Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 March 1899 — Arab and the Ostrich. [ARTICLE]

Arab and the Ostrich.

The Arabs have a curious legend to account for the ostrich’s residence in the desert On a certain appointed day, 6o the story runs, all created beings met together to decide upon their respective order and precedence. All went smoothly until the ostrich, pleading its Inability to fly, disowned the birds, and claimed to take rank with tbe mammals. These, however, would have nothing to say to a creature clothed not with fur, but with feathers; while the birds, when It went dejectedly back, repudiated it also as a traitor to its race. The ostrich, however, was equal to the occasion, and declared' that, being neither mammal nor bird, it must be an angel; whereupon all tbe other animals indignantly rushed upon it and drove it before them into the desert, where It has lived in solitude ever since, with no one to contradict it.