WAR EXPLAINED IN FABLES

Southland Times, Issue 24153, 15 June 1940, Page 11

WAR EXPLAINED IN FABLES

SALISBURY (Southern Rhodesia) WAR means many different things to the people in the far corners of the British Empire. To the dark-skin-ned and unlettered British subjects in Africa’s vast interior, it is often a very perplexing affair indeed, and one that calls for explanation. And to explain these things to persons used to coping with little more than the ration of mealiemeal and the hunt, is no simple business. To bring events within the comprehension of the natives, the British are bringing Aesop up to date. They are making use of allegories dear to the native. A case in point is that of the Admiral Graf Spee, as related in the native newspaper, Mutende, ift Northern Rhodesia, British colony in the heart of Africa. “ANCE,” runs the story, “there V was a lion (the German battleship), which was afraid of men (the big British battleships), so it went, to hunt cattle (the unprotected trading ships) where there were few men about

“The bush was so great that the men could not see everywhere, so they sent out their dogs (the small British fighting ships) to protect their cattle and look for the lion. They hoped that the

dogs would tell them where the lion was, when they found it, by barking. “Three dogs found the lion but they could not wait for the men to come up because the lion ran away; they ran in quickly and attacked the lion. When he turned to bite them they jumped away. One dog was hurt and could not run after the lion so quickly, but the other two dogs which were smaller did not leave the lion, which was now bleeding from their bites. “At last the lion found a cave belonging to another animal. The lion ran into it and the two dogs waited outside. Their friend who had been hurt came up and joined them. They did not enter the cave because they had been taught that they must not fight

in another person’s cave. “Soon the owner of the cave told the lion to get out, so he ran out and when he saw that the 2dogs were coming to kill him he threw himself into the river and was drowned.”