| How The Cheetah Got His Speed, a Bushman tale: Once upon a time the Creator decided to find out which of His animals could run the fastest -- and so He entered the cheetah in a race with tsessebe, which is the swiftest of all antelopes. The cheetah had soft paws then, and he realized that they were not suited for real speed. So he borrowed a set of paws from an obliging wild dog. The race started from a high boabab tree. The Creator Himself was in charge, and the two contestants were told to run right across the plains to a hill on the far side. The animals lined up, and then -- go! They leapt away. The tsessebe soon took the lead, and by halfway, he was so far ahead he seemed sure to win. But suddenly -- disaster! Tsessebe stumbled on a stone and crashed to the ground; he had broken his leg. The good-natured cheetah, instead of running past and winning the race, stopped to help his opponent. The Creator, seeing this, was so pleased by the cheetah's unselfish act that He bestowed upon the cheetah a gift; He made him the fastest animal in the land; and what's more, allowed him to keep the paws of the wild dog. Why The Cheeks Of The Cheetah Are Stained With Tears, a Zulu story: Long ago a wicked and lazy hunter was sitting under a tree, gazing idly at a large clearing below where a herd of fat springbok were peacefully grazing. The hunter was thinking that it was far too hot to bother himself with a long and tiring stalk through the bushes, when suddenly he noticed a movement off to the right. It was a female cheetah which had also chosen this herd to hunt -- and she was doing it very well. Keeping downwind of the herd, she was moving closer to them very slowly, inch by inch, and keeping well under cover. The hunter watched, fascinated, as she crept closer and closer to a springbok which had unwisely wandered away from the main herd. Suddenly, she gathered her long legs under her, and sprang forward like an arrow. With dazzling speed she raced down the springbok and caught it just as it started to leap away. Panting from her effort, the cheetah dragged her prize away to some shade on the edge of the clearing. The hunter watched marveling at the speed and skill he had just witnessed. But as he watched, he saw to his surprise that three beautiful cheetah cubs had also been watching and waiting in the shade. Now the hunter was filled with envy for the cubs, and wished that he, too, could have such a good hunter to provide for him. This gave him a wicked idea; he knew that cheetahs never attack men, and so he decided that it would be easy to take one of the cubs and train it to hunt for him. Chuckling to himself, he settled down to wait. (After all, he was cowardly too, and did not wish to find out whether a mother cheetah would defend her cubs.) When the sun was setting, the mother cheetah left her cubs concealed in a bush, and set off to the waterhole to drink. Quickly, the hunter grabbed his spear and trotted down to the bushes where the cubs were hidden. There he found the three cubs, still too young to run away. He could not decide which one to take, and so he stole them all, thinking to himself that three cheetahs would undoubtedly be better than one. When their mother came back half an hour later and found the babies gone, she was broken-hearted. The poor mother cheetah cried and cried, until her tears made dark stains down her cheeks. She wept all night, and all the next day. She cried so loudly that she was heard by an old man, who came to see what all the noise was about. Now, it so happened that this old man was very wise in the ways of the world, and he had a great knowledge of, and respect for, animals. When he found out what had happened, he became very angry, for not only had the lazy hunter become a thief, but he had broken the traditions of the tribe. All knew that a hunter must use only his own strength and skill. Any other way of hunting was surely a dishonor. The old man returned to the village and told the other elders what had happened. The villagers became angry, too, and the people found the lazy hunter and drove him away from the village forever. The old man took the three cheetah cubs and returned them to their grateful mother; but the long weeping of the mother cheetah had stained her face permanently, and so, to this day, say the Zulu, the cheetah wears the tearstains on its face as a reminder to the hunters that it is not honorable to hunt in any other way than that which is traditional. Cheetah ~ Charles Eglington Indolent and kitten-eyed, This is the bushveld's innocent The stealthy leopard parodied With grinning, gangling pup-content. Slouching through the tawny grass Or loose-limbed lolling in the shade, Purring for the sun to pass And build a twilight barricade Around the vast arena where; In scattered herds, his grazing prey Do not suspect in what wild fear They'll join with him in fatal play; Till hunger draws slack sinews tight And vibrant as a hunter's bow; Then, like a fleck of mottled light, He slides across the still plateau. A tremor rakes the herds: they scent The pungent breeze of his advance; Heads rear and jerk in vigilant Compliance with the game of chance In which, of thousands, only one Is centered in the cheetah's eye; They wheel and then stampede, for none Knows which it is that has to die. His stealth and swiftness fling a noose And as his loping strides begin To blur with speed, he ropes the loose Buck on the red horizon in. |
