How Quagga Lost His Stripes

By Trent Roman

Long ago, before magic had left the world, a little girl named Nala lived in a savannah village with her mother and father and brothers and sisters. She was widely thought to be the cleverest girl in the village. They were a happy, prosperous village, who fished along the nearby coast and raised sorghum and cowpea in the fields. The entire village was abuzz with activity because the day of the Harvest Festival was fast approaching, and the adults were preparing for the celebration.

Along the banks of the river that ran from the coast deep into the savannah, the children of the village skipped rocks and spoke of all the fun things they would do and all the wonderful things there would be to eat at the Festival. One girl bent down and collected brightly coloured shells that had drifted in from the sea. They next day, she showed up at the riverside with the shells hanging from a piece of string that she hung around her neck. She said that she would wear it to the Festival.

As the other children admired the girl's necklace, Nala stood aside and laughed. "Those shells will clatter when you dance. The Festival does not require that we decorate ourselves."

But the next day, when the children gathered to play at the riverside, another girl of the village showed up with her hair coloured a startling pink. She explained that the effect had been achieved by crushing flowers from the field and dripping the nectar over her hair. She would attend the Festival with her hair this colour.

As the other children admired the girl's hair, Nala stood aside and laughed. "If you wore a green dress, you would look just like a flower. The Festival does not require that we decorate ourselves."

But the next day, when the children gathered to play at the riverside, a boy from the village showed up with lines of white powder traced like lightning bolts on both of his cheeks. He explained that he had found a rock which could be crumbled into powder and used to draw shapes on himself. He would wear these designs to the festival.

As the other children admired the boy's drawings, Nala stood aside and laughed. "You look like Baboon with your face painted like that. The Festival does not require that we decorate ourselves."

But the next day, and all the days after that, more and more children came to play at the riverside with new adornments and decorations, always crafted from something they had found near the village: bracelets of lapis lazuli, glittering skirts of fish scales, ear-pendants of gold, dresses of woven vine. All the while, Nala stood aside and refused to participate, laughing at the other children. "You are wasting your time," she said. "The Festival does not require that we decorate ourselves."

But the next day, the day before the Festival was due to begin, the village elder gathered all the children together to speak to them. He told them that the grown-ups in the village had been so impressed with their skill and imagination in finding and making their decorations that a new event would be added to the Festival celebrations: a contest to see which of the children would have the best, most creative costume.

Suddenly, Nala regretted not having played along with the other children at this new game. She had not prepared at all for the contest, because she had dismissed the efforts of her friends. And the contest was tomorrow, which gave her very little time to find something. She couldn't stand the idea of losing; after all, wasn't she supposed to be the cleverest little girl in the village? If she was the only child in the village without a costume, everybody would laugh at her.

Her brothers and sisters offered to share some of the decorations they had collected with Nala, but Nala turned them down. She didn't want to imitate somebody else's costume; that was not clever. Her mother and father offered to find something for her to wear, but Nala turned them down. All the other children had found their own decorations; she couldn't accept the help of others and still be called the cleverest.

The other children had mostly found their decorations near the village; if she wanted something unique, she would have to go farther. So she set out along the river, following the shore inland towards the savannah. As she walked, she looked for things she could use as decoration, but found nothing. Then, several hours after leaving the village, she spotted the brothers Zebra and Quagga playing in the high grass. She admired the pattern of their stripes, black against white, and thought that it would make an excellent costume for herself.

"Greetings to you, Zebra," she said, walking up to the brothers. "Greetings to you, Quagga."

"Greetings to you, human girl," Zebra said. "What brings you so far from the village?"

"We are having a Festival to celebrate this year's harvest," Nala said. "There will be a costume contest; whoever has the best, most creative decorations will win. I would like your stripes."

The brothers looked at each other, frowning. "We will not give you our stripes," Zebra said. "Without them, we would be merely white; our fur would look boring."

"Perhaps we could have a contest of our own, then," clever Nala said. "If I win, I get your stripes. If you win, then I will teach you the secrets of fire."

Zebra was the older brother, and suspicious of strangers. He shook his head and said no. Quagga was the younger brother, and was often impetuous. He thought that knowing the secrets of fire, which the humans had always kept to themselves, would impress the other animals.

"What kind of contest?" Quagga asked.

"A race," Nala said.

Quagga became excited. With his four, long legs, he could easily outrun the little girl. He agreed to the contest.

Zebra shook his head. "I think you are making a mistake," he told his brother.

"I don't need your help," Quagga said. "Soon I will know the secrets of fire."

Disgusted, Zebra trotted away. Quagga turned to Nala with his tail swishing eagerly. "Where shall we race?"

"I know just the place," Nala said. They walked back towards the village, along the side of the river. Finally, Nala stopped and said: "Here. Each one of us will cross the river and touch the palm tree on the other side. Whoever does it fastest will win."

Quagga considered. He didn't have the same speed in the water as he did on land, but then again neither would Nala. The current was fast and strong, but he thought that shouldn't slow him down too much--and whatever obstacles he would have to face, so would Nala.

Just to make sure, however, he asked her: "How will we judge fairly? Both of us will be too busy racing to count the time to see how fast we're going."

"Good point," Nala said. She looked around and saw Tortoise resting in the sun on a nearby rock. She walked over to him.

"Friend Tortoise, Quagga and I intend to hold a race. Would you agree to time us and say which one of us can reach the tree fastest?"

"I will," Tortoise said.

"Excellent," Quagga said. "I will go first."

When Tortoise indicated he was ready, Quagga took off at gallop and leaped into the water. He struggled against the current, beating his hooves against the bottom of the river when it was shallow enough, swimming hard across the river when it became too deep. Here he became slower, because he was heavy and could not propel himself well. He knew that Nala would be able to kick her way across, so he kicked his hind legs as well, making himself swim faster. Finally, his hooves struck the riverbank on the other side.

He pulled himself out of the river, galloped to the tree, and stopped sharply in front of it. He put one hoof on the bark and whinnied in victory. Then, at a confident pace, he crossed the river in the other direction, back to Nala and Tortoise.

Tortoise told him how fast he had gone; Quagga was very proud.

"Very good," Nala acknowledged. "Now it is my turn."

When Tortoise said he was ready, Nala started running--but she did not run straight to the river. Instead, she ran a short distance along the river, and then turned to face the water. She did not dive in. She hopped forward, and her foot splashed but did not sink. As Quagga watched with growing fury, Nala skipped across the river using a series of high rocks. Because she did not have to fight the current, she was going much faster than he was. She reached the other side of the river without ever getting so much as her knees wet, then ran to the tree and slapped the trunk with her hand. She smiled triumphantly at Quagga and Tortoise and then returned across the river the same way she had crossed before.

"So, friend Tortoise," she said once she had joined them, "Which of us was faster?"

"Nala was faster," Tortoise said.

"You cheated," Quagga accused. "You didn't swim the river."

"I never said that swimming was required," Nala said. "I said whoever crossed the river fastest would win. You swam, I used the rocks."

"You tricked me," Quagga said. "You brought me here because you knew that the rocks were nearby, that you could cross the river without swimming. I will not give you my stripes."

"We made an agreement," Nala said. "Will you go back on your word?"

"Our agreement has been invalidated. It was made under false circumstances."

"Then I will tell all the animals that Quagga is an oath-breaker and a poor loser."

"If I may," Tortoise said, interrupting their argument. "Quagga is upset because he believes he has been tricked. Nala is upset because she believes she has won and Quagga is going back on his word. I recommend you both take your cases to Elephant, who is old and wise."

"Very well," Nala said. "But we must both agree, with Tortoise as our witness, to abide by the judgement Elephant renders."

"I will agree," Quagga said.

Together, Nala and Quagga made their way further into the savannah to where Elephant was resting.

"Friend Elephant," Quagga said, "We appeal to your great wisdom to judge a dispute between myself and this human girl."

"Very well," Elephant said. "Tell me of your dispute."

First Nala, then Quagga, told Elephant their version of the events leading up to the dispute, ending with the argument by the riverside and the agreement before Tortoise to agree to Elephant's judgement.

Elephant considered their words for a time, staying silent for nearly an hour. Finally, he spoke: "You have both been selfish. Nala, because you were too haughty and arrogant to play your friends' games, you found yourself lacking what they had gained by play. When you saw Quagga and Zebra, you decided that you would take their stripes for yourself. Quagga, you agreed to a bargain that was ill-defined because you were blinded by your desire for the secrets of fire. Since both your motives were self-interest, I can find no place to judge on the basis of intentions.

"The bargain itself, then. Nala, you deliberately deceived Quagga, choosing a location you knew would be advantageous. But Quagga, you are the one who accepted a vague bargain, and did not think to question the situation that Nala put before you. If you do not want to be considered an oath-breaker, you will have to give Nala your stripes."

Nala smiled; Quagga beat the ground with his hoof in anguish. "I shall be blank!" he cried.

"Perhaps a compromise would be in order," Elephant said. "Nala, you are small. You do not need all of Quagga's stripes to decorate yourself with."

"This is true," Nala said. "I would need only half, maybe less."

"And you are only taking the stripes for the Harvest Festival. After the Festival is over, you should give Quagga back his stripes."

"I will agree to that," Nala said.

"Quagga, what say you?"

"I will agree to lend Nala half my stripes. I would prefer they be those from my hindquarters, as they are the least lovely of my stripes."

"Very well," Elephant said. He cast a simple spell, and the stripes on Quagga's hindquarters jumped onto Nala, wrapping themselves around her.

"Return to me after the Festival and I will restore Quagga's stripes."

Nala and Quagga thanked him and left. Nala returned to her village, where she arrived in time to participate in the costume contest. The judges all agreed that the stripe pattern she wore was very nice and clever, and they granted her victory in the contest.

Meanwhile, Quagga returned to the savannah, sad because he was missing his stripes. His brother Zebra and the other animals pointed at his blank hindquarters and laughed at him. The story of how he had been tricked by Nala had spread, and he received little sympathy. Downtrodden, he returned to the riverside, but that only made him sadder because he could see how blank his hindquarters looked in the reflection of the water.

Then he saw that the banks of the river were muddy, and had an idea. He rolled around in the mud, covering himself with it. Then he plunged his upper body into the river, washing away all the mud from where he still had his stripes. He lounged in the sun and the mud dried, such that his fur was now white with black stripes over the front half and brown over the back half. Now the other animals no longer laughed at him; instead, they gathered around him, curious and intrigued by his new appearance.

When Nala returned to the savannah after the Festival, she was surprised to see Quagga trotting proudly amongst the other animals with his two-patterned fur.

"Greetings, Quagga. I have come to return your stripes."

"Greeting, Nala. Thank you for coming back, but I no longer need the stripes. Before, I lived in the shadow of my older brother Zebra. Often the other animals would confuse us, or pay less attention to me because I looked exactly like him. Now that I look different, the other animals pay attention to me, and never forget my name. I wish to remain like this. You may keep the stripes."

So Nala returned to her village with the stripes, and gave them to her brothers and sisters and friends. And to this day, the Quagga of the savannah wears white and black stripes over his front and brown over his back.