The Spider Who Stole the Hyena's Skin

In the beginning, all animals had plain, boring hides. The Hyena was the first to get a beautiful patterned skin from the spirits, and he was very proud of it. The Spider, who was a known trickster (and often a rival to Leuk the Hare), was intensely jealous. The Spider invited the Hyena to a wrestling match in a field of sticky burrs. "It's too hot to wrestle with our skins on," the Spider said. "Let's take them off." The Hyena agreed. They both took off their skins and began to wrestle. The Spider, being nimble, made sure to constantly roll the Hyena in the sticky burrs. After the match, the Hyena's plain under-hide was covered in thousands of painful burrs. While the Hyena was distracted, painfully picking them off, the Spider stole the Hyena's beautiful patterned skin and ran away with it. The Hyena was left with a plain, ugly hide and the permanent discomfort of the burrs. This is why the hyena's coat looks patchy and dirty, and why it is forever trying to "get under the skin" of other animals—it is still trying to get its original, beautiful coat back from the deceitful Spider.