The Sleeping Dog
A Folktale
An Ituri Folktale as retold by Ned Jensen
Adapted by Mrs. Andrea Andera
Millions of years ago, a monkey was swinging through the jungle. He came upon a dog, stretched out and sleeping in the cool grass, enjoying the afternoon sunshine. This was the very first dog on earth, and just like they do now, this dog just loved to take naps! The curious monkey looked at the sleeping dog for several minutes.
The monkey had no idea what the dog was, or even what other animal he might be cousin to. He even tried hanging upside down to get a different view, but that didn't help.
The monkey couldn't figure out what the new animal was, so he called to all of his jungle friends. All of the animals followed the monkey back to where the dog was napping in the grass. "See, there it is" whispered the monkey. "Have any of you ever seen anything like it?"
The elephant was the first animal to get up close and take a look at the sleeping dog. Elephants have really good memories, but even this elephant didn't remember ever seening anything like the dog before.
The next animal in line was the zebra, who galloped in a circle around where the dog rested. After four or five trips around the sleeping dog, the zebra trotted over to the monkey. "I do not know what this animal is" he said. "I only know that it is not a zebra". All of the animals agreed that they only knew what the dog wasn't. He wasn't an elephant, or a zebra, or a giraffe, or a rabbit.
Now it was the skunks turn. All of the other animals backed far away as the skunk approached, in fear of being sprayed by her pungent scent. The other animals would never know what the skunk thought. They would never get close enough to talk to her. The skunk looked at the dog for a very long time. Then, with a knowing smile on her face, she quietly walked back into the forest, without saying a word to the other animals.
The monkey asked all of the animals to take a turn. One by one, they each looked at the sleeping dog, and whispered to each other about this or that. But, none of the animals could decide what it was or whose family it belonged to.
The evening shadows started to get long, and the owl took her place on a branch overlooking the curious group of animals. The owl was very wise, and she knew what the dog was. She told the animals "you should call this creature a dog". All of the animals started talking at once. "Dog?", "Dog!" they all whispered, liking the way the word sounded on their tongues.
The sleeping dog startled at the sound of his name. He sat up with a jolt, and saw all of the other animals staring at him. “What is the purpose of interrupting my nap?” demanded the dog. The dog didn't like being woken so rudely, and so he growled and barked at the other animals.
The dog's barking and growling had chased all of the other animals away, but the wise old owl was safe on her tree branch. "From this day on, you will always chase everything you see. Other animals will always run from you" she said to the dog".
As for the monkey and the other animals, they retold the story of finding the dog over and over again. And each time they told it, the story ended the same: "And now we all know the reason why, you should always let a sleeping dog lie!"
Even now, dogs will usually chase just about anything they see. Unless, of course, they are napping!