A guinea fowl and a cow against a lion? What chance have they got? With great courage and a beautiful disguise, the two friends keep each other safe. To this day the guinea fowl has milky white spots (and a loud voice).

Have you ever seen a guinea fowl? It’s obvious those clean white spots on the shiny black feathers need an explanation! African storytellers took the time to observe animals and people very carefully, and sometimes made up explanations like this just for fun.

You can make up your own “pourquoi” tale to explain how an animal or some part of nature got to be the way it is today. If you tell how an animal got its color or stripes or spots, see if you can avoid the two most common ideas: magic or paint. What else could change an animal’s color? Mud, rain, tears, fire, ashes, fingerprints…or maybe milk!