Byleveldt 2013
Thank you for respecting the work of this author.
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Table of Contents:
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End Note
Other Books by Salome Byleveldt
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“Jackal!” roared Lion. “Speak up and say your say!”
Jackal flattened his ears, but one look at Lion brought him out of his hiding place behind the termite mound. The Big Meeting that Lion had called had started, and Jackal stood trembling as he faced the gathering.
The Animals have come from all over for the Big Meeting. They’ve scurried from the bushes and sprinted from across the savannahs. They’ve emerged from the rivers and descended from the sky. Now, deep in the heart of Africa, they stood in the circle that was made by the big rock. The rock that fell from the skies during the time of their ancestors!
Monkey was sitting at a careful distance from Snake. For once he was not chattering away as usual. He sat silently, watching Snake with distrust. He absently rubbed his bottom where it was still sore. It hurt from when he fell from the tree the previous day, when he found Snake lying in wait for him on his favorite branch up in the big tree.
“What could be the problem?” asked Hippopotamus of Antelope. “Lion seems preoccupied. He is not his normal roaring self.”
“Jackal!” roared Lion again. “You wanted to tell us your latest gossip! Speak up now and say your say!”
Jackal coughed once, twice, then cleared his throat and nervously wheezed, “I say Sir, my ears have heard. There is trouble afoot!”
“Ooh,” the animals laughed at him. “You say trouble? What kind of trouble? Do we have a wolf in the forest? Has Leopard changed his spots?” they sniggered.
“You can snigger all you want. But I have heard that the Earth has changed,” said Jackal. He waited a moment for this to sink in. Then he continued: “Yes, I heard it has changed in the most alarming of manners.”
“The Earth has changed?” the Animals asked. They could now see that Jackal was serious. “What is this? What do you mean?”
“Yes,” said Jackal with new confidence. “It has changed. The Earth is not flat anymore!”
“The Earth is not flat?” cried Elephant. “If it is not flat, then what is it? Is it round?”
“Yes,” replied Jackal. “The Earth is round.”
“Tsk, tsk, you are crazy,” grumbled Vulture. “You’ve gone crazy little Jackal. That comes from stealing my food.”
“But yes,” nodded Hippo. “That could be true. I heard this as well. This rumor has been flowing down from the Big River.”
“It is not true, it can’t be true!” raised Eagle his voice in protest. “When I glide with the currents, I can see for miles and miles and miles. I can see no change. The Earth lies flat beneath me, as it always has.”
“Where there is smoke, there is fire!” cried mouse. “It could be true, it could be true!”
“Yes, yes!” cried the Animals loudly in agreement. “If Mouse says there’s a fire, there is always a fire. It could be true!”
“Quiet! Enough with the noise!” roared Lion, “Owl must speak!”
A hush settled over the group. Owl slowly opened one eye. Then he opened the other eye. In a slow, gravelly voice, Owl started to speak.
“It is my humble opinion,” croaked Owl, “that we could have reason for concern. Yes, very deep concern!”
“Ooh!” cried the animals, but one frowning look from Lion and silence returned.
After a long pause, Owl continued. “If the earth is not flat anymore, what will become of us? Will Antelope one day run across the veld and then, when he reaches the place where the Earth is round, will he slide off?”
Antelope nervously looked over his shoulder into the distance. What fate awaited him?
Tortoise wisely nodded his head, Antelope had reason for concern. “Fortunately,” Tortoise thought, “I walk very slowly. I will have time to notice and turn back from the curve. I would be safe.”
“It is my humble opinion,” Owl continued, “that Eagle may be gliding on the currents one day, only to find that he has flown over the curve of the earth. He would lose the earth and float away into the sky, lost forever.”
This disturbing thought ruffled Eagle’s feathers. He shook his head impatiently. “Good riddance,” Guinea Fowl thought, “my chicks would be safe then.”
But Owl was not done talking: “What will become of the waters in our rivers? Where will they flow to? Will they one day reach the place where the Earth is round, and drop off into the nothingness outside? Or will they turn back and flow the other way, downhill, back from where it came? Will the rivers dry up and die?”
A shocked silence followed his words. And slowly it dawned on the animals that they were in danger. Very big danger! They could lose their rivers. And with them, they could lose their bush and their savannahs! They were very upset. They were very scared. Ostrich fainted and dropped down as if dead.
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“Quiet! Enough with the noise!” roared Lion. “Something must be done. Throw some water on Ostrich, wake him up,” he ordered Elephant. “This is no time for faint hearts. We now need all our brains, even the birdbrains! We must think of a plan!”
The Animals turned to Jackal and cried: “Jackal, you are the cunning one. How do we resolve this problem?”
Jackal narrowed his eyes and flattened his ears. He thought for a while. The Animals formed a circle around him and crowded closer to hear his plan.
“Get back, will you? Elephant, you are standing on my tail!” he yelped. “Get back, I say, give me space to think!” In silent respect, the animals moved back a few paces.
Jackal closed his eyes, thought deeply, and slowly said: “We must find the end of the Earth! We must find the end of the Earth, where the Big Waters begin. The Big Waters that they call the Sea.”
“Why must we find the end of the Earth, Jackal?” cried Elephant. He was very upset. “Why do we want to find it?”
“Because,” replied Jackal patiently, “if we can find the end of the Earth, where the Big Waters begin, then we know that the Earth has not changed. Then we know that the end of the Earth is still where it always was. Then we are safe!”
“Ooh,” squeaked Mouse. “This is scary! How will we find the end of the Earth?”
“We must follow the Big River to the Sea,” replied Hippo.
“But how will we find the Big River?” Mouse insisted.
Owl looked down his nose at Mouse. “You keep the place where the sun gets up in the morning to your right. You keep the place where it goes to sleep in the evening to your left. You must keep the sun on your face. Then you can find the Big River to the Sea. And if you are not careful, Little Mouse, you will fall into the Big River and be swept away to the Sea”.
Mouse looked up into the sky and saw Sun staring him in the eye. He shrieked once and quickly turned his back to Sun.
But Owl was not done. “If you follow the river for a while, you will cross the Equator.”
“The Equator? What is that?” asked Elephant.
“That is the middle of the Earth” declared Jackal importantly.
“Yes,” said Owl. “And when you cross the Equator, then the sun will shine on your back, as it is shining on the back of Mouse right now.”
Mouse gave a high-pitched screech and scurried towards a hole, only to find it blocked by Ant and his family. With a look of pure delight on hi
s face, Owl stared at Mouse. It made Mouse even more nervous.
The Animals all laughed, and Lion had to roar again to restore order.
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When the Animals had calmed down, Lion looked at Jackal.
“Jackal, when we find the end of the Earth, will we not fall into the Big Waters that they call the Sea?” he asked. “How will we avoid falling into this Sea?”
“I know, I know!” shouted Hippo. “The rumors that flowed down the Big River talked about a very big stretch of sand. The biggest stretch of sand that you would ever see! It would go all the way to the very far horizon and you’d not able to see to the end of it.”
The Animals stared at Hippo in disbelief. “Really Hippo? Is that the truth?”
“Yes,” said Hippo. “That is the truth that the rumors speak.”
Jackal agreed. “The rumors call it the Big Desert. And when we reach the Big Desert, then we’ll know that we’ve found the end of the Earth. And that the end of the Earth is still where it always was. Then we know that the Earth has not changed and that we are safe!”
“Yesss,” hissed Snake, “Let us go and find the end of the Earth!”
“We cannot all of us go!” cried Antelope, trying to stop the nervous twitch of his tail. “We will upset the earth and topple it with our weight,” he said and in doing so tried to save face.
“But somebody has to go!” cried the Animals as they looked around for Somebody. But they could not find a Somebody.
Elephant declared that since this was a task for a smaller Somebody than he was, he had to stay behind with Everybody.
“I say we send Mouse,” Owl declared with a straight face. “He is but bite-sized and won’t upset the earth.”
Mouse squeaked, the Animals chuckled and Lion had to stifle a laugh: “No, he cannot go, he is but a mouse at heart.”
Hippo offered to go as he was fearsome and fearless. No, he could not go as his size might upset the earth, decided the Animals.
Porcupine yelled that he would go. He could protect himself from the dangers, he cried. No, Lion declared, Porcupine was too quick to anger and might get distracted in his task to find the end of the earth. Porcupine bristled and his quills stood upright, but one yellow stare from Lion and he calmed down.
Tortoise hesitantly offered his services. He would be safe, he stuttered. He could sleep protected in his shell. No, Lion shook his head sadly, the problem was too urgent to send the slowest of the Animals.
Ostrich was very embarrassed because he had fainted in front of all the Animals. He always wanted to be strong and brave as well. But right now he wanted to bury his head in the sand, so that the Animals would not see him.
Giraffe was staring dreamily towards the horizon, in the direction in which the Big River flowed. Suddenly he snapped out of his daydreaming and loudly declared: “We can go! Young Giraffe and I can go! Yes, we can be the Somebodies to go!”
The Animals stared at him in disbelief and Giraffe hastily spoke into the shocked silence.
“We can see over the treetops and fit through narrow spaces,” he explained. “We can wade through deep rivers and travel long miles. We can run like the wind! Yet we can tread softly and step gently as we go, so as not to topple the earth. And besides,” he added sheepishly, “I always wanted to see what’s on the other side of the horizon.” Then, with renewed passion he cried, “We are the Somebodies to go, we can go!”
“Yes, we can go!” echoed Young Giraffe, catching on to Giraffe’s excitement, the light of adventure shining in his big brown eyes.
First the Animals whispered and then they hissed. “You are the Somebodies, Giraffe?” they asked. Then they jeered: “You are the Somebodies that will represent the Everybodies?” They laughed out loud.
Monkey was laughing and rolling around, holding his stomach. When he came to a stop he was staring into Snake’s beady little eyes. One “Ssss…” from Snake, and Monkey hastily scrambled away.
Only Lion was quiet. “Ahem” he cleared his throat. Young Giraffe was standing shyly to one side. Now he lifted his head and skipped expectantly closer. And as Lion looked into his eager young face, he knew what to do…
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“Quiet! Let me speak!” roared Lion into the commotion. Slowly the noise died down and Lion was able to speak.
“Here is The Plan!” announced Lion. Complete silence fell and the Animals held their breath.
“Young Giraffe, you must go!” declared Lion. Young Giraffe, who could not hold his excitement gave a whoop of joy and galloped twice around the circle of animals. The Animals shrieked with laughter. As he came to a stop in front of them, Lion continued:
“Young Giraffe, you must walk ahead and you must tread carefully. If you feel that the earth becomes unsteady under your feet, you must stop and not go any further. Then you must turn around and return to us.”
“Giraffe,” said Lion, “you must go too. You must follow behind Young Giraffe and you must use your long neck to keep a lookout. You must guide Young Giraffe and direct him in which direction to go.”
Giraffe wanted to whoop and gallop around the circle as well, but he did not want the Animals to laugh at him. So he merely nodded his head to show his understanding. His heart was beating wildly. He thought his chest would explode with pride at having been selected for this very important mission.
The Animals were tittering nervously. Each one was secretly hoping that Lion did not select him.
Above the noise, Lion yelled: “Jackal, you will go too!” Jackal once again jerked to attention and stood shivering, but he did not dare to argue.
“You will listen to the wind and the murmur of the water. You will catch the rumors and the whispers. You will warn Giraffe if you smell danger in the air.” Jackal merely blinked and tucked his tail between his legs.
Then Lion was quiet for a very long time while he studied each of the Animals in turn. Eagle haughtily pretended indifference, but Lion saw the fear in his eyes. This journey had no place for such cowards, he decided.
Monkey did not look at Lion, but he felt the weight of Lion’s gaze on him. He stopped his chattering and sat down very slowly and quietly. He did not want to draw any attention to himself.
“Monkey, you too must go,” said Lion. “You must keep count of the days. You must keep the group in good spirits. And you must tell the story of your adventure upon your return.”
Lion saw the uneasy look on Monkey’s face. He added gently, “It will keep you and Snake apart until the air is cleared between the two of you”. This thought brightened Monkey, as Lion knew it would.
Porcupine was sitting sadly and alone at the edge of the circle, looking off into the distance. After some thought, Lion declared, “Porcupine, I have changed my mind. You must go along. You will protect the group with your courage and your quills. You must control your quick anger and use your quills only when there is real danger.”
Porcupine jumped up and danced around the termite mound while singing “Yes, yes, yes, I’m going along!” The Animals burst out laughing and he instantly bristled in anger. One impatient look from Lion and he calmed down and turned his scowl into a happy grin. “Yes, yes, yes, I’m going along!”
“That then is The Plan,” said Lion. “Young Giraffe, Giraffe, Jackal, Monkey and Porcupine, you will be the Somebodies. You will go to find out what has happened to the earth and you will save the Animals!” The five-strong Team stood in front of Lion and nodded their heads solemnly. Yes, they understood their mission, they will go.
“Ooh,” the Animals sighed, “that is a very good plan. Lion, you are the very best of leaders. Now we can sleep well tonight.” Then all the Animals went to bed.
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Early the next morning, before the sun was fully awake, the five-strong Team was ready to go. They stood around with the other Animals and waited for Lion to get out of his bed. It had been a busy night for Lion and he was really tired.
But he got out of bed and sent the Team
on their way with the words: “Now remember, Team, you are representing Everybody. This is a very important mission and you must save the Animals. Now go and find out what has happened to the Earth!” Then Lion went back to bed.
The Team set off in the direction that the Big River flows. Young Giraffe was in front, with Monkey riding on his back. Monkey was chattering into Young Giraffe’s ear, to keep him company and keep his spirits up, as Lion had ordered him to do.
Young Giraffe was very excited and with his very long tongue he gave Monkey a big kiss across the face. “A peck on my cheek would have been enough, Young Giraffe!” cried Monkey in disgust while wiping his face. Then he turned around and gave Snake a cheeky little goodbye wave.
Jackal was trotting behind the pair, remembering to keep his tail in the air and a confident look on his face. He was very nervous.
Giraffe followed at a more elegant pace. Only his eyes showed his joy and excitement at being allowed on this wonderful adventure.
At a safe distance in the back Porcupine scurried to keep up. He slipped in a pool of mud and for a moment his quills spiked in quick anger. But the thought of the warning he saw in Lion’s yellow eyes the previous night calmed him down instantly.
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The Team travelled for many days.
In the mornings, Monkey would wake them up with his bright chattering. Jackal would go out and listen to the rumors carried by the rivers. He would listen to the whispers of the trees and the sounds floating on the wind. Then he would sniff the air to check if there was danger.
Giraffe would stretch his long neck. He would look out over the tree tops and across the veld into the far distance. Then Giraffe would point Young Giraffe into the direction that he should go.
In the evenings the Team would huddle together to rest and sleep. Porcupine would get up many times during the night. He would walk around the little circle of Animals, his quills spread out. He was ready to attack any dangers that might be creeping around in the night. He was always very tired.
One late afternoon, when it was almost dark, the Team heard a thundering noise. At first they thought it was a rain storm and they huddled together to wait for it. But the rain did not come and the thundering noise remained. It was too late and too dark to investigate what this could mean. So they remained huddled together and waited for the morning to come.