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ORAL LITERATURE
“Why the leopard hides its food up a tree.”
The Ndebele tell their children that long ago, there were three friends: the beautiful leopard, the jackal and the hyena. They went everywhere together. Whenever leopard killed an animal, he would always leave part of it for his friends so that they would have a good feed too.
One day it happened that leopard was ill, and so could not hunt. “Jackal,” he said, “Please catch some food for us, for I am not well.”
But lazy jackal said, “No, I am too weary. Ask Hyena.” So leopard said,” Hyena, please hunt for us today, for I am not well enough to do so.” But hyena made an excuse. “No, I have a sore foot.” So leopard roared in anger. “I thought you were my friends, but you are no good, lazy pair. Never again will I leave you meat when I make my Kill. From this day on, I will make sure of it. I shall take what is left and hang it in a tree, when I have eaten all I want. Then neither of you will be able to get at it.”

Answer Text:
1. Classify the above narrative and give reasons for your answer.
This is an Etiological narrative. The narrative explains why Jackal and Hyenas are scavengers. This narrative gives answers as to why things happen the way they do.
2. Describe two character traits of leopard.
Leopard is selfless- Whenever leopard killed an animal, he would always leave part of it for his friends so that they would have a good feed too.
Leopard is consistent- Leopard told the Jackal and Hyena that he will never again leave them meat when he made a kill. He remained true to his words for since that day he has never left any meat for his selfish friends.
3. Identify features typical of Oral narratives used in this story.
i) Use of opening formula- The Ndebele tell their children that long ago, there were…
ii) Use of dialogue- There is a dialogue between Leopard and his friends when he was asking them to go and hunt because he was sick.
iii) Use of repetition-There is repetition of the words ‘I’ and ‘they’.
4. Never again will I leave you meat when I make my kill.
(Rewrite this sentence beginning: I.....)
I will never again leave you meat when I make a kill.
5. What lessons do we learn from this narrative?
i)We learn that we should work hard. Laziness costed Jackal and
hyena their friendship with Leopard.
ii) We should be loyal and caring friends. Leopard showed his friends kindness but when he was in need, they gave excuses for not helping him.
6. What function is usually played by the opening formulae in an oral narrative?
The opening formula announces the start of a narrative. This is
meant to capture the attention of the audience.