Reading Notes: South African Folktales, Part A

Jackal
Source: Pixabay

For this weeks readings I chose to read about South African Folk tales. Within the folktales I am going to focus on the story "The Lion, The Jackal, and The Rope." In this story a lion kills a eland but wants a drink of water down the hill so the lion as the jackal to watch the eland for him, but not to eat it. The jackal agrees and the lion goes to get a drink. The jackal went back on his agreement and the jackal and his wife ate the eland while the lion was gone. When the lion returns he ask the jackal for a rope to help climb back up the hill. The jackal and his wife trick the lion and give it a weak rope. So as the lion was climbing up the jackal pull the rope hard and it snapped causing the lion to roll down the hill. The jackal hits a hide making it seem like he his hitting his wife to the lion making the lion feel bad and tell the jackal not to do it and to try again. The jackal does the same trick two more times and on the third time the lion falls down and injures himself fatally. The jackal then yells at then lion saying he will come down to help but actually just walks away. I don't like the plot too much of this story, so I'm thinking I will change the whole plot of this story and have the jackal actually help the lion.

Bibliography: "South African Folk tales" by James Honey