Just So Stories

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racism and incidents of mild violence.

In the early days of the world, the Leopard lives in the High Veldt, a place filled with “sand and sandy-coloured rock and ‘sclusively tufts of sandy-yellowish grass” (11). Being “a greyish-yellowish catty-shaped kind of beast” (11), the Leopard fits in well with his surroundings and surprises the poor Giraffe and Zebra, who don’t see him because of his camouflage. The Leopard often hunts with an Ethiopian man, who is also “‘sclusively greyish-brownish-yellowish” (11), and they make such a good team that the other animals eventually leave the High Veldt.

The Giraffe, the Zebra, and other animals make their way to a forest, where they eventually develop spots, stripes, and darker hair to blend in with the trees’ “slipperyslidy shadows.” Meanwhile, the Leopard and the Ethiopian man are left eating rats, beetles, and rabbits until they get “the Big Tummy-ache” (12). 

One day, they see Baviaan, the barking Baboon, who is very wise. The Leopard asks where the “game” went, while the Ethiopian man likes to show off his extensive vocabulary and asks about “the present habitat of the aboriginal Fauna” (12). Baviaan tells them the other animals have migrated and advises them “to change as soon as [they] can” (12).