At that time, the buffalo was the King of the animals. To drink from the river, you had to wait until it had quenched its thirst first and bathed in it. One day, a lioness whose cub was about to die of itself broke this rule…

The lion was not the king of the animals. At least, he wasn’t at first. Rather, it was Dankélé, a large black buffalo from the savannah, who reigned over the beast people. King Dankélé was a great tyrant, a king who ruled without faith or law. Whether you were right, you were afraid. Whether you were wrong, you were right to be afraid of him.

At that time, there was only one river where all the animals came to drink, but no one was allowed to drink before Dankélé. And Dankélé did not just quench his thirst, he bathed in the river, rolled around in it and did all his business there. It was only after that the others could drink the already dirty water in turn. It was unfair, but that was how it was. You had to put up with it.

But the mother lioness, that day, could not wait for the king to arrive. Her lion cub, who had just arrived in the world, was going to die of thirst. She gave him a little water. She drank a tiny bit herself.

King Dankélé arrived. He was accompanied by members of his court, griots and griottes who sang his praises:

« Ô ! Great Buffalo ! 

You are greater than Sunjata the great

Greater than Da Monzon the great

Greater than Alexander the Great! » 

But King Dankélé, when he was at the edge of the river, saw that they had dared to drink before him, the king. He turned towards his people and, threatening them with his gaze, shouted his anger. And his anger made everyone tremble:

– Who is it… But who dared to drink the king before me? If you don’t point out the culprit, you are all guilty!

The animals, terrified, looked into each other’s eyes. Everyone had seen the lioness giving her cub a drink. But who could take the responsibility of reporting her to this brute of a king? The hyena did so:

– I’m not going to pay for a mistake I didn’t make. It was the lioness who drank before you. That’s it! I just said it.

And immediately, with a leap, King Dankélé crushed the lioness with his big paws.

But the lion cub did not die. He ran away as fast as he could and went into hiding.

He waited and waited until he grew up. When he became a big lion whose roar echoed across the savannah, he went out and said to the buffalo:

– Buffalo, where did my mother go?

The buffalo, intimidated by the strength the lion gave off, stammered:

– Your, your, your mother the lioness.

A counselor whispers in her ear:

– This is the lioness you killed a few years ago because she dared to drink before you.

– Oh yes, that’s right, said the buffalo, turning to the lion. It’s the law, not me. The law is the law. Your mother dared to drink before me, so the law was applied to her. The law is the law, the law is not me.

– The law which applies only to the weakest is an unjust law.

And the lion throws himself on the buffalo, overpowers it, and frees the kingdom of animals.

It is since that day that he is the king of the animals. It is also since that day that he strives to be just and upright.

The French original can be found on Ouologuem Blog. Translated to English by Dr. Y., Afrolegends.com