Pixabay CC0
Once upon a time, there lived a couple who had one son, called Lara. His mother was skilled in dyeing cloth with indigo and earned a living by this trade. His father was a farmer, like most of the men in that village.
One day, Lara said he wanted to go into the forest in search of adventure. At first, his parents would not hear of this, protesting that he was still too young for such a quest. Lara was persistent and at last, with many misgivings, they permitted him to go. Before he left, his father gave Lara a magic horn and his mother put some food in a sack for him.
Early in the morning he set out. He walked down the lane, through the market place, past the burial ground, and soon he was out of the village. At first, his steps were breezy and brisk, but when he was in the thick of the forest he soon grew tired of pushing his way through the undergrowth and decided to take a rest. After eating a piece of roasted yam, he lay down on a fallen tree and soon fell asleep.
Some time later, a group of creatures with short horns came upon Lara. Their attention was at once arrested by the sleeping figure, and even more by the horn which they discovered. They passed this object back and forth, trying to determine how to use it.
As they argued and debated among themselves, Lara woke up. When he realized that he was the only human among these strange, four-footed beasts, he was frightened and wondered how he might escape. The animals were so absorbed it would have been easy to get away. But it was important that he should not leave the magic horn behind.
Taking advantage of their inability to use the horn, he intervened in the debate and offered to show them how it worked. As soon as they agreed, he put it to his lips and started to blow. Immediately, the creatures began to move to the music it produced. Soon they had danced far away from Lara into the forest, but the magic of the horn was so strong that they could hear its music however far they went and still could not help dancing to it.
When Lara saw how far they had gone, he took to his heels. But the creatures were not long in realizing what had happened. Another prolonged argument followed as to who could run the fastest and bring Lara back.
At last they managed to come to a decision and the one they had chosen set off as fast as he could go. Soon he saw the fleeing boy afar off and put on a final burst of speed. By now, Lara had entered the village and was entering his house; he was very tired. The creature had almost caught him. Lara only narrowly escaped into his house. His mother, who was using dye, struck the creature with her dye-stick. His father, who was washing clothes, poured the white soap-suds over it. The strange beast was now coloured black, splashed with white patches.
Because of this change in him, the creature could not return to his fellows. He was different now and so he remained in Lara’s house and lived ever after as a domestic animal. This animal came to be called Goat, and it is said that because of Lara’s adventure the goats in Southern Nigeria are mostly black with white patches. 😁