Amazing Animals in Art PRAISE POEMS Leopard (1) It is the yellow leopard with spots Yellow leopard of the cliffs It is the leopard of the broad cheeks Yellow leopard of the broad face: "I do not fear The black and white one; I get into a small tree Bend down and scalp to the eyebrows; Clawer am I, I dig my claws in the pate So that the enemies I leave behind say 'This was not one leopard; rather, ten of them!' " Mr. Claws, scratch yourself! Even for a big man, it's no disgrace to yell if clawed. . . . It is full of blood, it has got the liver Leopard of Bolea. Yellow leopard of the great Maloba clan . . . Grand old man Even when it can no longer bite It still butts its enemies out of the way with its forehead. (Sotho)   Leopard (2) Gentle hunter his tail plays on the ground while he crushes the skull. Beautiful death who puts on a spotted robe when he goes to his victim. Playful killer whose loving embrace splits the antelope's heart. (Yoruba)   "Leopard (1)" and "Leopard (2)" from Leaf and Bone: African Praise-Poems, edited by Judith Gleason, pp. 128-29. Copyright © 1980, 1994 by Judith Gleason. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc.