Once upon a time, the dogs had a dinner party to which all dogs were invited: big, small, middle-sized, black, brown, gray, and even blue; dogs with long tails, short tails, and no tails. Every kind of dog was there at the party.

The dinner was an elaborate affair. The menu had been decided days ago and everything was cooked to perfection. The food was set out upon the rocks by the sea. A sparkling little brook brought water to drink. The sun was shining, but not too brightly. A gentle breeze blew. Everything was perfect.

Fault finder

Among the dogs was a cross, fussy one. She was a yellow dog and always found fault with everything. She complained that there was too little to eat or too much. She complained the food was either too hot or too cold. Sometimes, she said the hot food was not hot enough and the cold food was not cold enough and that it caused indigestion. She was never happy with the food.

However, at this party, everything was right. There was not too much to eat or too little. The hot food was hot enough and the cold food cold enough.

A big black dog said happily, “How good everything tastes.”

A white-and-black spotted dog said between mouthfuls, “Yes, and everything is seasoned just right.”

The fussy yellow dog heard this and was unhappy. Immediately she said, “Will someone pass me the pepper? My bone is not seasoned with pepper.”

All the dogs jumped up and scampered here and there searching for the pepper. They searched high and low, but there was no pepper at the party.

“I can’t eat another mouthful without pepper,” whined the yellow dog.

Finding pepper

She was making such a to-do and spoiling the fun for the other dogs at the party that one dog said, “I’ll go to the city and get some pepper.” But no one saw which dog said this.

The dogs at the party waited and waited for the dog to bring the pepper. They waited a whole day and night. The dog never came back. They never knew what became of him. Since no one knew who had said it, no one knew which dog had gone looking for pepper.

So whenever two dogs meet, they sniff at each other. If one of them smells of pepper, then that is the dog that went to the city to get the pepper.

Folktales are an oral tradition with stories being handed down across generations. The stories are not necessarily true.