Hyena And The Goat

Hyena And The Goat

Hyena and the Goat is an ancient African legend.

When Goat was returning from the market with a bag of salt, she met a hungry Hyena. To hide her fear she decided to pretend that Hyena was her uncle.

‘Hello Uncle,’ said Goat said in a soft and loving voice.

Hyena did not know that he was related to any goats. He stopped to think about all the members of his family.

While he was thinking, Goat turned quickly and hid in a nearby cave where she knew that Lion was recovering from a broken leg that he had sustained in a fight with a tiger.

Hyena, realizing that he had lost the Goat, followed him into the cave, but did not know that Lion was inside. The three of them met face to face. Goat thought quickly, and taking the salt she had brought in the market, she faced Lion and proudly announced.

‘Lion, I have brought you a cure for your broken leg. I bought it from a renowned doctor at the market. You must eat salted Hyena meat. See here, I have brought you the salt.’

Lion looked at the salt and said, ‘It is good of you to have brought the salt, and I see that there is also a Hyena here.’

Hyena tried to escape, but with one giant paw, Lion reached out and knocked him to the floor. Lion took a bite out of his back, rubbed the flesh in the salt and swallowed it. He loved the taste, so asked Goat if he could have some more.

‘Certainly,’ Goat replied, ‘You can keep it all!’ and slowly backed out of the cave before running off to safety. He congratulated himself on his cleverness.

In the meanwhile, inside the cave, Lion took a second bite out of Hyena’s back. While he was rubbing the second piece of meat in the salt, Hyena took his chance and escaped from the cave. His back hurt a lot, but he was thankful that his life was spared.

Until this day, Hyena still walks with a low back because of the mouthfuls that Lion took out of him.