| Boetie and
How the Ridgeback Got the Floppy Ears!
by Elizabeth Akers, Rescue Coordinator
On the banks of the Umfani River, lived a large
male crocodile. He was very old and, indeed, had been king
of his realm for many years. He was very learned in the ways
of the bush and the veld.
He was probably the same crocodile who helped
the elephant grow its trunk (apologies to Rudyard Kipling).
His name was Tande (teeth). Old Tande lived a lazy life amongst
the reeds and brush of the river. He ate when he was hungry,
he basked in the sun a lot, and he kept to himself except
when the others came to him for advice. Tande was the only
one that was unafraid of the Tokeloshe who lived in the river.
Now, we all know how evil the Tokeloshes can
be and we try hard to stay away from them. Boetie, being his
adventurous self, wanted to know more about the Tokeloshe
and travelled far to visit Tande. He had many questions for
the old crocodile and was very excited at the prospect of
meeting the old king. His arrival was a bit of a letdown as
the king was asleep and no one would wake him up. Boetie had
to wait for several hours, so he amused himself by stalking
boomsingetjies. These proved to be too elusive for him and
he tried his luck on a slow moving chameleon. He sat and watched
the long tongue flick out at as it chose a large fly for a
meal. The chameleon chomped once, twice, then swallowed the
fly. Boetie stared, his ears standing straight up in amazement.
He was finally called to meet with King Tande.
The crocodile was very sleepy still and really did not want
to be bothered by a whippersnapper like Boetie. He did tell
Boetie that if he ever heard his name called out, he must
not answer. With this rather mysterious instruction he fell
asleep again and poor Boetie, feeling very disappointed, left
to begin his journey home again.
He wandered along the river bank aimlessly.
He was upset that he had not been able to ask any of his questions
of the King, and he was beginning to become a bit angry at
the King's rude behaviour. Just then, he heard someone call
his name. He stopped, looked around, thinking it was the King's
wife calling him back. He hoped the King would apologize for
his rudeness, invite Boetie to dinner and they would talk
all night. He called back, "I am coming. Wait for me."
As he was musing about how he would talk to
the King, his name came floating across the water again. He
looked across the river but could see nothing. He walked closer
to the water and as he heard his name again, he stepped into
the water. SPLASH!! Something big and black grabbed at him.
Boetie, leapt backwards, but clawlike fingers caught his ears.
Ouch, that hurt. He thrashed, bellowed, barked, and tried
to bite at the thing that was holding and hurting his ears.
It would not let go.
Suddenly, Boetie remembered the Crocodile telling
him not to answer if he heard his name being called. He realized
the crocodile must have been warning him about the Tokeloshe.
Now he did not know what to do to get away from the beast.
He howled, he struggled, and finally his feet found a good
grip in the sandy bottom of the river and slowly, so slowly,
he managed to inch his way backward toward the river bank.
He got his two hind feet on dry ground, then
one by one his two front feet were on the dry ground, but
the thing the Tokeloshe still had a firm hold onto his ears.
The Tokeloshe was big, black, hairy and very strong. It had
a fat belly, big wild looking eyes and teeth that even old
King Crocodile would have envied. Boetie had never seen teeth
like these facing him now. They were huge.
Boetie pulled and pulled. He realized the Tokeloshe
could not come out of the water, he was truly a water beast,
so he pulled harder and cried with the pain of his ears being
stretched and stretched, and stretched. Poor Boetie, they
hurt so, but this brave puppy kept pulling backwards out of
the water and finally the Tokeloshe had to let his ears go.
The Tokeloshe screamed his fury at losing such a delicious
meal, or perhaps a slave, and sent torrents of water spirits
towards Boetie. Boetie turned and ran for his life. His long
ears flapping in the wind.
His family was surprised to see him with his
damaged ears and hastened to try to make them better. Mantis
had other ideas though and he came and spoke to all the animals.
Mantis said, "Henceforth, all Ridgebacks will have ears that
dangle down and they will not stand upright again. This is
in honor of Boetie, who fought bravely with the Tokeloshe,
but it is also for the Ridgeback to be able to use his ears
well and perhaps next time he will hear the crocodile's warning.
So, that is how the ridgeback got long floppy ears."
Remember what that warning was? If you hear
your name called do not answer. Do all your Ridgebacks hear
their names when they are called?
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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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