A Dog's Life

A feast is planned when villagers discover an injured cow that needs to be put out of its misery – but is it safe to eat?

- Oliver T Spedding

ONE Friday afternoon the inhabitants of a certain village walked home after the day’s work in the fields. It had been a long and difficult week. As a result of the sparse rainfall recently, the ground was as hard as concrete and digging furrows in which to plant the maize seeds had taken twice as long as usual.

Then, on Thursday afternoon, a sudden rainstorm had threatened to wash away all the seeds they’d just planted. It was only as a result of the frantic work of the villagers in diverting the water that the precious seeds had been saved.

The sun was already close to the western horizon by the time the damage had been repaired. Wearily the villagers trudged homeward and, as they walked in single file along the narrow path towards their village, they heard a plaintive sound coming from a nearby donga.

At first, they ignored the noise but when they realized it was the sound of a cow in distress, they hurried closer. They reached the edge of the gully and peered into the dim interior. Lowing mournfully, a cow with a broken front leg stared up at them.

“It must have fallen in while trying to get to the green grass at the bottom of the donga,” one of the women said.

“Yes,” another agreed. “But it’s not one of our cows. All our cows are grazing in a field on the other side of the village.”

The animal was in great pain and the villagers didn’t know what to do, especially as it wasn’t one of their own cows.

“We can’t leave the poor animal to suffer,” the first villager said. “Perhaps we should put it out of its misery.”

The other women agreed, and after the distressed animal had been put down, the first villager spoke up again.