The story of the elephant, the leopard and his son

There is a saying in Eritrea: "It's the goats' fault, says the leopard." The following story tells how this saying came about: A leopard was once out hunting. He had to leave his young son behind alone. As soon as the leopard had gone, the elephant came and stepped on the leopard cub with its big heavy feet, killing it. A man had seen all this. He waited by the dead animal and when the leopard came home, he shouted: "Something terrible has happened, your son has been killed". The leopard was startled and asked: "Who killed him?"

"It was the elephant."

The leopard was even more frightened because the elephant was much bigger and stronger than him. So he said: "I think it was the goats. I will take revenge on them!"

"But no!" said the man, "it was the elephant, I saw it clearly!"

But the leopard would not listen. He jumped away to take revenge on the goats.

To this day, leopards hunt goats because they are easier to catch than elephants. And if someone who has been wronged by someone stronger turns on someone weaker than them, the Eritreans say: "It's the goats' fault, says the leopard".

Märchen aus Eritrea, Fassung Djamila Jaenike, nach: E. Littmann, Tales, Customs, Names and Dirges oft he Tigre Tribes, Vol. II, Leyden 1910,  englische Fassung Lysander Jaenike © Mutabor Märchenstiftung