By Michael Hoffman, DR.AD
Way, way back in time on the vast grassy plains of Africa, Thunder reigned as King of the Elephants. He stood majestic like a tall grey mountain, but he had a problem. Lions and more lions and then even more lions gathered each day in the brush and stalked the defenseless baby elephants. Sometimes the aggressive lions even bit and tore at the mother elephants’ trunks when they tried to protect their babies. It was a very dangerous situation and Thunder needed help.
So Thunder lifted his trunk high up into the air one day and trumpeted a call to summon his friend Tsavo, the King of the Bibrobradogees, a clan of very big, brave brown dogs. Thunder told Tsavo he had a plan but needed help to ambush the lions. Tsavo and his mates were loyal, helpful friends, and they had tangled with lions many times before..
The plan was for all the Bibrobradogees to crouch unseen between the legs of the bull elephants, and when the lions closed in to attack, the big, brave brown dogs would explode out in surprise, fight fiercely, and scare the lions away. Tsavo thought the plan was awesome, and Thunder offered a reward by promising to let the big, brave red dogs sleep in the cool shade between the bull elephants’ legs anytime they wanted to escape the heat of the sun. It was a very good deal for the dogs.
The next day was very hot and windy, and the air carried the scent of baby elephants right into all the lions’ noses. Many, many great tawny lions prowled and slunk through the brush forming a circle around the elephants. The baby elephants huddled close to their mothers, while all the big, brave brown dogs peered out intently from between the bull elephants’ legs. They were itching for a rumble and were never afraid.
As the lions closed in, Thunder told Tsavo he would raise his trunk and wiggle his huge ears when the lions got too close for comfort, and he could see their ears through the thick bushes. No sooner had Thunder said that but Malilko, the King of the tawny lions rushed in with his thick, dark mane bristling. Thunder raised his trunk and trumpeted and wiggled his ears and all the big, brave brown dogs rushed from their hiding places between the bull elephants’ legs.
Maliko stopped dead in his tracks. In a flash he was attacked on all sides and in front and in back by furious dogs that growled and snapped, batting his face with their heavy paws, and biting holes in his hips and back and neck. He and the other lions were trapped. More and more Bibrobradogees rushed out and trapped the other lions in a prison of fearless teeth.
The big, brave brown dogs were smart. They knew a 600-pound lion could easily kill a 120-pound dog, but was helpless when four or more dogs attacked in unison, diving in and leaping back in a constant furious ballet. Tsavo and his mates continued to circle and bark and bite until the exhausted Maliko feared he would die. He bellowed a deep-throated retreat growl, warning the other lions to back off. The dogs watched as the lions started slinking away one by one, all bitten, humiliated and bloody.
When all the lions had vanished into the distant brush and all the baby elephants were safe, Thunder surprised Tsavo and his brave friends with a kind gesture. Every one of them was hot, thirsty, dirty, and very, very tired. All the bull elephants stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a great long line and raised up on their hind legs trumpeting thank you to the Bibrobradogees. The elephants invited all the dogs to come rest in the shade between their legs to cool off.
Tsavo accepted the offer first, and when he started to walk between Thunder’s legs, the great elephant king reached his massive trunk down and rubbed it ever so gently up and down Tsavo’s back. He squirted water from his trunk on Tsavo’s back to clean away the dirt and kept rubbing and rinsing until Tsavo’s back was slick and cool and clean. Then he gave Tsavo a long, deep drink of water from his huge trunk. Tsavo laid down exhausted in the shade of Thunder’s great legs and fell into a deep, well-deserved sleep. All the other big, brave brown dogs did the same and all the bull elephants rubbed and cleaned and sheltered them until every single dog was clean and cool and fast asleep. All that long African night, the dogs dreamed of their victory and of their new elephant friends.
Tsavo woke up early the next morning. He stretched and yawned his sleep away and stepped out into the cool sunrise. One by one all the other Bibrobradogees woke up too and gathered to share stories of their bravery in lion encounter. Then in the middle of all their storytelling, Tsavo noticed something was different about them, something had changed on the body of every single big, brown dog.
During the night, the African trickster god Legba had visited them in their sleep and blessed them with a special mark on the backs as a sign of their courage in battle. The hair along every dog’s back, where the bull elephants had rubbed and rinsed and cleaned with such care, now grew backward in a bold, wide ridge of slick stout hair with delicate feathered wings of delicate hairs along the outside edge. The ridge started wide right between the shoulder blades and narrowed gracefully to a point just above the hips, like a long arrow. The ridge was a true fighter’s badge of honour for all the other animals to see. Overnight the big, brave brown Bibrobradogees had changed into proud, confident African Lion Hounds. The new lion hounds were so excited and happy, that they barked and jumped and danced around showing off their ridges to each other until they were exhausted and laid down to take a nap in the sun.
And that is how the ridgeback got his ridge.
(c) Michael Hoffman, Dr.AD