Exercises for How the dog lost her voice
A. How much did you understand?
These sentences retell the story but some words are missing. Find the right words from the story to fill the gaps.
- Long ago the dog was the friend of men, but one day the dog …… with the men.
- The dog and the men went up to the sky and found …… who judged their quarrel.
- Up in the sky, the men and the dog saw something wonderful. It was ……
- After the men left, the dog picked up …… with her tail.
- The dog and the men went hunting and they caught ……
- Before they could eat the meat, they wanted to give some to ……
- The men put a piece of …… in the dog's mouth.
- Some of the …… from the meat ran down the dog's throat.
- The dog ate all the ……
- After that day, the dog couldn't speak, because the spirits had taken……
B. Who said these sentences?
- "We must find a wise man. He can judge who is right."
- "Let's go up to the sky."
- "I like it here, beside this beautiful thing."
- "This animal eats other animals."
- "Before we can eat this meat, we must give some to the spirits."
- "Go to the spirits."
- "Have you taken the meat to the spirits?"
C. What do you think?
Human beings have always tried to understand our world and all the wonderful things in it. They made up stories like this one to explain how things began.
Modern science gives us different explanations. When people learn about science, they can easily forget the beautiful old stories of our ancestors.
Do you think these old stories are important?
Do you think that it would be sad to forget them?
How can we stop these stories being forgotten?
D. More stories to enjoy
If you liked reading this story, perhaps you will enjoy reading The Baboon Child, from Beni Shangul-Gumuz, The Trees and the Axe from Amhara, and Wak and the Raven from Somalia.
Click on these links.
