An explorer goes into a tribal village and is astonished to discover that his hut has an electric light. When he asks the chief how this is possible the chief explains that white men sold him and his people a mechanism for creating electricity and enough lights to give everyone in the village a light to read by. The device was powered by a large treadmill. However, the treadmill required constant attention to keep it working, and it would require a large number of people to keep it going enough to keep everyone in the village illuminated long into the night. The villagers got attached to the lights but got sick of having to use the treadmill every other day so the other half of the village could have light. So the chief explained how he hit upon a solution which he showed to the explorer. A hundred dogs occupied the treadmill, each with a stick attached to its back, and at the end of each stick dangled a bone which the hounds would chase constantly, thus powering the lights and ensuring that the villagers could have light all of the time.

"So you see," explained the chief, "Many hounds make light work."