Who Lied? (from Saudi Arabia)

Long ago in the beginning, a Beduin tribe - some say it was the Beni Zeid - was looking for new pasture, having used up all its water and grazing land. To scout the countryside around them they released the crow, the partridge, and the dove. The three birds flew off together. But in a short time the crow was back with the sad news that as far as he could fly, there was only more desert with not a stalk or blade of grass for the cattle to feed on. Later the other two birds returned, and what they had seen was the opposite: lush grazing grounds with plenty of water. "So soft is the grass there," they said, "that a newborn babe treading on it would hurt the blades."

Not knowing which of the two reports was true, the tribe moved to the place the partridge and the dove had described. They found that the crow was the false one, and for that they painted him black as his lie. The dove and partridge they rewarded, staining the feet of one festive red with henna and lining the eyes of the other with kohl. To this day the dove walks on pink feet and the partridge's eye is ringed with black.