Interactive Literature Selections The Cow Of No Color

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Nina Jaffe and Steve Zeitlin Henry Holt and Company, LLC. "A Cow of No Color" from THE COW OF NO COLOR: Riddle Stories and Justice Tales form Around the World by Nina Jaffe and Steve Zeitlin. Copyright 1998 by Nina Jaffe and Steve Zeitlin. Reprinted/recored by permisison of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.		During Reading Strategy Fill in a Chart Vocabulary from the Selection ponder Guided Reading Question 1 How does the chief feel when he hears about the wise woman Nunyala? Click to answer Guided Reading Question 2 What must Nunyala bring to the chief in three days’ time? Click to answer
Once among the Ewe people¹ of Ghana² there lived a wise woman named Nunyala. For miles around, people would come to her asking for advice, and she always found a way to help them. Her fame spread till it reached the ears of the chief, who became very jealous. He called her to the palace, and when she appeared, he said to her, through his spokesman: “I hear you are Nunyala, the wise woman.” “That may be, and that may not be,” she replied. “It is what some people say.” “If you are so wise,” said the chief, “surely I can ask you to do one simple thing for me.” “If it is simple or not,” she replied, “I will do my best.” “All you have to do to prove how wise you are,” the chief said to her, “is to bring me a cow.” Nunyala thought to herself: “A cow. That is not difficult. My village is full of cows.” And she was just about to leave when the chief added, “Now listen well. Yes, I wish you to bring me a cow. But this cow cannot be black, and it cannot be white. It cannot be brown, or yellow, or spotted, or striped. In fact, this cow cannot be of any color at all! Bring me a cow of no color in three days’ time—or you will be executed³ without delay!
Nunyala returned to her village and sat in her hut. She thought to herself: Should I be executed because some people say I am wise as the chief? Should I lose my own life for his jealousy? Is this a wise leader’s approach to justice? She had to answer the chief’s impossible request, but how?		Guided Reading Question 3 What does the chief want Nunyala to prove? Click to answer
Nunyala sat and thought for three days and three nights, and at the end of that time, she sent a child from her village to the chief with a message. The chief sat on his stool,⁴ waiting to hear what the child had to say. These were his words: “O Chief, Nunyala, the wise woman of our village, has sent me to repeat these words to you. This is her message. She has said, ‘I have your cow of no color. It is in my house. You can come and take it.		Guided Reading Question 4 For how long does Nunyala sit and think? Click to answer
“ ‘But don’t come in the morning. Don’t come in the evening. Don’t come at dawn. Don’t come at twilight. Don’t come at midnight. Don’t come any time. You can have your cow of no color—at no time at all!’ ” The boy turned and left the palace, while the chief sat speechless on his stool, to ponder the words of Nunyala, wise woman of the Ewe.		Guided Reading Question 5 Where does Nunyala say the cow of no color is? Click to answer

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