Coca-cola Myth

The Myth of the Coca-cola Bottle (Told by the Kalahari Bushmen)

One day, a zebra was walking in the desert when she saw a lump in the bushes. She walked closer and saw a baboon lying there. His face was severely damaged and there was a large gash on his shoulder. The zebra called softly, “Hello? Baboon, do you hear me?”

The baboon appeared to be unconscious, as he just murmured softly. The zebra felt sorry for him, so she rolled him into the shade, away from the glare of the sun, and went home. She told her sisters about him. They just laughed at her and said, “Why would you want to care for a baboon? He is wounded already and will not be of much use.”

The zebra replied indignantly, “I don’t think so. I will care for the baboon myself.” And so she did.

Every day, she spent her time picking the juiciest leafy greens and fed them to the baboon. Still, the baboon did not stir one bit, but continued sleeping instead.

One day, as the zebra was busy collecting herbs for the baboon, something heavy fell onto her head. “Ouch!” She cried. “What in the world is this?” She examined the thing carefully and concluded that she had not seen it before. She rolled it back to her sisters and asked for their advice.

Her sisters just scoffed and said, “Huh. It’s just a bit of hard stuff. First you go care for a baboon and now you bring a hard thing home. Typical.”

The zebra was miserable because her sisters had ignored her. She took the Hard Thing to the place where the baboon was sleeping, and cried.

Suddenly, a deep voice behind her said, “What in the desert are you crying about?”

The zebra jumped but relaxed quickly. “You’ve healed! You must be tired. Here, let me give you my leaf.”

The baboon replied in the same deep voice, “No, child. I have no need for a leaf. I am the Great God Pan. You have showed me compassion beyond all measure. You saved my life by not letting me get burned by the sun, and cared for me for a whole month.”

The zebra replied shyly, “It was nothing really.”

The baboon said, “You are a kind-hearted and modest zebra indeed. I shall grant you this gift.” He held out a thing to the zebra.

The zebra exclaimed, “Hey! I have something identical to this!” She brought the Hard Thing to him.

“Go,” He said, “To the cluster of trees behind this bush, and stick these to your head.”

The zebra obeyed and suddenly found herself taller. Her neck had grown a lot longer and her legs were no longer sturdy. Her stripes were stretched into blots of spots. There were two hard things growing on her head.

The baboon transformed in a burst of light, into the Great God Pan, with light shining around him. “Hear, child. The Hard Thing is actually the fruit from the tallest tree in the Heavens. It is your reward for your care, and it is now part of your body. You are the ancestor of all the giraffes. This hard thing will always come to those in need, to remind them of the time the first giraffe cared for the Great god Pan.”

***

And so, that is why the Great God Pan sent this Hard Thing to us Kalahari Bushmen. In this time of drought, hunger and thirst, the Great God Pan wants to remind us that we should not only care for ourselves, but care for others as well.