The old man motioned to the children of the tribe, “Gather around me and I will tell you a story.” The children stopped their playing and ran to the center of the village. They sat on the ground akimbo around the old man. The noise of their playing quited down as they were always excited to hear the elder's stories. The elder stretched his wrinkly arms wide as if to embrace all of the village children at once, motioning them closer to the center of the circle. “Once, long ago, there was a young warrior who was searching for prey on the plains. The gods had not favored him so far this day, he could find no game to take home for his food. He was about to head back to the village when he heard a rustling in the bushes near where he walked. Carefully he parted the bush and looked inside. Hiding within was a strange creature, the likes of which he had never seen before. It was small and furry and had piercing blue eyes that shone like diamonds.

The warrior was fascinated by the strange creature. He picked it up and held it in the palm of one hand, it's fur was soft like silk. He held it close to his face and as he did the creature spoke in a soft and tiny voice, 'If you take me home I will one day devour you and all that you know.' The warrior was shocked to hear the creature speak, 'You are so tiny, you barely seem to even have a mouth, how could you eat me?' The warrior asked, but the creature was silent. The warrior took the creature back to his village where he put it on display for everyone to see. The other members of the village were also fascinated and they showered much attention, not just on the creature but also on the warrior. The children like to play with the creature and the village women liked to pet it. The warrior liked this attention and so he took the creature back to his hut where he fed it bugs and spiders. He would bring it out every day and let everyone see it and have a turn holding it. Some time passed and one evening the warrior noticed that the creature was now a bit larger than it was when he first found it. It had grown tiny teeth as well that shined like ivory. The warrior did not think much of this but as he lay falling asleep he thought he heard a whisper from the corner where the creature always slept, 'If you keep me one day I will devour you.' As the next few years passed the villagers seemed even more fascinated with the creature. Many of the village women had taken an interest in the warrior and he was able to choose the most beautiful woman in the village as his bride. She was a daughter of the village chief and so the warrior also received a large dowry of many lands and sheep. The warrior's new bride moved in with him but pretty soon they both noticed that the creature was much larger than it used to be. It now had claws and teeth and it no longer ate insects but shared in the meat that the warrior would bring home from hunting. It was large enough that the village men could put a yoke on it and use it to plow their fields. It could plow much faster than an oxen.

However, it was becoming large enough that it was no longer convenient to keep it in the hut with them. As they pondered this the creature whispered ever so quietly, 'if you keep me then one day I will devour you both.' The warrior admitted to his wife that he was now considering taking the creature back to the woods. She liked the creature and she also liked the attention that it brought them from the other villagers. She persuaded her husband to build another hut for it to live in and to keep it. More years passed and the gods blessed the warrior and his wife with many children. All the while the creature became ever larger until it almost filled the hut. The villagers were not as friendly with the creature or the warrior and his family anymore. The creature had begun to bring a feeling of unease to the village, but the villagers were always very respectful of the warrior and his family. One day when the old chief had died the warrior was the obvious choice to replace him. By the time that this had happened the creature was so large that an even more spacious hut had been built for him. Many nights the creature could be heard whispering from within, 'If you keep me here then one day I will devour you all.' It's size was such that it no longer seemed to have any useful purpose. It was to big to play with and it's neck was to thick to wear a yoke. More time passed and one day at a village festival one of the villagers admitted to the chief that he no longer wanted the creature in the village. The chief asked if others felt this way and many admitted that they did. The chief addressed them, 'The creature is a friend of the camp. I remember many a time that you played with him and enjoyed his presence. I recall many bountiful harvests that he helped us sow. We shall keep him because I believe that he is a symbol of our good fortune.' The villagers grumbled but no one dared to refuse their chief. By now the creature was so large that they were feeding it a whole sheep every day. It now lived in a special hut that they had built for it and decorated with paintings and carvings. The creature now began to whisper to anyone who passed by the hut, 'If you keep me here then one day I will devour you all.' The villagers began whispering amongst themselves about what to do. They also avoided the chief and his family who had moved to a large building that they had built on a hill overlooking the village. As the chief grew older he had to feed more and more sheep to the creature and it was becoming a burden to the village to keep feeding it this way. The villagers began to demand that the creature be sent away at every gathering and festival. Finally the chief agreed, 'I will send the creature away tonight and it will trouble you no more.' However, the chief had come to like the fear and respect with which the villagers treated him so he decided not to send the creature away but instead to hide it in a cave on the edge of the village. Late that night while the villagers slept, the chief went quietly to the creature's hut. He pushed and pulled and directed the creature to the cave. The creature went where the chief urged him, but he shuddered and hesitated often. The chief also noticed that the creature was now quite large and had teeth the size of daggers and long white claws like spearheads.

The ruse of the cave did not last for long though as people noticed that sheep were disappearing at an alarming rate. Also, when anyone went near the cave they could hear the creature rumbling and grumbling inside and saying, 'Soon the time will come when I will devour you all. The villagers complained to the chief that the creature was still nearby but he denied this and said that it was gone. He admonished his people for not believing him and insisted that they obey. The villagers were too terrified to disobey and so they went home. More time passed and one season there was a drought. Many of the crops failed and many of the village sheep died. There was barely enough food for the villagers and so, not surprisingly, a day came when there were no sheep left the send to the cave. The chief was worried as he could hear the rumbling and grumbling from the cave growing louder each day. The chief made a dark decision. He ordered that one of the villagers be thrown into the cave. The villagers were not brave enough to stand up to the chief and so they did as he asked. Every day for 10 days another person was thrown to the creature. Every day the creature could be heard bellowing from within his cave, 'The time is very close now that I will devour you all.' After 10 days of this had passed the terror of what the beast might do had paled in comparison to the terror of human sacrifice. The villagers all stood together and demanded that their chief present himself to the beast and either make it go away or sacrifice himself to it. The chief did not want to go but he realized that if he did not then his people were surely prepared to kill him. He went to the cave, 'Oh creature, you seemed to make me prosperous for so long but now things have gone wrong. I must demand that you leave this village forever.' There was a moment of silence. Then, without warning, the beast burst from within the cave. It screamed, 'fall before me king as I will now devour you.' The chief wailed in terror as the beast ate him alive. The beast rampaged through the village and consumed every person and animal therein and the village was no more.”