How the Pig Got His Snout (& The Red Zebra Project!)

As a component of our community library, I've been working with my missionary friend Jeni, and an organization called the Red Zebra Project. Jeni is a linguist, working with her husband to translate the bible into Nyungwe. Jeni and her colleague David work on the Red Zebra Project to create booklets of traditional stories and scripture in Nyungwe. They distribute these in communities to inspire a love of reading and to spread the word of God.

Jeni distributes these stories and books in Tete City and other Nyungwe populations, and the people go absolutely bananas for these stories. One time, Jeni and I were sitting in a café in Tete City, and some kids came up to the window and started miming their favorite book, "Posi-Piri-Tatu," ("One-Two-Three"). Similarly, in our Mavudzi library, kids can't wait for the time when we put our puzzles away and read a Nyungwe book together.

Anyone who has talked to me for more than ten minutes knows that religion is not a big part of my life -- really, it's not a part of my life at all. But the work I see Jeni and our other missionary friends doing is wonderful, and I applaud them for it. We Peace Corps volunteers come to these places and we think, "Wow, twenty-seven months! I'm so awesome for sticking it out here!" when missionaries spend decades living here, really getting to know their communities and making a tangible difference.

Here's a shout-out to missionaries everywhere.

But I digress. What I really wanted to write about today is a Red Zebra story that I was working on today with my Nyungwe teacher. (Hey, I'm learning from these books too!) Quizito helped me to translate the story so I could understand all the words, and I liked it so much I thought I would share it with you -- with a little embellishment added for story-telling flair. I'm curious to know how my and Quizito's interpretation differ from the original.

How the Pig Got His Snout

Once upon a time, all the animals with horns in the kingdom decided to throw a party. Only animals with horns could come to the party. No horns, no party!

"I don't have horns!" the pig thought glumly, "But I love parties! What am I going to do?"

But the clever pig soon had an idea. He broke off some sticks and glued them to his head using tree sap.

"Perfect! No one will know the difference," he said, giving his new horns a shake before striding confidently to the party.

When the pig got to the party, everyone was having fun and dancing. The pig, being very fond of dancing, joined in. Soon, his homemade horns became unstuck and fell to the ground.

Immediately, all the other animals stopped dancing and glared angrily at the pig.

"Where are your horns? No horns, no party!"

They picked up the pig, held him high in the air, and threw him out of the party.

The poor pig landed on the ground, next to his horns, right on his beautiful, regal nose (of which the pig was very fond). His nose crumpled and flattened it into a snout, and remains that way to this day.

That is why you should not stare the poor pig's disfigured snout.