Black Horse

The Goat, the Elephant and the Rock

In short: Discover how a goat outwits an elephant by claiming to eat a rock in a Sierra Leone fable.

The Goat, the Elephant and the Rock · The goat that claims to eat a rock FAIRY TALE ATLAS · № 157 The Goat, the Elephant and the Rock Discover how a goat outwits an elephant by claiming to eat a rock in a Sierra Leone fable. Origin An animal fable recorded by Winterbottom from the Sierra Leone area. Atlas record 1803 First appearance Exact date unknown SIGNATURE MOTIF The goat that claims to eat a rock Reach¹ 1/10 Suggested age² 8+ Member rating No votes yet 1 records · 1 countries or regions blackhorsestories.com

¹ Based on the number of Atlas countries, capped at 10. ² Editorial suggestion for reading this page. Discover Black Horse’s question

Origin and tradition

An animal fable recorded by Winterbottom from the Sierra Leone area.

The elephant and the goat go to a meadow to see who can eat more. The goat lies down on a rock and chews its cud. Asked what it is doing, it claims to be eating the rock. The elephant takes the claim seriously and flees. The smaller animal changes the balance of power through appearance and speech.

Dated records and sources

  1. 1803 · Sierra Leone area
    Thomas Winterbottom · An Account of the Native Africans in the Neighbourhood of Sierra Leone · vol. I · Published collection

Country pages

Fairy Tale Glossary

Origin
Black Horse. The Goat, the Elephant and the Rock. https://blackhorsestories.com/en/atlas-tale-goat-elephant-rock/