A retold version of the Ethiopian Dancing Goats Legend
Once upon a time, a very long time ago, there was a goat called Toga, who lived in a country now called Ethiopia.
Toga the Goat and his cousins were looked after by Kaldi, a young boy whose father owned many goats.
Every morning, just before sunrise, Kaldi would gather Toga and his cousins together and lead them out into the fields, where Toga and his cousins would spend the whole day wandering and feeding on the lush green grass of the gentle rolling hills.
Kaldi the herder also played the washint, the Ethiopian flute made from bamboo and, sitting under his favourite tree, he would often pass the time playing pleasant tunes on this, as he watched Toga and his cousins feed on the lush green grass out in the open fields.
Sometimes, Toga and his cousins got bored eating the same lush green grass and roaming around the same fields, and soon began to think of things to do.
One day, on a particularly warm afternoon, while Kaldi was having one of his naps, Toga wandered a little bit away from his cousins, and from where Kaldi was having his nap.
That day, Toga also decided to visit those parts of the green rolling fields he had not yet seen.
After a while, Toga came across a plant with green leaves. But what caught Toga’s eyes were the bright red berries which grew around the branches of the plant.
Toga slowly and carefully moved towards the green plant with the bright red berries, for he had been taught by the older goats to be careful should he happen to come across something new.
Standing a little distance away, Toga took a good long look, first at the leaves, and then at the bright red berries. Next, he moved a bit closer, but very slowly, towards the plant.
Toga wondered to himself what these berries might be; indeed, he wondered what they might also taste like! But, what tempted Toga most was the pleasant smell which came from the bright red berries.
It didn't take long before Toga took a bite of some of the bright red berries, which also tasted as nice as they smelt. After a few more bites of the bright red berries, Toga began to have a very interesting kind of feeling.
The Central Character in the Story!
Toga's descendant, one of Ethiopia's 52.5 million goats (2020 FAO estimates) photo credit: Armin Kübelbeck
It was also the kind of feeling which made Toga want to dance and, before he realised it, Toga found himself dancing, even dancing for the best part of one hour.
Toga looked around and suddenly realised that it was getting late and that he had also wandered a bit too far away from his cousins and Kaldi, so he started to return to them.
Luckily for Toga, he also managed to get back, and before Kaldi woke up from his afternoon nap, so he hadn’t noticed that Toga had gone missing.
Later that evening, after Kaldi had gone to bed, Toga told his cousins about his adventures earlier that day. Toga also promised to take his cousins to show them the plant with the green leaves and bright red berries.
The next day, just before sunrise, and just as he had always done every morning, Kaldi led Toga and his cousins out into the fields, where Toga and his cousins would spend the whole day wandering and feeding on the lush green grass of the gentle rolling hills, as they had always done.
After some time, when it began to get a little bit warmer, Kaldi started to have one of his naps.
As soon as Toga noticed that Kaldi was having one of his afternoon naps, he whispered to his cousins and asked them to follow him.
Toga led his cousins towards the part of the field a little bit further and away from Kaldi, and to where he had seen the green plants with the green leaves and bright red berries the day before.
After a little while, Toga and his cousins arrived at the place where Toga had been the day before. Toga told them how he had tasted the bright red berries and how these made him feel. He then moved closer and picked some of the bright red berries to put into his mouth.
However, Toga’s cousins were not so sure he should go ahead and taste the bright red berries, and warned him to be careful.
All the same, Toga [still] went ahead and took a bite at some of the bright red berries, as his cousins looked on very anxiously, and then he asked them to try some.
At first, Toga’s cousins were not so sure, but after a while and a little nudging, they decided to trust Toga and so they tried some of the bright red berries.
Before long, Toga and his cousins had finished eating most of the bright red berries on one of the branches of the plant with the green leaves.
Before long, Toga and his cousins began to have a funny feeling - a happy funny kind of feeling the same as Toga had felt the day before - and which also changed the way they acted.
Once again, just like the day before, this happy funny kind of feeling turned into the dance which Cousin Toga had performed.
First, Toga - for it was him who was the first to taste the bright red berries - lifted his front left foot, followed by his front right foot and did a terrific somersault - the kind you will also only see the best gymnasts perform at the Olympic Games.
After landing on all four feet, Toga performed another dance which, years later, became the best dance one would ever see in a ballet performance. Indeed, this ballet was the best one would likely ever see outside of Russia as performed by the Bolshoi.
Meanwhile, Kaldi had woken up from his afternoon nap and, slowly, he began to rub his eyes, as he looked left, looked right, looked straight ahead and, finally, looked behind him.
Kaldi was looking for Toga and his cousins but couldn’t see any of them. Starting to get very worried, Kaldi was sure his father would be very upset with him if he returned home without Toga and his cousins.
Kaldi had to find Toga and his cousins, so he looked left, looked right, looked straight ahead and, finally, looked behind him. "Which way?", he wondered.
After scratching his head for a little while - the way one would do before deciding to do something - Kaldi chose to go left. Maybe because he saw some droppings he was sure belonged to Toga?!
Kaldi walked across the rolling fields, keeping his eyes wide open and his ears very alert to see or hear any sign or sound of Toga and his cousins. And, of course, he was looking for more droppings which he was sure would belong to Toga!
After a rather long walk, Kaldi saw from the distance something which made him jump.
“What’s going on over there?” Kaldi wondered as he suddenly stopped, surprised at what he was seeing.
Toga and his cousins had got themselves in a circle. Then, after what seemed to Kaldi like a count of one, two and three, they all stood on their hind legs and jumped up together. Next, they all faced outside and, once again, at the count of one, two and three, they all did the somersault together.
Kaldi watched Toga and his cousins as they performed different dances. In fact, any dance you could think of, Toga and his cousins performed: the chariot dance learnt from Thor the Thunderer's goats, Tanngniost the Tooth Gnasher and Tanngrisnir the Tooth Grinder.
Next, they danced the Irish ceili which had been learnt from King Puck of Kerry. Indian kathakali, Spanish paso doble, Argentinian tango, Brazilian lambada; even modern dances like rock and roll and the twist.
Finally, they performed the ballet as the Bolshoi would have done!
By now, Kaldi didn’t know what to think. Yes, he had found Toga and his cousins; but, how was he going to get them to stop dancing and bring them back home?
How was Kaldi also going to explain to his family what he had just seen happen in the fields; and if his family would even be convinced of or accept as true his story about the dancing goats?
Besides, whoever heard of dancing goats?
Kaldi drew closer to have a good look at what was happening and as he did this, he noticed that one of the goats was eating some berries.
Kaldi paused for a little while and then picked some of the bright red berries which he put into his mouth to see what would happen. Definitely, not a safe or clever thing to do! Remember what his parents had said?
After another little while, Kaldi felt the same way as Toga and his cousins had felt earlier on and, before long, he also started dancing.
After some time, Toga and his cousins began to feel tired; and so did Kaldi, who decided he should better get the goats home, but not before he had taken some of the bright red berries with him in his bag.
Because of their adventures earlier that day, and because they were also a bit far away from their usual place in the fields, it took them a bit longer to arrive back home, where Kaldi's family and neighbours were waiting for them with worry.
Back home, when Kaldi was alone with his father, he showed him the bright red berries and told him about Toga and his dancing cousins. After a long pause, as old people usually do, Kaldi's father decided to taste some of the bright red berries himself.
He felt some kind of energy, the same as Toga, his cousins and Kaldi had felt when they ate the bright red berries, but he stopped himself from dancing.
Kaldi's father then suggested that they should take the bright red berries to show to the monks in the local monastery. These monks had been having problems staying awake during prayers.
The monks, after carefully examining the bright red berries and having listened to the effects these have had on the way Toga, his cousins and Kaldi all behaved afterwards, decided to experiment by boiling the berries. They then drank the juice from this.
As the monks had correctly guessed, drinking the juice from the boiled red berries kept them awake during their prayers, especially at night.
After some time, Toga became too old to go out into the fields with the younger goats. However, he stayed at home, where his nephews and nieces brought him his dinner, and after which he gave dance lessons for a long time afterwards.
Many, many years later, people from other parts of Ethiopia came to visit Toga’s hometown and asked if they could be allowed to take seedlings of the plant back home with them.
In those days, people from across the Red Sea in Yemen in Southern Arabia also travelled to Ethiopia. On one of these journeys they asked if they could be allowed to take seedlings of the plant back home with him.
It was the people of Yemen who also decided to take the seed, also known as a bean, out of the fruit; the green beans are first dried and then roasted until the beans turned from green to dark brown.
The roasted beans were then crushed in a grinder and, when hot water was added, is what we know today as the coffee 'grown-ups' drink.
So, boys and girls can now tell their grown-ups where the coffee they like to drink came from, and how a goat was responsible for finding the plant from which the coffee berries or beans also came from.
