The origin of death
Many African cultures possess myths that explain the origin of death: for the Zulus, the Creator sent the chameleon Unawabu to tell humanity that it would not die, and Intulo, the lizard, to tell it the opposite. The chameleon took a very long time to arrive, but the lizard arrived very quickly, so its message got there first. The Hottentot version tells how the moon sent an insect to say: "As I die and dying live again, so shall they do." On the way the insect encountered the hare. Upon hearing its errand, the hare said that it ran faster and that it would go instead. Upon arriving at the earth, it told humanity that the moon’s message was: "As I die and dying perish, so shall you die and come to your end." When the hare returned and told the moon the message it had delivered, the moon grew angry and struck it on the muzzle. Since then the hare’s lip has been split in two; nevertheless, humans continued to believe what the hare had said.