JUST SO STORIES Rudyard Kipling Author
- new bookISBN: 2940013521919
TABLE OF CONTENTS: HOW THE WHALE GOT HIS THROAT HOW THE CAMEL GOT HIS HUMP HOW THE RHINOCEROS GOT HIS SKIN HOW THE LEOPARD GOT HIS SPOTS THE ELEPHANT'S CHILD THE S… More...
TABLE OF CONTENTS: HOW THE WHALE GOT HIS THROAT HOW THE CAMEL GOT HIS HUMP HOW THE RHINOCEROS GOT HIS SKIN HOW THE LEOPARD GOT HIS SPOTS THE ELEPHANT'S CHILD THE SING-SONG OF OLD MAN KANGAROO THE BEGINNING OF THE ARMADILLOS HOW THE FIRST LETTER WAS WRITTEN HOW THE ALPHABET WAS MADE THE CRAB THAT PLAYED WITH THE SEA THE CAT THAT WALKED BY HIMSELF THE BUTTERFLY THAT STAMPEDHOW THE WHALE GOT HIS THROATIN the sea, once upon a time, O my Best Beloved, there was a Whale, andhe ate fishes. He ate the starfish and the garfish, and the crab and thedab, and the plaice and the dace, and the skate and his mate, and themackereel and the pickereel, and the really truly twirly-whirly eel. Allthe fishes he could find in all the sea he ate with his mouth--so! Tillat last there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was asmall 'Stute Fish, and he swam a little behind the Whale's right ear,so as to be out of harm's way. Then the Whale stood up on his tail andsaid, 'I'm hungry.' And the small 'Stute Fish said in a small 'stutevoice, 'Noble and generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?''No,' said the Whale. 'What is it like?''Nice,' said the small 'Stute Fish. 'Nice but nubbly.''Then fetch me some,' said the Whale, and he made the sea froth up withhis tail.'One at a time is enough,' said the 'Stute Fish. 'If you swim tolatitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West (that is magic), you willfind, sitting _on_ a raft, _in_ the middle of the sea, with nothing onbut a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must _not_forget the suspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack-knife, oneship-wrecked Mariner, who, it is only fair to tell you, is a man ofinfinite-resource-and-sagacity.'So the Whale swam and swam to latitude Fifty North, longitude FortyWest, as fast as he could swim, and _on_ a raft, _in_ the middle of thesea, _with_ nothing to wear except a pair of blue canvas breeches, apair of suspenders (you must particularly remember the suspenders, BestBeloved), _and_ a jack-knife, he found one single, solitary shipwreckedMariner, trailing his toes in the water. (He had his mummy's leave topaddle, or else he would never have done it, because he was a man ofinfinite-resource-and-sagacity.)Then the Whale opened his mouth back and back and back till it nearlytouched his tail, and he swallowed the shipwrecked Mariner, and theraft he was sitting on, and his blue canvas breeches, and the suspenders(which you _must_ not forget), _and_ the jack-knife--He swallowed themall down into his warm, dark, inside cup-boards, and then he smacked hislips--so, and turned round three times on his tail.But as soon as the Mariner, who was a man ofinfinite-resource-and-sagacity, found himself truly inside the Whale'swarm, dark, inside cup-boards, he stumped and he jumped and he thumpedand he bumped, and he pranced and he danced, and he banged and heclanged, and he hit and he bit, and he leaped and he creeped, and heprowled and he howled, and he hopped and he dropped, and he cried and hesighed, and he crawled and he bawled, and he stepped and he lepped, andhe danced hornpipes where he shouldn't, and the Whale felt most unhappyindeed. (_Have_ you forgotten the suspenders?)So he said to the 'Stute Fish, 'This man is very nubbly, and besides heis making me hiccough. What shall I do?''Tell him to come out,' said the 'Stute Fish.So the Whale called down his own throat to the shipwrecked Mariner,'Come out and behave yourself. I've got the hiccoughs.' Digital Content>E-books>Juv Young Readers>Juv Young Readers>Juv Fiction PB, SAP Digital >16<
