A Leopard Tamed: 50th Anniversary Edition

Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers
ISBN: 9781683071341
Type: paperback

The story of A Leopard Tamed is set in Nasir, a tiny village on the
banks of the Sobat River in the Sudan. It reads like the story of
another world, of another time—but it is very much of our world,
our time. The author is an American missionary who lived with
the Nuer tribe in Nasir for thirteen years. A Leopard Tamed is the
vivid, exciting description of what those years were like for her.
Eleanor became friendly with Kuac, a small boy whose burning
ambition was “to do the work of God.” He proved invaluable in
helping her. He taught her his language, which enabled her to
translate the Bible for the Nuer people for the first time. After she
discovered he was a born teacher, he even led Bible classes for
her.
Although Kuac is the central figure in this engrossing narrative, it
is also the story of the whole Nuer tribe. This book stirs the reader
with strange tribal customs—such as the brutal rites initiating
young boys into manhood;a typical native wedding;detailed
description of housing, cooking, child-bearing, and so on. The
author transports us to a land “that lies flat on its back, rolled
out like a pie crust and crisscrossed with a network of footpaths
linking village to village. The path is the highway in this land,
covering hundreds and hundreds of miles, the imprint of a people
who walk in order to communicate and who must communicate
in order to live.”