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Alexander Kostinsky
The Little Tiger Who Said "R-R-R!"
freebooksforkids.net
Illustrated by G.Yasinsky
CONTENTS
THE LITTLE TIGER Who Said "R-R-R!"
STROLLING WITH THE CLOUDS
THE PARROT
SIDE BY SIDE
THE SECRET
THE PUZZLE
BIRTHDAY
THE SURPRISE
THE NAME
ANOTHER SURPRISE
FOR THE ONE WHOM WE MEET ON OUR WAY
THE LITTLE TIGER Who Said "R-R-R!"
Once upon a time there was a Little Tiger. He was only a Baby Tiger, a Tiger Cub, and he mostly stayed in bed. But, one day, he got up, stood around for a while and... walked...
He walked and walked until he came to a tree and saw a Little Monkey sitting on one of its branches. She was making a sign of horns at somebody and kept saying “Baa...Baa...” This kept her so busy that she didn’t notice the Tiger Cub.
“I wonder where the lamb is?” thought the Little Tiger and came nearer. But he didn’t see a lamb. What d’you think he saw? He saw a little Snail.
“That’s a funny sort of lamb”, thought the Tiger Cub and said:
“TORRR...” to the Little Monkey.
“Oh!” exclaimed the frightened Little Monkey and climbed to the very top of the tree. When she felt that she was safe enough, she shouted:
“I’m not afraid of you! TORRR to youtoo!”
“That’s not what I wanted to say”, sighed the Tiger Cub. “I wanted to say that toRRRmenting otheRRRs is hoRRRid”.
“Look at him”, laughed the Little Monkey. “Thinks himself clever! All you are is a silly Torr-horr...” The Baby Tiger was so upset when he heard this, that he even felt like crying, but before he could start to cry he heard a tiny little voice in the grass next to him. It was the Snail.
“Don’t take any notice of this wriggly grimacing thing”, said the Snail quietly. “You’re not a Torr-horr. You’re a lovely Little Tiger and you say R-R-R very nicely, quite like a big Tiger would”.
“TRRRuly?” smiled the Tiger Cub and forgot about crying. “Would you like me to say something else with a R-R-R?”
“Go on!” nodded the Snail.
“Let’s be fRRRiends!”
“D’you mean this seriously”, asked the Snail, “or are you just saying it because you like to say RRR?”
“SeRRRiously”, the Tiger Cub nodded.
“You’re sure you’ll not tease me?”
“NeveRRR. On my TigeRRR’s woRRRd of honouRRR!”
And that is how they got to know one another — the baby Tiger and the grown-up Snail. The Tiger Cub was much bigger than the Snail and the Snail was much smaller than the Tiger Cub. But does size make any difference to friendship? Not at all!
That’s what they all thought: the Parrot, the Tortoise and the Elephant. Only the Little Monkey thought otherwise.
“Look at them!” she shouted from the top of the tree. “ToRRR-hoRRR is friends with Baa-baa!! It’s like the Elephant being friends with the Ant”.
But nobody listened to her. The reason for this was, that the Elephant and the Ant — however difficult it may be to believe this — were also friends. The Elephant told the Ant how interesting it is to see everything from above, and the Ant, on the other hand, told the Elephant how interesting it is to see everything from underneath. That’s why they found it interesting to be together.
STROLLING WITH THE CLOUDS
“You growl very well”, said the Snail, “but what else can you do?”
“I can lie down very well too”, answered the Tiger Cub, “but that’s veRRRy boRRRing”.
“That’s true”, agreed the Snail. “It’s boring to lie about all the time, but it’s not too bed to lie down after a long STROLL”.
“What’s a stRRRoll?” asked the Tiger Cub.
“Strolling is another word for walking and it’s a very useful occupation. I know many different walks, but the most interesting is STROLLING WITH THE CLOUDS”.
“What is it then, stRRRolling with the clouds?” asked the Tiger Cub.
“It’s quite simple!” explained the Snail. “Can you see in which direction the clouds are going? Well, we’ll go there too”.
“You’RRRe RRRight”, agreed the Tiger Cub. “It’s peRRRfectly simple”.
The Snail climbed up onto the Tiger Cub’s shoulder and they set off TO STROLL WITH THE CLOUDS.
Soon the Tiger Cub and Snail, who was sitting on his shoulder, came to a tree. The tree was so tall that it seemed as if the clouds were trying to hold on to its top branches.
“Oh!” exclaimed the Tiger Cub admiring it, “That’s a veRRRy big tRRRee”.
“Yes”, said the Snail. “This is the tallest tree in the forest. It’s cool under it even at midday”.
“Even at midday!” repeated the Tiger Cub and hurried on in the direction in which the clouds were going. The clouds went towards a lake.
“What a lot of wateRRR”, cried the Tiger Cub.
“That’s a lake”, explained the Snail. “It gives drinking water to the whole of the forest, and to you and me as well”.
“And the tall tRRRee too?” interrupted the Tiger Cub. “Of course”.
“WondeRRRful”, whispered the Little Tiger admiringly, and resumed walking with the clouds.
He kept walking with the Snail sitting on his shoulder. They walked until they saw an amazing bush. The bush was completely covered with flowers. The flowers were large and smelled of honey.
“What lovely floweRRRs”, the Little Tiger was full of wonder.
He jumped up and broke off the biggest flower:
“This is a pRRResent foRRR you, Snail”, he said, but nobody answered him. The Snail was no longer on his shoulder.
THE PARROT
“Snail!” the Little Tiger was frightened. “WheRRRe aRRRe you?”
He ran around the blossoming bush. Then he ran round a bush which had no flowers, but didn’t see anything except grass, a few mouse-holes and a tiny spider. The Snail was nowhere to be seen.
“Snail!” shouted the Tiger Cub again. “WheRRRe have you gone?”.
“Where have you gone?” somebody’s rasping voice repeated unexpectedly.
The Tiger Cub looked up and saw a yellow Parrot sitting on a branch of the flowering bush and looking down at him with great interest.
“Excuse me”, said the Little Tiger to the Parrot, “you haven’t, by any chance seen my fRRRiend the Snail?”.
“By any chance I haven’t”, answered the Parrot.
“Pity”, sighed the Baby Tiger.
“Pity”, agreed the Parrot with a similar sigh.
“I’ve looked for heRRR eveRRRywheRRRe, but she’s nowheRRRe to be found. I can only find gRRRass, a small spideRRR and some mouse-holes”.
“Mouse-holes”, repeated the Parrot and winked with his round black eye at the Tiger Cub.
“Yes”, sighed the Little Tiger, “mouse-holes”.
“Mouse-holes”, repeated the Parrot again and this time used BOTH his eyes to wink at the Tiger Cub.
“TRRRue”, agreed the Little Tiger, who could not understand why the Parrot kept winking, “only mouse-holes”.
All at once the Parrot stopped winking. He puffed up his feathers, became red instead of yellow and screamer “Don’t you understand plain parrot language? I’ve just told you quite clearly: look in a mouse-hole!!!”.
“You aRRRe telling me that the Snail fell into a mouse-hole?”
“Fell into a mouse-hole”, confirmed the Parrot.
The Little Tiger put his ear to one hole after another until he heard:
“Little Tiger, I’m here”.
“The Snail!” the Tiger Cub was delighted.
“The Snail”, winked the Parrot.
“How will I get him out?” pondered the Little Tiger, and suddenly jumped up in the air as if something had stung him. The Parrot had flown off the branch and pecked the Baby Tiger’s tail as hard as he could.
“Ouch!!” screamed the Little Tiger, “my poor tail!”
The Parrot went to his branch, winked at the Little Tiger and said:
“Yourtail”.
“Yes”, the Little Tiger was quite offended, “it’s my tail and not youRRRs, and you shouldn’t peck it”.
“Your tail, your tail”, repeated the Parrot.
“You go on and on about my tail”, said the Little Tiger. “It would be a lot betteRRR if you’d help me to fRRRee the Snail.”
When he heard that, the Parrot changed colour again. He became purple instead of yellow. Something banged and clattered inside him. It looked as if he was going to burst.
“So I’m not helping you?” he waved his wings at the Little Tiger. “I’ve been telling you for the last hour to drop your tail into the hole and you stand there doing nothing and repeating ‘tail, tail’, as if you were a parrot!”
“Not RRReally for an houRRR”, said the Little Tiger while he very quickly dropped his tail in the hole and in no time at all the Snail was next to him.
“Thank you very much”, said the friends to the Parrot.
“Thank you very much”, nodded the Parrot.
“TheRRRe’s nothing to thank us foRRR”, the Little Tiger was surprised.
“And there’s nothing to thank me for”, winked the Parrot and flew towards the tall tree.
“He’s funny”, said the Little Tiger.
“And kind”, added the Snail.
“Perhaps we ought to have a rest”, he suggested.
“With pleasuRRRe”, agreed the Tiger Cub, closed his eyes and stretched himself out on the grass.
The two friends lay on the grass next to the blossoming bush and both thought the same thing: “One can learn a great deal when STROLLING WITH THE CLOUDS.”
SIDE BY SIDE
From that time on the Snail and the Tiger Cub always walked and played together. The Cub had grown, and the Snail remained small, but their friendship did not diminish. On the contrary. If any danger threatened the little Snail, the big Tiger Cub loudly said “RRRR” and the Heron or the Crane, who were about to eat the Snail for breakfast, would at once fly away.
The Tiger Cub and the Snail were nearly always together. They were very seldom apart. Only very rarely.
The Little Monkey looked for such occasion, because she was very keen on getting the two friends to quarrel.
“That Baa-baa has been lucky”, the Little Monkey thought, shrugging her shoulders, “ToRRR-hoRRR defends her, and carries her around with him. Who'd have thought it possible? It’d be better if he defended me instead, and I wouldn’t mind a ride on him as well. I’ll get them to fall out with each other”, decided the Little Monkey, and waited for a suitable opportunity.
And once, when the Tiger Cub was on his own, without the Snail, the Monkey said to him:
“It’s not fair, ToRRR-hoRRR, you know! Baa-baa has a house, but you haven’t."
“I’m not ToRRR-hoRRR and the Snail isn’t Baa-baa. But it’s tRRRue. I have no house”. And he started thinking about it.
While he thought the Little Monkey ran to the Snail: “Baa-baa!” she said to the Snail, “it’s not fair. ToRRR-HoRRR has a home under every tree and you have to carry your house on your back all the time.” “I’m not Baa-baa and the Tiger Cub is not a ToRRR-HoRRR. But it’s true. I have to carry my house on my back all the time”. And the Snail also thought about it.
The friends thought all that day, right up to the evening.
At last the Tiger Cub decided: “I’ll go and tell the Snail: ‘It’s not fair — you have a house and I don’t’.”
The Snail also decided: “I’ll go to the Tiger Cub and tell him: ‘It’s not fair that I have to carry my house everywhere on my back and you can sleep where you like’.”
And that’s what they did. The Snail went to the Tiger Cub and the Tiger Cub went to the Snail. They walked and walked until they met.
“Snail, it isn’t faiRRR”, said the Tiger Cub. “You have a house and I haven’t.”
“And I think”, countered the Snail, “that what’s really not fair is that I have to carry my house on my back, and you can sleep where you like.”
“I didn’t know you weRRRe like that”, said the Tiger Cub, quite offended and turned his back on the Snail.
“And I didn’t know you were like that”, said the Snail and also turned her back on the Tiger Cub.
And that is how they sat — with their backs to each other.
Evening came. The Tiger Cub looked in front of him and saw the silver moon over the dark lake.
“Pity”, he sighed, “that the Snail can’t see this.”
The Snail looked in front of her. He saw a tiny evening flower over which circled yellow fire-flies.
“It’s a pity”, sighed the Snail, “that the Tiger Cub can’t see this.”
The Tiger Cub was the first to give in.
“Look”, he said, “at the moon in fRRRont of me”.
“And you have a look at my fire-flies”, the Snail was delighted to be able to show them to him.
They turned towards each other and sat side by side. Now they could see both the silver moon and the yellow fire-flies.
“D’you know, Tiger Cub”, said the Snail. “I don’t think it matters what sort of home anyone has. It’s completely unimportant”.
“TRRRue”, agreed the Tiger Cub. “It’s otheRRR things that aRRRe impoRRRtant.”
THE SECRET
One day the Tiger Cub found two bananas. The bananas were large and sweet. The Tiger Cub could tell they were.
“I’ll give one banana to the Snail and other one will be for me”, he decided and went to find the Snail. He walked and sang a song:
“TaRRRaRRRananas, TaRRRa RRRananas, it is so good to have bananas”, when suddenly he heard:
“Hey, ToRRR-hoRRR, what’re you doing?”
It was the Little Monkey, who still wanted to make mischief between the Tiger Cub and the Snail. She could think of nothing else.
“I’m not ToRRR-hoRRR said the Tiger Cub, “and I’m on my way to the Snail. I have two bananas — one foRRR him and one foRRR me.”
“If you like”, said the Little Monky licking her lips, “I’ll tell you a secret if you give me a banana.”
“A secRRRet?” the Tiger Cub was surprised. “A secRRRet is always inteRRResting, but I’m taking one banana to the Snail, because we'RRRe fRRRiends.”
“A nice friend you’ve found for yourself", snorted the Little Monkey. “If you only knew my secret, you’d give me not just one, but both bananas. But I’m a real friend and only ask for one.”
“I’ll give the Little Monkey only the banana which was meant for me, and I’ll take the other one to the Snail, but I’ll know the secret”, decided the Tiger Cub, and gave the Little Monkey a banana.
“Very well”, said the Little Monkey. “Now you can hear the horrible and dreadful secret.”
“I’m listening”, said the Tiger Cub.
“You’re not afraid?”
“I’m just a veRRRy little afRRRaid”, admitted the Tiger Cub, “but I want to heaRRR it just the same”.
“Well! I’ve warned you”.
The Little Monkey came very near to the Tiger Cub and said quietly:
“In our lake lives a Hippo. But he’s not real Hippo at all. He’s only pretending to be one. That Hippo is really”, the Little Monkey looked around, put her finger to her lips and whispered, “he’s really a HIPPOPOTAMUS”.
“But that’s not a secRRRet!” cried out the Tiger Cub.
“You’re not a secret’ yourself”, laughed the Little Monkey eating the banana. “Now”, she thought, “I’ll tell the Snail that the Tiger Cub gave me his banana and they’ll quarrel.”
But it didn’t work out like this, because the Tiger Cub said:
“That’s not a hoRRRRRible secRRRet, but I know a secRRRet. A RRReally hoRRRRible and dRRReadful secRRRet.”
“Oh!” exclaimed the Little Monkey. “Tell me! I love horrible and dreadful secrets.”
“And what about the banana?” asked the Tiger Cub.
“Whatbanana?”
“The one you’ve eaten”.
“You are silly ToRRR-hoRRR. How can I give you back a banana, which I’ve already eaten?” laughed the Little Monkey.
“I don’t know, but no banana, no secRRRet.”
“Listen”, sighed the Little Monkey. “What if I give you a pineapple instead of a banana?”
“AlRRRight”, agreed the Tiger Cub, “Give me a pineapple.”
“Don’t move and don’t peep”, said the Little Monkey and jumped into the bushes, where she had a safe hiding place in which she kept six pineapples. She chose the smallest one, crept out of the bushes and, with a great sigh, gave it to the Tiger Cub.
The Tiger Cub took the pineapple, put it next to his banana, walked up to the Little Monkey and quietly said:
“This is a teRRRible secRRRet. TheRRRe’s a lake in which lives a Hippopotamus, but he’s not RRReally a Hippopotamus. He’s only pRRRetending to be one.”
“The tRRRuth is”, the Tiger Cub came nearer to the Little Monkey, “that this Hippopotamus is RRReally a HIPPO. Don’t you think that is a teRRRible secRRRet?”
He winked at the Monkey, picked up the banana and the pineapple and went to see the Snail.
THE PUZZLE
“You’re not going to get the better of me”, decided the Little Monkey. She raced in front of the Tiger Cub, sat down on a tree stump close to the path and waited.
“How did you manage to get heRRRe so quickly?” The Tiger Cub was surprised to see the Little Monkey.
“A real friend is always quick to help in case of trouble”, said the cunning Little Monkey.
“In trouble?” The Tiger Cub was taken aback.
“Of course”, said the Little Monkey. “Where are you going to?”.
“To see the Snail”.
“That’s why I say: poor old Tiger Cub!”.
“Why am I supposed to be pooRRR?” The Tiger Cub was surprised. “I’m RRRich. In the fiRRRst place, I’ve a banana, in the second a pineapple and thiRRRdly I have the best fRRRiend in the whole woRRRld — the Snail.”
“That’s true”, agreed the Little Monkey, “but it’s difficult to divide one banana and one pineapple into two without being unfair. You could also lose either the first, or the second or the third. That’s why I say — poor Tiger Cub”.
“What’s to be done?” asked the Tiger Cub.
“It’s a difficult problem, but I can help you. I know how to divide a banana and a pineapple fairly.”
“In that case, please do it”, said the Tiger Cub and gave the banana and the pineapple to the Little Monkey.
“This is how you have to do it in order to do it fairly”, said the Little Monkey and ate the banana first and the pineapple afterwards.
“ToRRR-HoRRR is a silly fool!” laughed the cheating Monkey. “He doesn’t know how to divide a banana and a pineapple. They don’t need to be divided, they need to be eaten! It’s easy to trick a fool!”
The Tiger Cub was upset. He was very upset indeed. He closed his eyes to stop himself from crying and said loudly:
“I know why you have no fRRRiends at all.”
“Why?”, asked the Little Monkey.
“Because”, said the Tiger Cub and went away. He walked and thought that, just the same, he wasn’t poor. He was going to see the Snail.
BIRTHDAY
The Tiger Cub found the Snail under a leaf. To be exact, he did not find the Snail but his house-shell. “Snail!” called out the Tiger Cub. “WheRRRe aRRRe you?”
“I’m here”, answered the Snail and crawled out of the shell.
He looked very pretty. Even prettier than usually. He was wearing garlands of tiny pink and blue flowers on his little horns.
“SupeRRR”, admired the Tiger Cub.
“You like them?” asked the Snail.
“VeRRRy much”, nodded the Tiger Cub. “What weRRRe you doing in youRRR shell. WeRRRe you making the gaRRRlands?”
“I was composing”, said the Snail. “I was composing a song”.
“RRReally?” said the Tiger Cub unbelievingly.
“Truly. So help me. I’ll sing it to you if you like:
|
The Tiger Cub and the Snail, |
“A maRRRvelous song”, said the Tiger Cub, “but I don’t understand what’s all this about a biRRRthday”.
“Well”, said the Snail coquettishly, “All this is about my birthday which is today”.
“YouRRR BiRRRthday! Many happy RRRetuRRRns of the day!”
“That’s when it would have be useful to have the bananas and the pine apple”, he thought and said:
“Only I haven’t got a pRRResent”.
“Doesn’t matter”, sighed the Snail “The most important is that your here.”
“No”, disagreed the Tiger Cub. “You wait heRRRe. I’ll get you a pRRResent and RRRetuRRRn soon”.
“You’re going to get me a present?" asked the Snail visibly touched. “In that case”, he added, “could you please find one, which would be a surprise. I do love surprises.”
“A suRRRpRRRise?” asked the Tiger Cub. “What’s a suRRRpRRRise? Is it laRRRge oRRR small?”
“It can be any size”, explained the Snail. “The important thing is that it should be unexpected and nice.”
“AIRRRight”, promised the Tiger Cub. “I’ll find one.” And he took himself off to look for a present for his friend It did not matter whether the present was big or small, but it was important that in should be unexpected and nice.
THE SURPRISE
The Tiger Cub spent a lot of time looking for the surprise. But every time he found something it was either nice, but not unexpected, or unexpected and not nice.
In the end he came to the lake.
He visited the lake often. Sometimes he came on his own, and sometimes with the Snail. He had many good acquaintances there: the Hippo, the Little Frog and the old Tortoise, who had told the Tiger Cub about the Crocodile. “He’s very big, that Crocodile”, the Tortoise said. “He’s also bad and ugly. It’s better not to keep company with him.”
“Just imagine”, the Tiger Cub told the Snail later, “the old ToRRRtoise said that a CRRRocodile lives in the lake. And she also said that it’s betteRRR not to keep company with him because he’s veRRRy bad.”
“And I think it’s the other way”, answered the Snail then. “He’s bad because he has no company. Although one never knows. It’s true that he’s very big and not very pretty”.
Having listened to various conversations and stories the Tiger Cub imagined the Crocodile to be huge like the Elephant, red like a Parrot, with a nose like a Rhinoceros, and a long Monkey tail. Exactly like that.
That is why, when he saw the open mouth of a real green, not red, Crocodile, he was not at all frightened. He was so surprised that he sat down on his hind legs and said:
“Now that’s what I’d call a RRReal smile!”
Nobody had ever told the Crocodile that he has a smile. Everybody said “What terrible jaws!” and ran away. That is why the Crocodile was very surprise and thought: “I probably misheard him talking about a smile”.
“What did you say?” roared the Crocodile. “Repeat it!”
“You have a veRRRy loud voice” continued the Tiger Cub admiringly, “and a pRRRetty smile. A veRRRy bRRRoad smile”, he said inspecting the Crocodile, who was frozen in amazement with his mouth wide open. “You’RRRe most pRRRobably veRRRy kind!”
When he heard the word “kind” the Crocodile twitched and became blue from embarrassment. All Crocodiles turn blue when embarrassed. This time the Crocodile became unusually blue.
Of course! Nobody in his whole life had ever used such words about him. Everybody constantly said: “Bad. Ugly. Disgraceful.” And now suddenly: “Pretty and nice.”
“Are you serious?”
“Of couRRRse”, insisted the Tiger Cub. “TigeRRR’s woRRRd.”
“You mean you like me and are not afraid of me?” asked the Crocodile quietly.
“Absolutely”, said the Tiger Cub.
“If it’s like that”, whispered the embarrassed, blue Crocodile, “there’s nothing to prevent us becoming friends. I’m also not afraid of you, and I like you. well. Let’s be friends”, very quietly said the Crocodile. “Perhaps we’ll manage to be friends.”
"Let’s”, agreed the Tiger Cub. “Of couRRRse we’ll manage”.
“In that case, be my friend”, said the Crocodile pleadingly, “and tell me, please, just once more about the smile. Right from the beginning.”
“As much as you like”, laughed the Tiger Cub and said everything from the very beginning: “You have a pRRRetty, agRRReeable and bRRRoad smile. You’RRRe veRRRy kind.”
“That’s unbelievable”, whispered the Crocodile and burst into tears. “Everybody has always called me the ’disgusting Crocodile’."
“Are you a Crocodile?” gasped the Tiger Cub.
“Yes”, said the Crocodile. “I am a Crocodile. Didn’t you know?”
“I imagined you to be completely diffeRRRent”, admitted the Tiger Cub. “and you aRRRe RRReally veRRRy pRRRetty. It’s a RRReal suRRRpRRRise!”
“SuRRRpRRRise”, he repeated and started jumping from sheer delight.
“What sort of surprise?” the Crocodile did not understand.
The Tiger Cub stopped jumping.
“HooRRRay!” shouted the Tiger Cub. “I’ve found a suRRRpRRRise!”
“I’ll intRRRoduce you to my fRRRiend the Snail”, he said to the Crocodile, “and you’ll also become his fRRRiend. It’ll be a beautiful pRRResent foRRR him. A RRReal suRRRpRRRise.”
“Do you really think”, doubted the Crocodile, “that such a surprise will really be a present?”
“I am quite suRRRe”, said the Tiger Cub, and they went to see the Snail.
THE NAME
All the time that Tiger Cub spent looking for a present for the Snail, the Little Monkey sat by the side of the path. She sat on the tree stump, where the Tiger Cub had left her, and thought:
“Why is that I don’t have friends? Indeed”, thought the Little Monkey, “why is it? I only tell them the truth, and they get offended. The Tiger Cub does say ToRRR-hoRRR and the Snail has little horns. Why do they get cross when I call them ToRRR-hoRRR and Baa-baa? I can’t understand”, pondered the Little Monkey. “Just yesterday I called the Elephant ’Long-nose’ and he got cross, although he really has the most eno-o-o-rmous trunk. I can’t understand why he was so upset.”
The Little Monkey was very busy with her thoughts. She was so busy that she did not even notice the Elephant who was walking along the path.
“Hey, you, Longtail”, trumpeted the Elephant. “Wake-up. Take away your stringy end, or I’ll squash it.”
“Why do you call me Longtail?” the Little Monkey was offended. “I have a proper name”.
“That’s just it”, said the Elephant smiling. “A name.”
And he walked on.
“I have a name”, repeated the Little Monkey, and suddenly understood. She understood that being called by your proper name is not offensive, but by a nickname is. Even if the “long-nosed” has a long nose and the “long-tailed” has a long tail, being called “long-nosed” or “long-tailed” causes offence, because everybody has their own proper name.
ANOTHER SURPRISE
“Oh! Very well”, sighed the Little Monkey. “I haven’t got any friends, but I have my pineapples.” She went back to the bushes and was just going to indulge herself with the remaining pineapple, when she saw something... Something that made her forget about everything else in the world. She saw the Tiger Cub and next to him, really very close to him, a huge Crocodile.
“So there it is”, thought the Little Monkey. “The Crocodile’s got there before me. He managed to arrange a quarrel between the Tiger Cub and the Snail. Now the Tiger Cub is his friend and I’m again friendless.”
“Hey, Tiger Cub!” shouted the Little Monkey, who had promised herself that she would stop teasing. “Don’t tell me that you’ve left the Snail for the Crocodile.”
“I didn’t leave anybody”, said the Tiger Cub. “Now theRRRe will simply be thRRRee of us fRRRiends.”
“Yes. Three of us”, confirmed the Crocodile with a smile, which frightened the Little Monkey into running up the nearest tree.
“How’s that!” she shouted from the top of the tree. “All three of you can’t be friends. Everybody knows you can only have one friend at a time.”
“You can have as many as you like ”, said the Tiger Cub.
“Could you have four?” asked the Little Monkey nervously.
“It appears that you don’t need to quarrel with somebody in order to be friends with somebody else”, she thought.
“Can there be four friends?” the Little Monkey asked again.
“Of couRRRse”, answered the Little Tiger. “The only thing that matteRRRs is that they should be RRReal fRRRiends.”
“And do you think”, asked the Little Monkey, holding her breath, “that I could be a real friend?”
“You?” said the Tiger Cub surprised. “We’ll have to think”.
“Yes”, agreed the Crocodile. “We’ll have to think and ask each other’s advice.”
They went to one side and started talking quietly about something.
They talked and the Little Monkey felt very nervous. She had never been so nervous in her life. Just think! Perhaps she will all at once have three friends: the Tiger Cub, the Snail and the Crocodile. Either three or nobody at all. At last the Tiger Cub and the Crocodile stopped whispering, and the Little Tiger said:
“We decided that you can be a RRReal fRRRiend if you stop teasing.”
“I’ve already stopped!” cried the Little Monkey.
“We also decided that you must stop being greedy.”
“I’ll stop”, promised the Little Monkey and handed over the pineapples.
The Tiger Cub and the Crocodile looked at each other and then the Crocodile said:
“Also, you have to stop being afraid of me.”
“You’ll not bite me?”
“I’ll not bite you”, said the Crocodile and smiled.
“Funny”, thought the Little Monkey “If you know he’s not going to bite, he really has a nice smile.”
“Alright then”, she said, “I’m not afraid of you. So much so that I’m not afraid to have a ride on you.”
Having said that, she picked up the pineapples and climbed on top of the Crocodile. Then, all together, they went to see the Snail.
The Tiger Cub looked at the Crocodile and the Little Monkey and thought:
“Now I have two surprises! The Snail will be pleased!”
FOR THE ONE WHOM WE MEET ON OUR WAY
“DeaRRRest Snail”, said the Tiger Cub. “CongRRRatulations on youRRR biRRRthday. PeRRRmit me to hand oveRRR my pRRResents — the Unexpected and VeRRRy Nice SuRRRpRRRises.”
“Please do”, said the Snail.
“One! Two! ThRRRee! The Tiger Cub waved his paw and a gigantic Crocodile, with a Little Monkey sitting on his back, crawled out of the bushes. The Crocodile had a broad smile on his face, and the meanest tease in all the forest, the Little Monkey, offered the Snail five pineapples.
“Dearest Snail”, said the Little Monkey and the Crocodile together, “we wish you a Happy Birthday”.
“What’s all this?” the Snail turned to the Little Tiger. He was a little confused.
“These aRRRe ouRRR new fRRRiends”, answered the Tiger Cub. “The CRRRocodile with a veRRRy pleasant smile, and the geneRRRous Monkey”.
“Generous Monkey”, the Snail was very surprised. “Generous. Of course. Very generous!” jabbered the Monkey. She jumped off the Crocodile’s back and laid the five large pineapples in front of the Snail. “I brought them all. All five of them. I swear. All I had. I didn’t even leave one behind!”
“Thank you very much indeed”, said the Snail. “These are wonderful pineapples. They’re sure to be very sweet. We’ll share them at once. One for the Tiger Cub”, the Snail started giving them out, “one for the Little Monkey, one for the Crocodile, one for me, and this one...” the Snail stopped to think. The fifth pineapple was left over.
“And this pineapple will be for the one whom we meet on our way".
“That’s right,” agreed the other friends. And soon they were all to be seen walking along the path: the Little Monkey, the Tiger Cub, the Snail and the Crocodile.
They walked along the path and sang a song. The Tiger Cub walked in front. He had the Snail sitting on one shoulder and the pineapple on the other.
It was the pineapple for the one whom they will meet on their way.
The Little Tiger
Who Said "R-R-R!"
The New Adventures
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