little monkey lost his tail, and the other monkeys made so much fun of him that he could not live with them any more. he went away by himself and fed on berries. he was sitting on the bank of the river one day, when the earth gave way, and he fell in the water. he swam out again, and as he did, he had an idea.
“i’ll start a swimming school,” said he. “i’ll teach all the other animals to swim so that their lives will be saved if they fall into the water.”
so little monkey built houses on the shore of the river and put up a sign which read:
captain l. monkey,
swimming skule.
bathing suits to hire.
he had 100 bathing suits in sizes to fit any animal from a mouse to an elephant. he hired the tailor bird to make new suits as fast as the old ones wore out. ben crocodile was always swimming around to save the lives of the animals who swam out too far. little monkey put a raft away out in the stream, where the animals could rest after they had swum as long as they should.
when all the animals and all the birds heard that little monkey had a swimming school they said: “how very fashionable!”
some of them thought they could swim, but then it became the style for all animals and birds to swim like little monkeys without tails. every afternoon, the beach in front of little monkey’s bathing houses was filled by the jungle folk. all those, who went in, hired bathing suits, and the tailor bird was kept busy all day making new suits and mending the old ones. little monkey wore a fine, gray suit, and he swam up and down to teach the animals how to swim like a little monkey without a tail.
tiger and zebra were great friends, and one afternoon they went to little monkey’s swimming school.
“we want nice, new suits,” said tiger.
tailor bird brought out two suits with yellow and black stripes. tiger and zebra then had white hair, for this was many years ago.
“they’re fine,” said tailor bird. “they fit like the bark on the tree, and the colors are so new that they would be ashamed to run.”
“what pretty suits,” zebra and tiger said at once.
they put on the bathing suits and sat down on the sand.
“why don’t you come in?” asked heron, who had stayed in the water until he was blue.
“we want everybody to see our fine, new suits,” answered zebra.
“come on!” cried little monkey. “bathing suits were made to get wet.”
so tiger and zebra stepped into the water and followed little monkey.
“tiger,” cried little monkey, turning around, “you must keep your mouth tightly shut.”
(every time tiger got near little monkey his mouth flew open.) this made little monkey very nervous, for tiger had big, sharp teeth. when tiger was not scaring little monkey, zebra was kicking the water over the poor, little animal, which was doing his best to teach his pupils how to swim. the other animals and birds got out of the water and sat upon the beach and laughed and laughed at the fun which tiger and zebra were having with little monkey.
tiger and zebra made believe that they were very awkward. they were all the time catching little monkey around the neck until his head was under water. then when he came up again with his ears and mouth all streaming, they would say: “noble little monkey, you have just saved our lives.” they even got a little fish to swim under little monkey and bite his toes. little monkey pretended not to be angry. all the time, though, he was vexed, and he made up his mind that he would pay back tiger and zebra for the mean way in which they were treating him. he was all tired out, yet he kept swimming, for he saw that something was happening which would give him a fine revenge.
“tiger,” he said, “if you would keep your mouth from being open so much, and zebra, if you would not splash with your feet, you both would become very fine swimmers. don’t bother to take off your bathing suits. just sit in the sun and when i teach antelope how to dive i’ll give you another lesson.”
so tiger and zebra sat in the sun and told the other animals about the great fun which they had had with little monkey.
then they found somebody else to make fun for them. leopard, who was all spotted, came down to the beach.
“ho, ho,” laughed tiger, “did you ever see an animal in a polka dot skin?”
“he, he, isn’t he gaily dressed,” neighed the zebra, as he grinned and looked around at the other animals.
“it is not every animal,” answered the leopard, as he came out dressed up in his white bathing suit, “who has the good fortune to be born with a beautiful white skin. many is the time i have tried to change these polka dots for a plain checked suit, but somehow i could never do it. i may be funny but i never looked so queer as do two very mean animals who are lying on this beach all dressed up in ugly, striped bathing suits.”
[130]
then zebra and tiger became angry. they got up and took off their bathing suits and threw them at tailor bird. then all the birds and the animals laughed so hard that they had to put their hands to their sides. hyena laughed until he rolled over and over on the beach.
“hyena,” roared tiger, “you are always laughing at nothing. what is the matter with you?”
hyena pointed with his paw. tiger and zebra looked at themselves and found that their skins were all striped. the color had come out of the new bathing suits and the sun had dried it into their hair. tiger and zebra felt so ashamed that they ran away. ever since that day the beasts in the jungle have always said striped tiger and striped zebra, and it was not until the spotted leopard told me this story, that i knew that those two animals were once as white as the polar bear.
