The Leopard and the King of Dahomey

When the Kingdom of Dahomey was founded, its first king had to prove his right to rule. He claimed he had the strength and cunning of the Leopard. The spirits told him he must prove it. He was tasked with spending a night in a small hut with a wild, captured Leopard. The king did not fight the Leopard. Instead, he brought with him two large gourds, one filled with palm wine and one with water. He gave the palm wine to the Leopard, who drank it greedily and soon fell into a deep, drunken sleep. The king then sat up all night, watching over the Leopard. In the morning, when the Leopard awoke with a terrible headache, the king gave him the gourd of cool water. The Leopard, seeing that the man had not harmed him while he was helpless but had instead offered him comfort, bowed its head in submission. The king had tamed the Leopard not with force, but with wisdom and hospitality. This act solidified the Leopard as the royal symbol of the Dahomean kings, representing not just power, but the intelligence required to control it.