| Boetie and
How the Ridgeback Got the Ridge!
by Elizabeth Akers, Rescue Coordinator
Long ago, in the veld of Africa, lived a pack
of dogs. They were very nice dogs, fair sized, different colours,
sleek and shiny. They preferred to live in the veld area rather
than the bush. They were very clannish, enjoying each other's
company tremendously, never wandering off alone. None of them
would dream of going off to hunt alone.
One day Boetie (brother in Afrikaans), being
of the adventurous sort of pup, tried to round up a group
of siblings to try their hand at hunting without their parents.
None of the pups would join him, so Boetie ran off toward
the bush alone. He had never been near the bush as it was
a forbidden area, but the adults never told Boetie why it
was forbidden. Boetie was angry at the other pups and thought
they were being cowards. He decided he would show them what
a great hunter he was and how brave too. He was going to return
to the den with dinner for his family.
He first met a meerkat, who peered at him slyly
and asked why he was alone. Boetie replied he was going to
find dinner. Frikkie the meerkat chortled and went on his
way. Boetie wandered about getting closer and closer to the
bush.
He met an ostrich who peered down his beak and
asked where he thought he was going. Boetie told the ostrich
he was going to get dinner. The ostrich told him to go home
immediately (ostriches can be rather bossy you know), and
aimed a swift kick at Boetie. Boetie dodged out of the way
and ran on. He came across a pangolin, who carefully unrolled
himself to hiss, "where DO you think you are going, you must
go home immediately" Boetie kept right on trotting.
Then he met Simba, who grumbled at him that
he was too young to be out alone. He should go home to be
with his mother. Boetie stopped to tell the lion that he was
big enough to find dinner all by himself and that that was
what he was going to do. Simba, being the father of many young
ones, insisted that Boetie return home and swatted at Boetie's
rear end. Boetie ran, veering left, going deeper into the
bush. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a meerkat,
followed by a large ostrich and something small and scaly
behind that, but he ran on looking for something good he could
take home for dinner.
Suddenly something grabbed him from above and
held on tightly. Boetie squirmed and wriggled, but he could
not get loose. He tried calling out for someone, anyone, to
help him. He struggled some more and the harder he struggled,
the more firmly he was held by this unseen "animal" from above.
The meerkat scuttled up and told Boetie he deserved
what happened to him as he was such a disobedient pup. He
then settled down to watch Boetie struggle. Soon the ostrich
and the pangolin arrived, they too told him how much he deserved
to be punished as he was so disobedient. Simba strolled up.
stared at Boetie with his cold golden eyes, and said, "You
will make a tasty morsel for my lunch, it is what you deserve
for being so disobedient."
Well, listeners, you can imagine the fear, the
absolute terror, that rippled through Boetie. He struggled
fiercely and valiantly to be free of his unseen captor. He
heard the rustle of a breeze - he thought it was talking to
him, it was saying "wag 'n bietjie, wag 'n bietjie" (he translated
it to mean - wait a minute, wait a minute). Boetie was quite
sure he was going crazy, after all, trees don't talk. He scrabbled
frantically with his feet, and with one final lunge, tore
free of the wait a minute tree.
As he ran away, he did not feel the cuts from
where the thorns of the tree had scored his back. His mother
was very happy to see him home and alive. She licked his wounds
clean, and tried to comfort him. She told him that the wag
'n bietjie tree was the real reason they did not go into the
bush. It stopped all passersby with its cruel, long thorns.
Boetie, being the type of dog to hold a grudge,
swore his mishap was all the lion's fault, after all, it was
he (the lion) who had made him run deeper into the bush, then
threatened to eat him. He vowed he would never let a lion
get close enough to hurt him. His back healed up, and he was
very proud of his new hair. It had grown back quickly enough,
but it was now reversed. His family watched as Boetie grew
into a fearless, lion dog. He practised day after day tracking
the lions for hours. Always staying just out of reach of their
razor like claws, Boetie would antagonize and feint away,
taunt, then feint again. He was so deft in his pursuit of
the lions that all the maiden dogs vied for the honor of having
his children.
The mantis god looked upon Boetie very favourably,
as Boetie had learned he had a purpose in this life. The mantis
granted that all of Boetie's offspring would henceforth wear
the sign of their father in the shape of the ridge. So, my
friends that is how the ridgeback got his ridge.
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The Boetie Stories
Boetie is the creation of Elizabeth Akers.
He is a brave young ridgeback who is at wonder at the world
around him. He has many adventures and is the originator of
many ridgeback characterics. He and his siblings will show
you what ridgebacks are all about.
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