Ancient art comes alive with modern voices Modern people see the ancient artwork and tell stories about it. The Tuareg people of the Sahara tell a story that explains how the giraffe came to be the daughter of the sun and a sand dune. The Tuareg believe that the first Tuareg people painted the giraffe on a rock so that everyone could greet the daughter of the sun and the sand dune. Read the story below, or choose an option if you would like to hear the story as told by Nailah Malik. 717 K Quicktime Audio file 246 K Shockwave Audio file ---------- One day the sun drank up all the waters of the Sahara, and a young sand dune appeared. Naked, soft and golden, she spoke timidly: "Sun, how handsome you are, with golden arms to rock me! How good you smell, with sky perfumes to warm me! How the honey of your heart will feed my heart!" The sun heard the love in the sand dune's voice. He saw her blond head resting on golden cushions and her breasts pointed toward him. "Dune, you are the most beautiful sultana of the sand," he said. His kiss turned her to flame. But when the sun left the sky the dune cried out, "Sun, why do you abandon me to the cold night?" Irritated, the sun veiled his mouth with clouds. Finally, he replied, "I leave you with my first wife, the moon, and our slaves, the stars, so why do you complain?" The dune answered, "I want a child to keep me company when you are gone." Then the sun embraced the dune, and in time she grew larger. One beautiful morning the sand dune called to the sun, "Look at our daughter!" Overjoyed, he replied, "She has the mark of my fire hands on her body. We will call her giraffe." When the giraffe grew old enough to live without her mother, the sun wanted to take her away. But the dune refused, saying, "Your breath will burn her to ashes." Enraged, the sun grabbed the child's head while the dune held on to her legs. They stretched the giraffe until her neck was so long she could reach dates on the tallest tree.