“It is at the end of the old rope that we weave the new one.” African proverb.
A wealthy lady decides to go on a photographic safari in South Africa.
She brings along her faithful old dog Alex to keep her company.
One day, Alex sets off eagerly to explore the vast wide open spaces. But before long, even though his poor legs haven’t carried him very far, he realises he is lost.
Wandering about trying to find his way back, he sees a young leopard running towards him at full speed, clearly intent on making a good meal of him. The old dog thinks: “This is really my lucky day! I’ve barely set foot in Africa and I’m going to die without even having discovered its wonders. What a shame!”
Then, noticing the bones of an old gazelle carcass bleaching nearby, he immediately starts chewing on them with vigour and gusto, turning his back on the approaching leopard.
Just as the leopard is about to pounce on him, Alex exclaims loudly: “Well, that leopard was really excellent! I wonder if there are any more around here?”
Hearing this, the leopard breaks off his attack mid-leap; he looks at Alex in terror and flees in fright across the savannah without looking back. “Phew!”, he sighs, “That was close! That old dog nearly had me!”
Meanwhile, a monkey who had watched the whole scene from an acacia branch nearby thinks he could make use of what he knows to win the leopard’s protection. So he sets off to catch up with him, but Alex, seeing him running at full tilt, realises something must be up.
The monkey catches up with the leopard, reveals the whole trick to him and offers his help. The young leopard is furious at having been fooled: “Come here, monkey, climb on my back and you’ll see what happens to this clever little fellow!”
The old dog sees the leopard rushing towards him with the monkey on his back and worries: “What am I going to do now?”
But instead of running away, Alex sits with his back to his attackers, pretending once again not to have seen them, and just as they come within earshot, he exclaims:
“Where on earth is that blasted monkey? It’s been an hour since I sent him to fetch me another leopard!”
Moral of the story: age and cunning will always triumph over youth and strength! Wit and wisdom only come with age and experience.
“If an animal tells you it can talk, it is probably lying.” African proverb
NamibRand Nature Reserve and Wolwedans, in Namibia
How about taking a bath… in Selous, Tanzania
