More than 150 years ago, the New York Herald newspaper sent Sir Henry Morton Stanley, the famous Welsh-American explorer/journalist/soldier, to Africa in search of Dr. David Livingstone, the even-more-famous Scottish physician/missionary.

 

The task was challenging, because Livingstone had so bonded with the African people, he did not regularly provide information regarding his whereabouts. And the search was arduous, given the expanse of Central Africa and the rustic nature of Stanley’s provisions.

 

Not surprisingly, Stanley wandered high and low all across the region. He became so intrigued by a sight he saw over and over, he almost forgot the purpose of his mission.

 

Every time Stanley crossed a shallow-water ford of the Ruzizi River — which feeds Lake Tanganyika, where he eventually found Dr. Livingstone — he saw from a distance a man who looked distinctly British but was dressed in a loincloth and accompanied by a chimpanzee. And time after time after time, the man crouched on the riverbank, brush in hand, painting black stripes on white zebras.

 

Intrigued, Stanley tried to get close enough to talk to the man, who always quickly ascended a tree and swung away on vines. Stanley estimated this happened close to 50 times, and the same thing happened over and over: The man painted stripes on zebras. Stanley tried to approach. The man swung away.

 

Finally, at his wits’ end, Stanley finally did the logical thing: He asked his guide about this strange phenomenon.

 

“Every time we cross the Ruzizi River at this ford, that strange man is always painting stripes on zebras,” Stanley said. “Who is he, and why is he doing that?”

 

Stanley’s guide thought the answer was obvious, but he realized this part of the world was entirely new to the explorer. So, he patiently explained.

 

“That strange man with the chimp is Tarzan,” the guide said. “He is here today, and he will be here tomorrow. In fact, he will be here every tomorrow after that, because Tarzan stripes forever.”

 

 

• This joke bounced around the halls of a Texas high school almost 50 years ago.