How the Leopard Got Its Spots — and How the Antelope Kept Its Life
Leopard was plain once — a single coat, no markings — and he was vain about it.
Mole National Park, Northern Region.
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How the Leopard Got Its Spots — and How the Antelope Kept Its Life
Leopard was plain once — a single coat, no markings — and he was vain about it.
Fire was his friend. In the most common Ghanaian telling, Leopard visits Fire's house often, and Fire always says: do not invite me to yours. I am not a guest who can be controlled. Leopard, offended, insists. Come. You are my friend.
Fire comes. Fire comes the way fire comes.
Leopard's house burns and Leopard runs, and where the sparks touched him the fur is scorched into rosettes, and he carries the marks of that visit for the rest of his life and passes them to his children.
The lesson the elders draw is not about vanity. It is about knowing the nature of the thing you are inviting in. Ogya nni adamfo — fire has no friend.
If you visit Ghana. Mole National Park, Northern Region.
Leopard was plain once — a single coat, no markings — and he was vain about it.
Fire was his friend. In the most common Ghanaian telling, Leopard visits Fire's house often, and Fire always says: do not invite me to yours. I am not a guest who can be controlled. Leopard, offended, insists. Come. You are my friend.
Fire comes. Fire comes the way fire comes.
Leopard's house burns and Leopard runs, and where the sparks touched him the fur is scorched into rosettes, and he carries the marks of that visit for the rest of his life and passes them to his children.
The lesson the elders draw is not about vanity. It is about knowing the nature of the thing you are inviting in. Ogya nni adamfo — fire has no friend.