Chad

The Story of the Jackal and the Dog

The jackal, the dog and their children, according to our ancestors, lived and ate together in the bush. One year, long ago, the weather was rather cold, and as they could not bear the cold, they and their children were about to die. The jackal asked the dog: "How will we ever find fire to heat ourselves?"

The dog said: "Mondo, Mondo, look over there! This Man is lighting a fire! I will immediately go to fetch a piece of burning wood so that we can heat ourselves." The dog went to talk to the Man who was heating himself. The Man asked him, "Where do you come from?" The dog answered, "We will die from the cold, which is why I came to seek fire to heat ourselves." The Man answered him, "Heat yourself well before you take some of the fire with you, then you can be on your way."

Then the dog, with her mouth raised up, put herself nearer the fire to heat herself. She heated herself until she burned her fur, but her nose remained moist. During this time, the Man's Wife came to prepare a meal for them. They ate well, and the dog even ate the bones. Thus it forgot to take some fire with her. Meanwhile, the jackal suffered from the cold with her children. And to this day, she continues to call the dog to bring fire so that they can be warmed by its heat.

Then the dog said, "I will go into the bush, where my nose leads me, only if it first becomes dry." Thus she gave up on the jackal with her children. As for the dog, she followed the Man to return to his house. This is why, even today, the nose of the dog always remains wet. When you notice that the nose of the dog becomes dry, you will know for certain that she just died, and so you should throw it in bush. To this day, whenever you hear the jackal crying out, it is that she is calling the dog. The dog in turn will bark, to affirm that it will go into the bush when its nose becomes dry.

Source: Here