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Alexander Kostinsky
The Little Tiger Who Said "R-R-R!"
The New Adventures
freebooksforkids.net
Illustrated by V.Sertsova
The Little Tiger
Who Said "R-R-R!"
CONTENTS
NOT VERY BIG ISLAND
IF I WAS AN ELEPHANT
THE STORY OF THE TADPOLE
A PECK
HOW THEY FOUND THE PARROT SOMETHING TO DO
WHO LIVES WHERE
HOW NICE IT IS, WHEN IT IS NICE
NOT VERY BIG ISLAND
This is the Tiger Cub.
And those are his friends.
And this is the island on which they all live.
And that’s not a ribbon. It would be a funny sort of ribbon wouldn’t it?!
It’s a road. The very road which the Tiger Cub takes every morning to visit his friends.
It’s nice to go visiting. You sit around talking and telling each other what’s new. And it doesn’t matter if there’s nothing new to tell. One can always talk about the island. Friends come together and talk. And the longer they talk the more they like their island.
Usually it’s the Tiger Cub who starts:
“In the first place”, says the Tiger Cub at those times, “our island isn’t very big, and that’s very good. Secondly, he says, “it’s not very small, and that’s also good. And thirdly, it’s very nice to go visiting on our island, and that’s not just good, but very, very, very good.” That’s what he says.
“Absolutely true”, the Monkey agrees with the Tiger Cub. “Just imagine”, she tells him, “that you are living not on an island like ours, but on a different one which is enormous. And you decide to visit me at the other end of the enormous island, because you want to know what I’m doing, and whether I’m alright. You walk for an hour. And then for another hour. You’ve been walking for two hours and, of course, you now want to eat or sleep. Or to eat and to sleep at the same time. And to get to me you still have to walk and walk. Then you are in a bad mood, but you don’t want to go back, because it’ll take you another two hours to return. You get so upset by all this, that you sit down by the road, stretch out your paws and sigh.
“You sigh so much”, the Monkey tells the Tiger Cub, “that — if you’re not very careful — you might cry”.
“And I don’t like crying at all”, smiles the Tiger Cub, “and that’s why let’s just be pleased that we live on a NOT VERY BIG ISLAND.
Although I have to tell you”, continues the Tiger Cub, “it’s not very interesting to live on a very small island either. It would be very boring if anyone you wanted to visit lived right next to you. So close that it wouldn’t be worth while to visit. You could simply stretch out your paw and pull his tail. That’s not what I call going visiting.”
“No, pulling a tail is not the same as visiting”, agree the Snail and the Tortoise. “In order to go visiting”, they say, “you have to walk a little. Because when you walk along without hurrying too much you always have some kind of an adventure or you meet somebody who needs your help.”
“Absolutely true”, the Elephant joins the conversation. “Once I met the Tiger Cub when he was walking along and he helped me. And now I’m always happy a-a-and enjoy life”, says the Elephant loudly and laughs.
He does it so noisily that everybody begins to smile, whether they want to or not. Especially because they all know how it was that the Tiger Cub helped the Elephant.
Everybody knows the story, which is called:
“IF I WAS AN ELEPHANT”.
and which you can read on the next page.
IF I WAS AN ELEPHANT
I don’t know what you do when you wake up on Mondays. When the Tiger Cub wakes up on a Monday, he first of all asks himself:
“What day is it today?”
“What d’you mean, what day?” he tells himself crossly. “What a silly question. Of course you know what day it is. You should be ashamed of yourself, Tiger Cub”. Then he pulls his own tail and asks:
“Remember now?” And in the very next moment he gives himself the answer: “I haven’t forgotten. It’s impossible to forget what day it is. I was only joking.”
“Today is Monday — a beautiful day”, he answers. “It’s beautiful because it’s the best day for visiting. Lots of things happen on Sundays, and of course the day to talk about them is a Monday. “And what if nothing much happens on a Sunday? What then?” thinks the Tiger Cub.
“It doesn’t matter, he reassures himself. “If nothing happens on Sunday it’s bound to happen during the next day. And the next day is today.”
“Hooray!” says the Tiger Cub in great delight. “Long live today!”
That is exactly what he did on the Monday about which we are Talking. He said “Hooray!” and took himself off without loosing any time on further thoughts.
The Tiger Cub had been on his way for a whole five minutes, and possibly for five and a half minutes. He was walking along when suddenly he saw the Elephant. It is generally difficult not to notice that an Elephant is lying in the middle of the road. But even if someone had tried not to notice the Elephant than he would most definitely have heard him. It was clear that the Elephant was upset by something and he was sighing extremely loudly.
“Oh-ho-ho!!” that’s how he sighed.
“He’s in a bad mood,” decided the Tiger Cub and tried to sound extra polite when he said:
“ Good morning. ”
The Elephant looked at the Tiger Cub, was silent for a while and then pronounced:
“MMMMGGGGGG.”
“Under the circumstances, ‘“MMMGGGGGG’” probably means ‘I’m very happy to see you, Tiger Cub’,” thought the Tiger Cub, and answered:
“I am also very pleased to see you."
Now the Tiger Cub had no doubts. “The Elephant is in trouble. And not some minor trouble but a big one, perhaps even an enormous one. Elephants have no other kind. That’s why they are Elephants. And when you have enormous troubles”, continued to think the Tiger Cub, “you can soon lose your appetite. And, before you know, you can lose other things as well.”
The Elephant sighed loudly and surprised the Tiger Cub by saying suddenly:
“It’s not true.”
“What’s not true?” the Tiger Cub was puzzled.
“It’s not true that you’re pleased. What’s there that’s pleasing and interesting to see in me? An Elephant like any other Elephant. A trunk, a tummy and four legs. It’s all the same. Nothing new. Boring and sad.”
“Something happened to you?” asked the Tiger Cub in a worried voice.
“That’s just it”, bitterly smiled the Elephant. “Nothing ever happens to me. What can happen to an Elephant? Who’ll dare to tease him or pull his tail? Nobody. Everybody knows it’s not a good idea to joke with an Elephant. Nobody jokes with me and I also don’t joke with anybody. I’m just sad. I am sad because I am an Elephant, and because...”
But the Elephant had no time to say why he is sad, because the Tiger Cub interrupted him.
“What are you talking about!” exclaimed the Tiger Cub. “You’ve absolutely no idea how super it is to be an Elephant. If I was an Elephant I would In the first place fly, and In the second..." “Wait", the Elephant stopped the Tiger Cub. “Let’s talk about ‘in the first place’. It would be interesting to hear how I could fly”.
“Very simply. You climb a tree, stretch out your ears, then jump and flap your ears like wings. Then you fly. And with the wind behind you, you don’t even have to use your cars, but simply soar like an eagle!” said the Tiger Cub and stretched out his paws to show exactly how the Elephant would waft in the air.
“That’s all very well, Tiger Cub", the Elephant scratched the back of his head with his trunk, “the ears, the wind and soaring like an eagle, but there is one small error in your flying method: I’ve never been able to climb trees.”
“That’s a mere trifle,” the Tiger Cub waved his paw. “Only yesterday I thought out a completely new method of climbing trees — especially for Elephants. You’re the first to hear it. To begin with you dig a little hole”, the Tiger Cub started explaining his method. “Then you take the fruit of the biggest tree which grows on our island, and then...”
“Why are you just sitting there?” the Tiger Cub suddenly interrupted himself... “Go on! Dig!”
And the Elephant obediently got up and started digging a hole under Tiger Cub’s guidance. Then he took a long time choosing the fruit from the biggest tree on the island. When he finally chose one he carefully placed it in the hole.
“There we are. It's practically ready”, sighed the Tiger Cub in relief. “There are only small details left to do. You have to make a small mound of earth on top of the hole and stand above it until an enormous tree grows underneath you. When it has grown to its full height you will be on top of it and you will be able to fly.”
“Then I have to stand and wait until the tree grows?!” asked the Elephant, and hugely surprised the Tiger Cub by laying himself over the little mound which he had so laboriously constructed.
“Stand and wait?” again repeated the Elephant.
“Of course”, nodded the Tiger Cub, “but then you’ll fly”.
“I’ll fly!!!! Ha! Ha! Hal” suddenly laughed the Elephant. “I’ll wait a thousand years until the tree grows and only then I’ll fly. You really are something, Tiger Cub”, the Elephant was shaking with laughter. “What a thing to think up! Stand and wait! You have made me laugh!” The Elephant stood up and ran away. “Thanks!” he shouted while running. “That’s a good joke!”
“Where are you running to?” the Tiger Cub tried to stop him.
“To Mrs. Elephant. I’ll have a joke on her. Let her also do some digging. Then we’ll both laugh”.
The Tiger Cub followed the Elephant with his eyes. He looked on as the Elephant’s enormous, wing-like ears flopped up and down. He looked and thought: “Some people have all the luck — they’re born Elephants. If I was an Elephant...”
***
The Tiger Cub enjoyed helping his friends. He helped some of them to build their homes. Others he helped with good advice, and he made up stories and fairs tales for everybody.
He helped the big ones like the Elephant, and the little ones like Tadpole. Now that you know how the Tiger Cub helped the Elephant, you will find out about the Tadpole on the next page.
THE STORY OF THE TADPOLE
One very hot day the Tortoise thought: “What could be better on such a hot afternoon than a nap on the bank of a cool lake? There can be nothing better,” she decided, as she lay down and went to sleep in the shade of a tree which grew on the edge of the lake.
She did not sleep long. At the beginning it seemed to her that somebody is calling somebody else. Then it seemed as if “somebody” is sobbing and sighing. And then she even thought that this “somebody” is the Tiger Cub.
“Is it possible that somebody is hurting my friend?” The Tortoise became worried in her dream and woke up. She woke up and saw the Tiger Cub who indeed seemed to be upset and worried.
“What’s the matter with you?” asked the Tortoise anxiously. “Are you ill?”
“Nothing’s the matter with me”, sighed the Tiger Cub. “I’m alright. Perhaps more than alright”, he said and then added unexpectedly. “As least, I was”.
“How d’you mean, ‘was’?”
“I mean just what I say”, answered the Tiger Cub. “It’s quite clear that when one person is more than alright, that another is less than alright. And then, the one who is more than alright becomes not altogether alright. That’s why I say ‘was’,” the Tiger Cub finished his speech.
“It’s all very muddled”, said the Tortoise, who had been listening very carefully, but managed to understand only that Something happened to Somebody “Tell me what happened. Give me a shot and concise answer”, said the Tortoise sternly.
“It happened with the Tadpole He’s vanished. And then it happened to me. I was very upset because the Tadpole vanished”.
“How did the Tadpole vanish?” asked the Tortoise incredulously.
"That’s just it”, the Tiger Cub stretched out his paws. “He simply vanished. Perhaps he got lost, or perhaps he perished, and possibly”, he sobbed, “he was swallowed by that cheeky Frog.”
“Don’t howl”, ordered the Tortoise, “but tell me everything from the beginning.”
“It was morning”, started the Tiger Cub. “A lovely morning. A simply wonderful morning. One could even say it was superb. The sun was shining, and not a cloud in the sky.”
“That much I know”, the Tortoise Interrupted the Tiger Cub’s story, “the morning was the same for everyone”.
“It was the same for us”, the Tiger Cub looked at the Tortoise reproachfully, “but it was quite different for the Tadpole. So there it is”, continued the Tiger Cub, “a beautiful morning. I’m sitting under a tree thinking ‘about whom shall I make up a fairy story on such a morning?’
And I decided to do a story about the Tadpole. ‘He’s so small and inconspicuous that anybody can hurt him. He will surely be very pleased if I make up a fairy tale about him’, I thought to myself and started making it up.
I was making it up for a very long time — at least five minutes, but possibly all of ten. I became tired, but I managed it. I thought out a fairy tale about how tiny little Tadpole woke up and found that he’s no longer a tiny little Tadpole but a great big Fuke Birbidok”.
“What on earth is a Fuke Birbidok??!” exclaimed the Tortoise.
“Now that’s exactly what the Frog asked me”, sighed the Tiger Cub.
“What has the Frog got to do with it?” said the Tortoise totally confused. She had by now stopped understanding anything at all.
“The Frog has to do with it”, explained the Tiger Cub, “because when I came to the lake and started calling:
‘Tadpole! Tadpole!’ the Frog swam up instead of the Tadpole. ‘Why d’you need the Tadpole?’ she asked. ‘Because, I thought out a fairy tale’, I told her, ‘about him turning into a beautiful Fuke Birbldok’. Then that Frog said to me: ‘Why does the Tadpole need some kind of a Fuke if he can turn into a wonderful green Frog?’ I was of course extremely cross when I heard this.
‘Don’t you try teaching me how to make up fairy tales!’ I shouted at the Frog. ‘You’re not a story teller’. I turned my back on her and went away. I went away without even saying ‘goodbye’”. The Tiger Cub finished his story and looked at the Tortoise expectantly, waiting to hear what she would say.
But the Tortoise said nothing. She was silent.
She was trying to stay silent as hard as she could, but it was very difficult, because she wanted to laugh. But she could not laugh because she knew she might offend the Tiger Cub.
In the end the Tortoise stopped being silent. She took a deep breath and said:
“The Frog was right. When they grow up, Little Tadpoles always turn into green Frogs. Always”, repeated the Tortoise to sound more convincing.
When he heard this, the Tiger Cub sat down on his hind legs and shook his head in confusion.
“And what’ll I become when I grow up? A Hippopotamus perhaps?”
“Why a Hippopotamus?” laughed the Tortoise, who could no longer keep herself from laughing. “You do make me laugh! Hippopotamus indeed! You’ll not become a Hippopotamus. When Tiger Cubs grow up they become big Tigers.”
“Big Tigers?” repeated the Tiger Cub.
“Yes”, nodded the Tortoise. “Big”. “But, tell me”, she asked the Tiger Cub, who was lost in thought, “what is a Fuke Birbidok?”
The Tiger Cub looked up attentively, shook his shoulders and said:
“It no longer has any meaning. Only the Tadpole could have changed into her”.
***
Yes. The Tiger Cub misfired with the Tadpole, but sometimes his advice was very good and helped many others. That’s what the next two stories are about.
A PECK
One day the Tiger Cub was walking along the road. He went on and on ant suddenly saw a notice. A very large notice. It was written on a piece of paper and was hanging on a tree. It read:
“I, the Parrot, invite solutions to a riddle. Those who can solve it will get a very very nice sweet, and those who can’t will get a peck”.
The Parrot, who was the author of notice, sat in the tree above it. He held on to the tree with one claw and in the other he clutched the sweet.
When he saw the Tiger Cub the Parrot started jabbering:
“Hello Tiger Cub! Tiger Cub Hello: Want a sweetie?! A sweetie you want?! Ve-e-ry ni-ice...”
The Tiger Cub rubbed his forehead, decided that he can do without the sweet, and hurried on his way.
“Hey!” shouted the Parrot after him. “Where’re you off to? Where...?"
But the Tiger Cub could no longer hear him. The Tiger Cub was running. He was in a hurry to go to the Little Monkey because the Monkey loved sweets more than anything else in the world. And if she had already been to see the Parrot... then poor Little Monkey...
“Oooph!” panted Tiger Cub, who was completely out of breath when he finally arrived by the little house where the Monkey lived. The house was inside a hollow of a big tree.
The Tiger Cub stood on the tips of his toes and knocked. Nobody answered from inside the house, but from somewhere quite near he heard:
“Why break the door?”
“I’m not breaking it”. The Tiger Cub turned round and saw the Little Monkey sitting not far away. She was crouching next to a small puddle — her favourite mirror.
“It’s so convenient”, she said often, “to have such a beautiful mirror. Others constantly carry their mirrors in their handbags or in their pockets and are for ever losing them. But I never do. It’s always in the right place and never gets dusty. It’s very convenient as long as it doesn’t dry up”.
The Little Monkey was sitting by that very mirror.
“Hello, Little Monkey”, said the Tiger Cub and went towards the puddle. “I’ve come to see you and to find out how you are”.
“I’m alright, thank you”, answered the Monkey and turned towards the Tiger Cub. “I’ve just thought out a new ornament for myself. D’you think it becomes me?”
Only then did the Tiger Cub notice that the Monkey had a criss cross of plaster over a lump on her forehead. There was no doubt — the Monkey had been to see the Parrot and received a hard peck. Poor Monkey!
“I don’t think it’s an ornament”, said the Tiger Cub. “I think it could be called Little Monkey with a sweet tooth”.
“D’you know”, sobbed the Monkey, “he’s got a really lovely sweet, which is called caramel. One can suck it for half a day. It’s also possible to move it from one cheek to the other, and then it seems that you have not one but two caramels. It is a wonderful sweet”, the Little Monkey sobbed again and touched her bump.
“It hurts?” the Tiger Cub stroked the Monkey.
“It hurts”. The Little Monkey put her head on her friend’s shoulder.
The Tiger Cub was sorry for the Monkey and thought a bit.
“What has happened to our Parrot? He used to be a perfectly good Parrot and now something has spoiled him. Let’s go!” said the Tiger Cub decisively.
“Where to?!” said the Monkey quite surprised.
“To the Parrot. He’s got to be put right”.
“And you know how to do it?”
“Not yet”, admitted the Tiger Cub, “but we’ll think of something when we’re there. Let’s go!” And the friends went to the tree on which hung the notice.
The Parrot sat on a high branch and shouted as loud as he could:
“What a wonderful sweet! Nobody minds risking their forehead for such a sweet. Anyone would give anything for such a sweet!”
“Eh!” called out the Tiger Cub to the Parrot, “come on down!”
“The Tiger Cub’s come back!” screamed the Parrot. “Clever old thing I’ve always said that the Tiger Cub is no simpleton. I’ve always said that a simpleton is not a Tiger Cub, because the Tiger Cub knows about sweets, and one small lump on his forehead will only make him prettier! Ver-r-ry much prettier!”
“Don’t you try to frighten me with lumps, but tell me your riddle.”
“Of course, if you like. Immediately", and the Parrot flew down and noticed the Monkey, who had been standing in the shade.
“Ah! An old acquaintance!” shouted out the Parrot. “D’you want another little lump? No? Pity. Perhaps you’d like a caramel instead?”
“I don’t need your caramel. Let’s go away!” said the Monkey pulling the Tiger Cub by the tail.
“It’s not the caramel I care about", whispered the Tiger Cub to the Monkey, “it’s the Parrot”.
“Are you going to tell me the riddle, or are you going to give me the sweet?” asked the Tiger Cub standing next to the Parrot.
“How d’you mean ‘give’. I shan't give it just like that”, and the Parrot moved a little further away. “Listen to the riddle: ‘What is this lovely thing which one am put anywhere at all and inside which you can put anything at all. It’s now either ten steps to the left or ten steps to the right, but I shan’t tell you exactly where. Can you tell me what it is?”
“That’s it”, said the Monkey touching her bump, “Ten to the left and ten to the right. That’s exactly what he's asked me. Let’s go,” she suggested again.
But the Tiger Cub was not listening He had already made his decision and knew what he was going to do.
“Come on, Parrot, let’s part in peace”, said the Tiger Cub. “Give the sweet to the Monkey, promise that you’ll stop pecking everybody, and consider that I have not heard your riddle.”
“Haven’t heard?” the Parrot was furious and started swinging his wings. “Answer at once! Otherwise I will give you a peck!”
“Alright”, the Tiger Cub stopped the Parrot. “In the first place, the thing you’re talking about is not ten steps to the left and even not ten steps to the right, because the length of our steps is quite different. Secondly, if you think properly about it, the thing is not at all beautiful. IT IS — SO, SO — JUST AN ORDINARYTRIFLE.”
“How can you say it’s a trifle”, the Parrot was taken aback. “It’s the most beautiful folding drinking glass in the world. The most perfect. You can’t think of a better. And you say, so, so.”
“Just the same I don’t agree with you”, said the Tiger Cub decisively. “Your cup doesn’t seem to me to be a beautiful thing. Anyway we have solved your riddle. We’ve solved it with your help and the sweet is ours anyway. Here!” and the Tiger Cub took the sweet from the confused Parrot and gave it at once to the Monkey. The Parrot was so shaken and surprised by what has happened that he opened his beak and waved his wings about from time to time. It was too much: he had solved his riddle himself. He himself said that the thing he was hiding was a folding cup.
The Parrot waved his wings about for a long time while the Tiger Cub and the Monkey walked along the path. They were going to meet new adventures and new stories.
The Little Monkey divided the sweet in half, and now the Tiger Cub also had a caramel behind his cheek. He kept moving it from side to side so that it seemed to him that he had not one caramel behind his cheek, but two.
“It’s true”, thought the Tiger Cub. “This caramel is a delicious sweet. One wouldn’t even mind a peck on the forehead to get a sweet like that.”
HOW THEY FOUND THE PARROT SOMETHING TO DO
The next morning, soon after sunrise, the Parrot came to see the Tiger Cub.
“I’m cross with you”, he growled.
“In the first place let’s say, good morning”, said the Tiger Cub rubbing his eyes.
“Good morning, in the second place, and in the first place I’m cross with you”, repeated the Parrot.
And the Tiger Cub decided that it will be better not to argue with him, but he still couldn’t understand why the Parrot was cross with him.
“Explain”, he said to the Parrot, “why are you cross?”
“Because”, answered the Parrot, “you called my folding cup an ordinary trifle. And it’s not an ordinary ‘trifle’, and the Parrot showed the little cup to the Tiger Cub. “It can be folded and unfolded, and you can pour anything you like into it. Jam, fizzy water and ice cream... Anything you like.”
The Tiger Cub looked the folding cup over very carefully and finally said: “Yes. You’re right. Your cup is not just an ordinary trifle. It’s really a beautiful thing. That’s why it seems so strange me that, having such a beautiful thin, you do something foolish.”
“Foolish?” the Parrot was offended “Next you’ll be saying that I am a fool.
“No”, the Tiger Cub shook his head. Tm not saying that, but if I had a beak like yours and a cup, I’d do something special.”
“Something special?”
“Yes! For example I’d use the little cup to eat twenty portions of ice cream every day, so that I’d get used to the cold. Then I’d become a real Penguin.”
“Why should I want to be a Penguin?”
“If you became a Penguin you could at once take yourself to the Antarctic! You could jump from the ice-floes onto the sharks and peck them with your beak. The Penguins would elect you to be their leader and they would call you ‘Parrot — the Terror of the Sharks’.”
The Parrot imagined himself flying over the ocean and how, when the sharks saw him, they would all turn over onto their backs and lift up their fins to beg for mercy.
“Have mercy on us, oh Parrot, Terror of the Sharks”.
But you can’t fool a Parrot. He knows that these sharks are both cunning and treacherous. He, the Parrot, does not show mercy. He pecks the sharks with his beak and they drop like stones to the bottom of the sea.
“I’ll definitely become a Penguin.” The Parrot puffed himself up proudly and rubbed his beak first with the left wing and then with the right.
“I’m the Terror of the Sharks! The Terror of the Sharks — that’s me," he said importantly. “You’re most probably right. It’s really a wonderful thing to do — being a Terror, so let’s go to see Mrs. Elephant and eat ice cream.”
“Let’s”, agreed the Tiger Cub and they went to see Mr. and Mrs. Elephant.
The Elephants’ house stood on a hill. The Elephants themselves lived in the right hand side of the house and on the left hand side was the shop. Here Mrs. Elephant sold sweets, ribbons, bicycles, hats, balloons and, of course, ice-cream.
But she was not in the shop. She was in the right hand side of the house, in the kitchen.
When she saw the Tiger Cub and the Parrot she gave them a broad smile and said:
“Good morning. Do come in. I’ll be ready in a moment.”
The Parrot and the Tiger Cub came into the room, sat down on some chair and watched Mrs. Elephant with great interest. She was doing something which was both serious and difficult. In any event it was for Mrs. Elephant. She was trying to crack some nuts. But although she tried very hard to break then into two neat halves, when she hit them they changed into a tiny cloud of dust.
In the end the Parrot couldn’t stand It any longer, and said: “Let me!”
He gave one hard peck of his large beak and the nut opened neatly.
“Stupendous!” exclaimed Mrs. Elephant, "You have a great talent, Parrot!”
“Possibly I have. But in this case it’s not important. What is important is that I need twenty portions of ice cream.’
“You’re going to have twenty visitors?” Mrs. Elephant wanted to know “Is it your birthday?”
“Possibly”, the Parrot nodded, “it is a birthday. Possibly a Penguin will be born today.”
“Yes”, confirmed the Tiger Cub.
“I’m sure a Penguin will be born.”
“I don’t understand”, Mrs. Elephant was puzzled. “What sort of Penguin, and where will he be born?”
“Here”, said the Tiger Cub and pointed at the Parrot. “He’ll eat twenty portions of ice cream and will turn into a Penguin. He will then go to the Antarctic and become the Terror of the Sharks”.
Mrs. Elephant put on her glasses and carefully inspected the Parrot and the Tiger Cub. Then she cleared her throat and said:
“When you, Tiger Cub, made my husband dig a hole it was a very useful thing to do. Even when my husband made me dig a hole it was a useful thing to do because physical work and laughter are good for the health. And that’s needed even by Elephants.
But if you advise the Parrot to eat twenty portions of ice cream, it’s not a useful thing to do. Because the Parrot will find himself not in the Antarctic, but in hospital. He will have a very sore throat.”
“I never thought about a sore throat,” admitted the Tiger Cub.
“What am I going to do then?” The Parrot was upset. “I have such a beautiful cup and such a strong beak, but I have nothing useful to do. There’s nothing to do, but the beak and the cup are there.”
“Nonsense”, said Mrs. Elephant. “I have something for you to do. You’ll crack nuts and put them in the cup. And I’ll put the nuts into ice cream. You and I win make ICE CREAM WITH NUTS. I think it’s a WONDERFUL thing to do”.
“I think so too,” nodded the Tiger Cub and watched the Parrot cracking nuts. He watched and thought:
“It’s a pity that the Parrot didn’t go to the Antarctic to become the Terror of the Sharks”.
***
That’s how with the help of Mrs. Elephant the Tiger Cub helped the Parrot. The Tiger Cub helped many... But once... Once he helped everybody.
WHO LIVES WHERE
It so happened that once the Tiger Cub thought to himself: “I haven’t visited the Little Monkey today. I have not seen her for A WHOLE DAY. With a fidget like the Monkey an awful lot can happen in A WHOLE DAY.
“Now if”, thought the Tiger Cub, “she had an exact address, I would sent her a letter:
‘Monkey! How are you? Please answer me.
Tiger Cub’.
And if I had an exact address, she would also write me a letter:
I’m alright. Waiting for you to come and visit me.
Monkey’.
Things being as they are I’ll have to go to the end of our island. And the worst of it is that this fidget is not likely to be at home.
“Yes”, thought the Tiger Cub, “it’s bad when there is no exact address”.
And suddenly a brilliant idea came into the Tiger Cub’s head. It was such a brilliant idea that the Tiger Cub exclaimed:
“Hooray! Now both the Monkey and I’ll have an exact address”.
The Tiger Cub decided to count all thе trees which grow on the way from his house to the house of the Monkey. Then it will be possible to write on a letter:
“End of the island. Tree number five, seven or eleven. Possibly six. Monkey will have to find out”. Having made this discovery the Tiger Cub went to work without delay. First of all he went to the tree under which he lived himself. After all, he had to see what was the number of that tree. The Tiger Cub was amazed when he found that it was tree number one.
“How odd!” he thought surprised. “It appears that I am living UNDER THE FIRST TREE”. But his surprise did not last for long, because there were a lot more trees in front of him, and he had to count them all.
“One! Two! Three! Four!”, counted the Tiger Cub. “Five!..” The fifth tree grew by the lake, where the Crocodile lived.
“Good morning, Tiger Cub”, said the Crocodile and smiled.
“Don’t you think my smile has become even broader than before”, he asked.
“Yes, even broader”, said the Tiger Cub without stopping. “You’ve a charming smile, but don’t interrupt me now. I am finding out where everybody lives”.
“But you know where everyone lives”, the Crocodile was surprised. “We all live together on our island”.
“I’ll explain it all to you later,” promised the Tiger Cub and went on counting the trees.
“Six! Seven! Eight! Nine!” counted the Tiger Cub and suddenly saw the tree on which sat the Monkey.
“Hello there!” exclaimed the Tiger Cub happily. “D’you know I have only just found out your exact address. You live AT THE END OF OUR ISLAND UNDER THE TENTH TREE, and I live AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF OUR ISLAND UNDER THE FIRST TREE. And the Crocodile lives IN THE MIDDLE, UNDER THE FIFTH TREE. Now we can write letters to each other.”
“It’s lovely to write letters,” said the Monkey, “but your addresses ARE NOT QUITE CORRECT. It’s possible that the Crocodile really lives IN THE MIDDLE, but it’s you who live AT THE VERY END and I live AT THE VERY BEGINNING. You’ve made a mistake.”
“I haven’t made a mistake,” the Tiger Cub was upset. “I do live AT THE VERY BEGINNING. I’ve only just found out about it.”
“I don’t know what you’ve just found out”, snorted the Monkey, “but I’m sure of one thing: when I go to see you, you don’t live AT THE BEGINNING, but AT THE END”.
“You’ve got it all mixed up”, the Tiger Cub did not give in. “You live AT THE VERY END OF OUR ISLAND UNDER THE TENTH TREE”.
“And I say, you do”.
“You simply don’t want to write letters,” said the Tiger Cub crossly.
“So now it’s I who don’t!” the Monkey was now cross as well. “For all you know I love writing letters more than anything in the whole world. It could be my greatest secret wish. Only, it’s I who live AT THE VERY BEGINNING.
“Ooph!” sighed the Tiger Cub. “It’s impossible to change your mind, Little Monkey. Let’s go to the Crocodile who lives IN THE MIDDLE UNDER THE FIFTH TREE and we can ask him who’s right”.
“Let’s,” agreed the Monkey and they went to see the Crocodile together.
They walked to the Crocodile and counted all the trees on their way.
“One! Two! Three! Four! Five!”, counted the Tiger Cub and the Monkey.
“Five”, said the Tiger Cub, but to his enormous surprise, he did not find the Crocodile under the fifth tree. And that tree did not grow by the lake... but the sixth tree stood just by the edge of the water and Tiger Cub’s green friend, the Crocodile was lying under it.
“I don’t understand anything,” mumbled the Tiger Cub totally confused. “Just a moment ago this tree WAS THE FIFTH and now it’s the SIXTH.”
“This is neither THE FIFTH OR THE SIXTH tree. You’re not counting properly, Tiger Cub — this is THE FIRST TREE.”
“It can’t be the first,” jabbered the Monkey. “It’s THE SIXTH. We’ve only just counted. And it’s I who live under THE FIRST TREE.”
“No, I do,” disagreed the Crocodile. “I do,” didn’t give in the Monkey. The Tiger Cub became very hot from all these arguments. He even thought that he is getting ill and that his head is going round and round.
“No more of this,” said the Tiger Cub. “I’m going swimming,” and he dived into the lake.
Dived in and swam.
Swam and came up again.
And by the time he came up for the second time he had it all worked out.
“Hooray!” shouted the Tiger Cub coming out of the lake. “You, Crocodile, are not right. You don’t live at THE VERY BEGINNING OF OUR ISLAND; you live IN THE CENTRE, IN THE MIDDLE, and we live AT DIFFERENT ENDS. We have to agree WHERE IS THE BEGINNING OF THE ISLAND AND WHERE IS THE END.”
“Where I live is THE BEGINNING OF THE ISLAND,” announced the Monkey.
“And I suggest,” said the Tiger Cub, “that we should consider THE BEGINNING to be the place where the Snail lives. Не is so small and unassuming, and he'll probably like living UNDER THE FIRST TREE. He’ll like it even more than we do.”
The Little Monkey was silent for a few minutes thinking about the Tiger Cub’s suggestion. Then she sighed and said:
“I agree. Let the Snail live UNDER THE FIRST TREE. The most important thing is that I’ll at last be able to write letters.”
“I’ll also write letters. First I’ll write to you, Little Monkey, and then to the Tiger Cub", said the Crocodile and smiled.
“You do have an amazing smile”, said the Tiger Cub to the Crocodile and, having waved his paw to say goodbye, he took himself off TO THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE ISLAND.
***
He walked and thought about the Snail. And he thought as well that it seemed to him that he now knows why the Crocodile sometimes lives under the fifth tree and sometimes under the sixth.
“It all depends from which tree I start,” thought the Tiger Cub, “whether it’s mine or the Monkey’s but it’s better to start from my tree. First of all it’s nearer, and secondly five is a very good number. A simply excellent number.”
HOW NICE IT IS, WHEN IT IS NICE
The Tiger Cub walked to the Snail. He walked and thought that he will come and say:
“Congratulations, Snail. You now have an address. You live AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE ISLAND — UNDER THE FIRST TREE. And we can write letters to each other.”
“That’s nice,” the Snail will answer. And I’ll also answer: “Of course it’s nice.” And he will say: “How nice it is when it’s nice.” The Tiger Cub found the Snail, as always, in his usual place on a green blade of grass under a tree.
“Hello, Snail,” said the Tiger Cub, “I must tell you some good news. You live AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF OUR ISLAND, UNDER THE FIRST TREE. You now have an exact address. I’ll be able To write you letters, and you’ll be able to answer me. And I also want to tell you that you were absolutely right when you said: 'How nice it is when it’s nice’ ".
“I said that?” the Snail was surprised. “I haven’t said anything of the kind. If I did say anything it would be ‘how bad it is when it’s bad’. I could’ve said that.”
“Why bad?” the Tiger Cub said puzzled.
“Why, why. Because I’ve been giving my house a thorough clean today.” “Well that’s surely nice!” exclaimed the Tiger Cub. “Now you’ll have everything in thorough order”.
“Yes, there is order,” sighed the Snail, “but during the cleaning I found my favourite umbrella, which I had long ago given up for lost” “Well! It doesn’t happen every day that you find your favourite umbrella. And not just a favourite one, but one that you had given up for lost. Surely that’s as nice as nice can be!” exclaimed the Tiger Cub.
“You’re saying ‘nice-nice’ all the time like the Parrot,” said the Snail crossly. “I’m telling you it’s not nice at all. The umbrella’s full of holes. Just look!"
The Tiger Cub took the umbrella from the Snail and opened it. Through the small holes in the umbrella thin rays of sun light fell on to the grass. The Tiger Cub spun the umbrella and the rays began to run. They ran and flew over the trees, the flowers, the grass and over the small Snail, and over she Tiger Cub too.
They flew and circled around, and even thing circled with them.
“I know!” joyfully exclaimed the Tiger Cub. “You’ve made a mistake. You didn’t find an umbrella for rain. You found an UMBRELLA FOR SUNSHINE. A REAL SUNSHINE UMBRELLA.”
“A SUNSHINE UMBRELLA,” repeated the Snail. “Really,” he smiled. “Who’d have thought it. It’s an excellent SUNSHINEUMBRELLA.”
“There you are,” laughed the Tiger Cub. “You see, when it’s nice, it is nice. You’ve been right all along.”
“Yes,” agreed the Snail and crawled onto the Tiger Cub’s shoulder. “Let’s go,” said the Tiger Cub. “Let’s go,” said the Snail and they went off to count the trees. They were going to find out who lives where.
***
That is how everybody on the not very big island received an exact address.
The Tiger Cub has one too.
The Tiger Cub loves to receive letters. And he will be very happy if you write to him. Very-very happy. Word of honour!
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