Crime and punishment

Later on I put it to them
[members of the Turkana tribe of Kenya]
that the earth was round.
They thought that a funny idea,
but when I persisted
they simply found me tedious.
On a similar evening
I saw a satellite arcing across the sky.
Since to them all the stars were on the same plane,
they found the satellite exciting,
as it was obviously bound to collide
with another star sooner or later.
With their flair for rationalization
they exclaimed at each near miss,
and when it vanished intact
they looked forward eagerly
for the next one to appear.
I tried to explain that the satellite
was in fact circling the earth,
which was round.
This raised a laugh or two.
Really, this white man could be quite entertaining.
Then I said that the satellite was not a star,
but an object thrown up there by Americans or Russians,
peculiar people who lived far away,
near the edge of the earth,
and that it contained either a man or a dog.
They considered that an excellent form of punishment,
but were curious about people
who found it necessary to punish a dog so elaborately.

               Alistair Graham, Eyelids of Morning