The Dancing Goats of Ethiopia
Where did coffee originate? Well, here's one theory. You be the judge.
by
Mike
Moore
Coffee was discovered so many years ago, no one knows how it really happened. But one plausible explanation is found in the story of the dancing goats of Ethiopia.
Our hero is a young man named Kalki, who was a goat herd by trade. Each day, he led his flock up into the hills where they would graze for hours. But goat herding was a popular profession, there being little else to do to earn a living. Older, bigger goat herds shooed Kalki and his goats away from their tender fields. So he had to travel high into the hills to find a secluded spot to call his own. Such a long hike tired Kalki out.
While his goats frolicked in their field, he fell asleep beneath a stand of trees. Kalki dreamed he was a sailor. He was on a great voyage, far out in the sea. Above him, his great white sails were unfurled and full of wind. But a storm brewed up and the sails began to rip. Kalki ran around his ship, trying to stay his course, when the wind whipped up the ocean and heavy rains began to fall. The great sails fell and smacked Kalki in the face. The clammy feeling on his face forced him awake. But it wasn't the great white sail. One of his goats was licking Kalki's face.
As he wiped the sleep from his eyes, Kalki noticed something very unusual. The goats were jumping up and down, running around like kids. They were so animated, they seemed to be dancing. Kalki wondered why his flock was acting so strangely. Then he noticed that the goats were eating from a strange plant he had never seen before. He went to inspect the lush green bushes. On each branch, there were berries -- some green, some yellow, some red. The goats seemed to love these fruits, and he had to fight them off to get some for himself.
He put one in his mouth and bit down. Inside were hard green stones he could not chew. Kalki collected as many berries as he could and took them back to his village. There, he went to see the priest, to explain to him the goats' bizarre behavior and to show him the beans he had collected. The priest took Kalki's strange beans and began to experiment. He tried to eat one, but like Kalki he almost broke a tooth on the hard nuts inside. Then he peeled one of the beans. Out popped two seeds. These he ground up in a mortar and pestle. The result tasted terrible. He couldn't swallow it down. He decided he might be able to lure the magic spirit out, by pouring boiling water on the ground seeds. The magic tasted bitter. He had to gag to get it down. But it had a strange effect on him. Things seemed clearer. His energy level seemed to rise.
The priest took the rest of the beans to a monastery and shared it with the brothers there. Drinking the liquid let them stay up late, late into the night, to discuss all sorts of religious questions. The priest paid Kalki to bring back more of the magic beans. Kalki soon traveled up into the hills, but left his goats behind. They were eating into his profits.
The Dancing Goats of Ethiopia