Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling (ebook pdf reader for pc txt) đ
THIS Uninhabited Island
Is off Cape Gardafui,
By the Beaches of Socotra
And the Pink Arabian Sea:
But it's hot--too hot from Suez
For the likes of you and me
Ever to go
In a P. and 0.
And call on the Cake-Parsee!
HOW THE LEOPARD GOT HIS SPOTS
IN the days when everybody started fair, Best Beloved, the Leopard lived in a place called the High Veldt. 'Member it wasn't the Low Veldt, or the Bush Veldt, or the Sour Veldt, but the 'sclusively bare, hot, shiny High Veldt, where there was sand and sandy-coloured rock and 'sclusively tufts of sandy- yellowish grass. The Giraffe and the Zebra and the Eland and the Koodoo and the Hartebeest lived there; and they were 'sclusively sandy-yellow-brownish all over; but the Leopard, he was the 'sclusivest sandiest-yellowish-brownest of them all--a greyish-yellowish catty-shaped kind of beast, and he matched the 'sclusively yellowish-greyish-brownish colour of the High Veldt to
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He went to Nqong at ten before dinner-time, saying, âMake me different from all other animals; make me popular and wonderfully run after by five this afternoon.â
Up jumped Nqong from his bath in the salt-pan and shouted, âYes, I will!â
Nqong called DingoâYellow-Dog Dingoâalways hungry, dusty in the sunshine, and showed him Kangaroo. Nqong said, âDingo! Wake up, Dingo! Do you see that gentleman dancing on an ashpit? He wants to be popular and very truly run after. Dingo, make him SO!â
Up jumped DingoâYellow-Dog Dingoâand said, âWhat, that cat-rabbit?â
Off ran DingoâYellow-Dog Dingoâalways hungry, grinning like a coal-scuttle,âran after Kangaroo.
Off went the proud Kangaroo on his four little legs like a bunny.
This, O Beloved of mine, ends the first part of the tale!
He ran through the desert; he ran through the mountains; he ran through the salt-pans; he ran through the reed-beds; he ran through the blue gums; he ran through the spinifex; he ran till his front legs ached.
He had to!
Still ran DingoâYellow-Dog Dingoâalways hungry, grinning like a rat-trap, never getting nearer, never getting farther,âran after Kangaroo.
He had to!
Still ran KangarooâOld Man Kangaroo. He ran through the ti-trees; he ran through the mulga; he ran through the long grass; he ran through the short grass; he ran through the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer; he ran till his hind legs ached.
He had to!
Still ran DingoâYellow-Dog Dingoâhungrier and hungrier, grinning like a horse-collar, never getting nearer, never getting farther; and they came to the Wollgong River.
Now, there wasnât any bridge, and there wasnât any ferry-boat, and Kangaroo didnât know how to get over; so he stood on his legs and hopped.
He had to!
He hopped through the Flinders; he hopped through the Cinders; he hopped through the deserts in the middle of Australia. He hopped like a Kangaroo.
First he hopped one yard; then he hopped three yards; then he hopped five yards; his legs growing stronger; his legs growing longer. He hadnât any time for rest or refreshment, and he wanted them very much.
Still ran DingoâYellow-Dog Dingoâvery much bewildered, very much hungry, and wondering what in the world or out of it made Old Man Kangaroo hop.
For he hopped like a cricket; like a pea in a saucepan; or a new rubber ball on a nursery floor.
He had to!
He tucked up his front legs; he hopped on his hind legs; he stuck out his tail for a balance-weight behind him; and he hopped through the Darling Downs.
He had to!
Still ran DingoâTired-Dog Dingoâhungrier and hungrier, very much bewildered, and wondering when in the world or out of it would Old Man Kangaroo stop.
Then came Nqong from his bath in the salt-pans, and said, âItâs five oâclock.â
Down sat DingoâPoor Dog Dingoâalways hungry, dusky in the sunshine; hung out his tongue and howled.
Down sat KangarooâOld Man Kangarooâstuck out his tail like a milking-stool behind him, and said, âThank goodness thatâs finished!â
Then said Nqong, who is always a gentleman, âWhy arenât you grateful to Yellow-Dog Dingo? Why donât you thank him for all he has done for you?â
Then said KangarooâTired Old KangarooâHeâs chased me out of the homes of my childhood; heâs chased me out of my regular meal-times; heâs altered my shape so Iâll never get it back; and heâs played Old Scratch with my legs.â
Then said Nqong, âPerhaps Iâm mistaken, but didnât you ask me to make you different from all other animals, as well as to make you very truly sought after? And now it is five oâclock.â
âYes,â said Kangaroo. âI wish that I hadnât. I thought you would do it by charms and incantations, but this is a practical joke.â
âJoke!â said Nqong from his bath in the blue gums. âSay that again and Iâll whistle up Dingo and run your hind legs off.â
âNo,â said the Kangaroo. âI must apologise. Legs are legs, and you neednât alter âem so far as I am concerned. I only meant to explain to Your Lordliness that Iâve had nothing to eat since morning, and Iâm very empty indeed.â
âYes,â said DingoâYellow-Dog Dingo,ââI am just in the same situation. Iâve made him different from all other animals; but what may I have for my tea?â
Then said Nqong from his bath in the salt-pan, âCome and ask me about it tomorrow, because Iâm going to wash.â
So they were left in the middle of Australia, Old Man Kangaroo and Yellow-Dog Dingo, and each said, âThatâs your fault.â
THIS is the mouth-filling song
Of the race that was run by a Boomer,
Run in a single burstâonly event of its kindâ
Started by big God Nqong from Warrigaborrigarooma,
Old Man Kangaroo first: Yellow-Dog Dingo behind.
Kangaroo bounded away,
His back-legs working like pistonsâ
Bounded from morning till dark,
Twenty-five feet to a bound.
Yellow-Dog Dingo lay
Like a yellow cloud in the distanceâ
Much too busy to bark.
My! but they covered the ground!
Nobody knows where they went,
Or followed the track that they flew in,
For that Continent
Hadnât been given a name.
They ran thirty degrees,
From Torres Straits to the Leeuwin
(Look at the Atlas, please),
And they ran back as they came.
Sâposing you could trot
From Adelaide to the Pacific,
For an afternoonâs run
Half what these gentlemen did
You would feel rather hot,
But your legs would develop terrificâ
Yes, my importunate son,
Youâd be a Marvellous Kid!
THE BEGINNING OF THE ARMADILLOSTHIS, O Best Beloved, is another story of the High and Far-Off Times. In the very middle of those times was a Stickly-Prickly Hedgehog, and he lived on the banks of the turbid Amazon, eating shelly snails and things. And he had a friend, a Slow-Solid Tortoise, who lived on the banks of the turbid Amazon, eating green lettuces and things. And so that was all right, Best Beloved. Do you see?
But also, and at the same time, in those High and Far-Off Times, there was a Painted Jaguar, and he lived on the banks of the turbid Amazon too; and he ate everything that he could catch. When he could not catch deer or monkeys he would eat frogs and beetles; and when he could not catch frogs and beetles he went to his Mother Jaguar, and she told him how to eat hedgehogs and tortoises.
She said to him ever so many times, graciously waving her tail, âMy son, when you find a Hedgehog you must drop him into the water and then he will uncoil, and when you catch a Tortoise you must scoop him out of his shell with your paw.â And so that was all right, Best Beloved.
One beautiful night on the banks of the turbid Amazon, Painted Jaguar found Stickly-Prickly Hedgehog and Slow-Solid Tortoise sitting under the trunk of a fallen tree. They could not run away, and so Stickly-Prickly curled himself up into a ball, because he was a Hedgehog, and Slow-Solid Tortoise drew in his head and feet into his shell as far as they would go, because he was a Tortoise; and so that was all right, Best Beloved. Do you see?
âNow attend to me,â said Painted Jaguar, âbecause this is very important. My mother said that when I meet a Hedgehog I am to drop him into the water and then he will uncoil, and when I meet a Tortoise I am to scoop him out of his shell with my paw. Now which of you is Hedgehog and which is Tortoise? because, to save my spots, I canât tell.â
âAre you sure of what your Mummy told you?â said Stickly-Prickly Hedgehog. âAre you quite sure? Perhaps she said that when you uncoil a Tortoise you must shell him out the water with a scoop, and when you paw a Hedgehog you must drop him on the shell.â
âAre you sure of what your Mummy told you?â said Slow-and-Solid Tortoise. âAre you quite sure? Perhaps she said that when you water a Hedgehog you must drop him into your paw, and when you meet a Tortoise you must shell him till he uncoils.â
âI donât think it was at all like that,â said Painted Jaguar, but he felt a little puzzled; âbut, please, say it again more distinctly.â
âWhen you scoop water with your paw you uncoil it with a Hedgehog,â said Stickly-Prickly. âRemember that, because itâs important.â
âBut,â said the Tortoise, âwhen you paw your meat you drop it into a Tortoise with a scoop. Why canât you understand?â
âYou are making my spots ache,â said Painted Jaguar; âand besides, I didnât want your advice at all. I only wanted to know which of you is Hedgehog and which is Tortoise.â
âI shanât tell you,â said Stickly-Prickly. âbut you can scoop me out of my shell if you like.â
âAha!â said Painted Jaguar. âNow I know youâre Tortoise. You thought I wouldnât! Now I will.â Painted Jaguar darted out his paddy-paw just as Stickly-Prickly curled himself up, and of course Jaguarâs paddy-paw was just filled with prickles. Worse than that, he knocked Stickly-Prickly away and away into the woods and the bushes, where it was too dark to find him. Then he put his paddy-paw into his mouth, and of course the prickles hurt him worse than ever. As soon as he could speak he said, âNow I know he isnât Tortoise at all. Butââand then he scratched his head with his un-prickly pawââhow do I know that this other is Tortoise?â
âBut I am Tortoise,â said Slow-and-Solid. Your mother was quite right. She said that you were to scoop me out of my shell with your paw. Begin.â
âYou didnât say she said that a minute ago, said Painted Jaguar, sucking the prickles out of his paddy-paw. âYou said she said something quite different.â
âWell, suppose you say that I said that she said something quite different, I donât see that it makes any difference; because if she said what you said I said she said, itâs just the same as if I said what she said she said. On the other hand, if you think she said that you were to uncoil me with a scoop, instead of pawing me into drops with a shell, I canât help that, can I?â
âBut you said you wanted to be scooped out of your shell with my paw,â said Painted Jaguar.
âIf youâll think again youâll find that I didnât say anything of the kind. I said that your mother said that you were to scoop me out of my shell,â said Slow-and-Solid.
âWhat will happen if I do?â said the Jaguar most sniffily and most cautious.
âI donât know, because Iâve never been scooped out of my shell before; but I tell you truly, if you want to see me swim away youâve only got to drop me into the water.
âI donât believe it,â said Painted Jaguar. âYouâve mixed up all the things my mother told me to do with the things that you asked me whether I was sure that she didnât say, till I donât know whether Iâm on my head or my painted tail; and now you come and tell me something I can understand, and it makes me more mixy than before. My mother told me that I was to drop one of you two into the water, and as you seem so anxious to be dropped I think you donât want to be dropped. So jump into the turbid Amazon and be quick about it.â
âI warn you that your Mummy wonât be pleased. Donât tell her I didnât tell you,â said Slow-Solid.
âIf you say another word about what my mother saidââ the Jaguar answered, but he had not finished the sentence before Slow-and-Solid quietly dived into the turbid Amazon, swam under water for
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