The Cow of No Color: Riddle Stories and Justice Tales from Around the World

184 Pages·1998·24.23 MB·English

by  Jaffe Nina

THE COW
@
Nina
Jaffe
Steve Zeitlin
.i<lle Stories an^ Ju^stice^Tales^from
WorU
'ouna
tlie
:tures by Whitney Sherman
$15.95
CAN
$22.95
In Ghana, they say, there was once a
kingwhofehthreatened bythepowerof
Nunyala, awisewomanwho hved in his
land. He decided to put her to a test she
could not possibly pass. ''Bring me a
cow of no color,'' he demanded, ''or I
will put you to death.'' The wise woman
thought and thought, and then sent a
message to the king. It saved her life.
What could she have said? And what
would you come up with in her place?*
The Cow ofNo Color is a collection of E
stories from throughouttheworld, all of
which turn on a question of justice.
After the authors describe the problem,
they leave it to you to solve, and then
tell you the answer as it appears in the
original tale.
The authors of the multiprize-
1
winning book While Standing on One
Foot have again brought us a special
treat: stories from Asia and Africa,
Europeand Mexico, and evenAmerican
playgrounds and courts oflaw. All show
that there is nothing more fun, or more
important, thanfiguringoutwhatisfair.
*For the answer in the tale, turn topage 13.
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The Cow 01 No Color

THE COW
Riddle Stories
and Justice Tales from
Around World
tlie
Mn<2]ajje and Steve Zeitlin
Pictures by Whitney Sherman
t-*
Henry Holt and Company
New
York po
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SB BR
J
JAFFE
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HenryHoltandCompany,Inc.,Publisherssince1866
llSWest18thStreet,NewYork,NewYork10011
HenryHoltisaregisteredtrademarkofHenryHoltandCompany,Inc.
Textcopyright©1998byNinaJaffeandSteveZeitlin
Illustrationscopyright©1998byWhitneySherman
Allrightsreserved.
PublishedinCanadabyFitzhenry&WhitesideLtd.,
195AllstateParkway,Markham,OntarioL3R4T8.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Jaffe,Nina.
Thecowofnocolor:riddlestoriesandjusticetales
fromaroundtheworld / byNinaJaffeandSteveZeitlin.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
Summary:Ineachofthesestories,collectedfromaround
theworld,acharacterfacesaproblemsituationwhich
requiresthathemakeadecisionaboutwhatisfairorjust.
—
1.Children'sstories. [1.Fairness Fiction. 2.Justice
Fiction. 3.Shortstories.] I.Zeitlin,StevenJ. II.Title.
PZ5.J256Co 1998 [Fie]—dc21 98-14167
ISBN0-8050-3736-5 / FirstEdition—1998
DesignedbyMarthaRago
PrintedintheUnitedStat1eso2fA3mer4ica5on6aci7d-f8ree9paper,oo
10
2 2 1999
H BOSTOH BRANCH
—
The authors are grateful tothe many people friends, colleagues, story-
—
tellers, and scholars who helped makethiscollection possible. Some of
these people are noted in story introductions and source notes, but we
would especially like to thank Rabbi Edward Schecter, Judith Gleason,
MaiVo-Dinh,andYamiVangforstorysourcesandreferences.
Weare indebted to Li Chi Ho, Lisa Lindsay, Rachel Kramer, Dorian
—
Segure, and Mark Stein teachers and graduate students at Bank Street
—
CollegeofEducation forinvaluableassistanceinresearchandrevisions;
toAmandaDarganandthestaffofCityLoreforbeingoncall;tofolklorist
lianaHarlowandherfather, RabbiJulesHarlow,forpassingonmidrashic
commentaryaboutjusticeandmercy; toSamSchragerforsharinghisre-
searchonstorytellingbytriallawyers; andespeciallytoJonathanMoore,
whoseworkasadefenselawyerandinterestinthepoweroffolktaleswasa
keyinspirationforthisbook.
Manythanks are due to our editor, Marc Aronson, forcontributing a
story, for his gentle but persistent nudging, and for his insights; to our
—
agent, Carla Glasser; and especially to our children Ben and Eliza
—
Zeitlin, and LouisJaffeArmistead whoalwaysasktherightquestions.
Digitized by tine Internet Arcliive
in 2011
littp://www.arcliive.org/details/cowofnocolorridOOjaff