In the old days, the buffalo was the king of the animals. When he grew old and realized that his life was coming to an end, he called all the animals to him. He said: "One of you will be my successor. But I can't decide which of you I should give the throne to.  I will therefore set it up in the neighboring village, and the first one to arrive there will become king over all the animals."

The throne was ceremoniously taken to the next village and set up in the village square. Soon after, the animals got ready, the buffalo gave the signal and everyone ran off. The animals were quick, but the dog was the fastest. He shouted: "You don't need to run any more, I'll get the throne!"

So many animals gave up, but some still wanted to try to reach the throne first, but soon the dog was far ahead. He ran and ran and when he looked around, he could no longer see any of the animals. So he ran into the bushes to do his business and then rested a little in the shade.

Meanwhile, the chameleon had caught up with him and found him sleeping under a bush. It climbed onto the dog's tail and held on to it. When the dog got up and ran on, he didn't even notice that the chameleon was with him. He ran into the village, stood in front of the throne and called out to the animals as they came closer and closer: "Stop, I'm already here, I'll get the throne!"

But the chameleon had detached himself from the dog's tail and climbed onto the throne, saying: "Just make sure you don't sit on me, because I was here before you."

The dog got angry and wanted to throw the chameleon off the throne, but the other animals said: "We don't know who was on the throne first, so let's decide together. The one who can walk as majestically as a king should get the throne."

The dog was the first to walk past the animals, but he did so angrily and quickly. The chameleon, on the other hand, walked past them slowly and deliberately. It lifted one foot into the air, waited a little before putting it down and walked up and down at a leisurely pace.

"The chameleon walks like a king. The throne shall be his!" the animals shouted.

And so the chameleon became king of the animals. It is very proud of this and when someone comes to it in colorful cloths, it says: "You have beautiful cloths, but I have even more colors than you," and then it shows its skin in all colors, and it still does to this day.

Fassung Djamila Jaenike, nach: J. Schönhärl, Volkskundliches aus Togo, Dresden/Leipzig 1909, englische Fassung Lysander Jaenike © Mutabor Märchenstiftung