THE LEGEND OF RIDGE

Many, many years ago, even before people began to hunt, animals could talk among themselves and help each other to hunt and extract food. The snake could not see far, for it crawled on her stomach on the ground and, since it did not have ears on either side of its head, the snake could only feel the vibration passing over the surface. But with all this it was very brave. Sometimes it climbed a tree and stretched out on a branch, basking in the sunlight of the day. Sometimes the dog warned the snake about the approach of other animals, since the snake could not hear the vibration, being high on the tree.
The dog was luckier than snake, since having long legs, it could easily move over bare earth and grassy plains and, with her head high, it could see and hear very well, and having a nose, it also could feel danger. But it was not as brave and brave as the snake, especially when it met the King of Animals, the Mighty Lion.

Like the snake, Lion spent its day’s hours, basking in the sun or relaxing in the shade of trees on the edge of the plain. In the evenings, Lion stretched and went down to the watering place to listen to the gossip of other animals that were gathering there.

The dog always tried to hide from Lion, hiding among other animals from the edge of the general crowd.

The snake and the dog were not close friends then, but the dog needed courage, and the snake was very brave and courageous, at least that’s what the dog thought. The dog often lay under the branches of a tree on which the snake lounged in the sun, hoping that the snake would give her a little boldness. And, fulfilling the role of guard dog for the snake, the dog thus helped the snake every day.

One day Lion came to a tree and saw two creatures hovering next to each other, it issued such a ferocious roar that the earth and tree shook, and the snake fell off the branch with a hollow sound right on the back of the dog. The place where the snake fell, can still be seen on the back of Ridgeback: the head of the snake formed the crown of the ridge; where the eyes of the snake were, the dogs had curls; The long, conical body of snake stretched out on its back towards the tail of the dog. And, thus, the dog appeared ridge. As for courage, dogs that have ridge on their backs have now become known as very daring and taking on itself a Lion, barking at him and jumping in such a way that the Lion, despite the fact that he is the King of the Animals, under the attack of a much smaller animal – Ridgeback.

Some of the African aborigines call Ridgeback a name that in their own language means: “A dog with a snake on its back”.