"Pooh!" interrupted the Tiger, "what a fool you are! I was in the cage."
"Of course!" cried the Jackal, pretending to tremble with fright; "yes I was in the cage-no I wasn"t-dear! dear, where are my wits? Let me see-the Tiger was in the Brahman, and the cage came walking by-no, that"s not it, either! Well, don"t mind me, but begin your dinner, for I shall never understand!"
"Yes, you shall!" returned the Tiger, in a rage at the Jackal"s stupidity; "I"ll make you understand! Look here-I am the Tiger-"
"Yes, my lord!"
"And that is the Brahman-"
"Yes, my lord!"
"And that is the cage-"
"Yes, my lord!"
"And I was in the cage-do you understand?"
"Yes-no- Please, my lord-"
"Well?" cried the Tiger impatiently.
"Please, my lord !-how did you get in?"
"How?-why, in the usual way, of course! "
"Oh, dear me!-My head is beginning to whirl again! Please don"t get angry, my lord, but what is the usual way?"
At this the Tiger lost patience, and, jumping into the cage, cried, "This way! Now do you understand how it was?"
"Perfectly!" grinned the Jackal, as he dexterously shut the door. "And if you will permit me to say so, I think matters will remain as they were!"
THE LAMBIKIN
By Flora Annie Steel
ONCE upon a time there was a wee wee Lambikin, who frolicked about on his little tottery legs, and enjoyed himself amazingly.
Now one day he set off to visit his Granny, and was jumping with joy to think of all the good things he should get from her, when who should he meet but a Jackal, who looked at the tender young morsel and said: "Lambikin! Lambikin! I"ll EAT YOU!"
But Lambikin only gave a little frisk and said:
"To Granny"s house I go,
Where I shall fatter grow,
Then you can eat me so."
The Jackal thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pa.s.s.
By and by he met a Vulture, and the Vulture, looking hungrily at the tender morsel before him, said: "Lambikin! Lambikin! I"ll EAT YOU!"
But Lambikin only gave a little frisk, and said:
"To Granny"s house I go,
Where I shall fatter grow,
Then you can eat me so."
The Vulture thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pa.s.s.
And by and by he met a Tiger, and then a Wolf, and a Dog, arid an Eagle, and all these, when they saw the tender little morsel, said: "Lambikin! Lambikin! I"ll EAT YOU!"
But to all of them Lambikin replied, with a little frisk:
"To Granny"s house I go,
Where I shall fatter grow,
Then you can eat me so.
At last he reached his Granny"s house, and said, all in a great hurry, "Granny, dear, I"ve promised to get very fat; so, as people ought to keep their promises, please put me into the corn bin at once."
So his Granny said he was a good boy, and put him into the corn bin, and there the greedy little Lambikin stayed for seven days, and ate, and ate, and ate, until he could scarcely waddle, and his Granny said he was fat enough for anything, and must go home. But cunning little Lambikin said that would never do, for some animal would be sure to eat him on the way back, he was so plump and tender.
"I"ll tell you what you must do," said Master Lambikin, "you must make a little drumikin out of the skin of" my little brother who died, and then I can sit inside and trundle along nicely, for I"m as tight as a drum myself."
So his Granny made a nice little drumikin out of his brother"s skin, with the wool inside, and Lambikin curled himself up snug and warm in the middle, and trundled away gayly. Soon lie met with the Eagle, who called out:
"Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?"
And Mr. Lambikin, curled up in his soft warm nest, replied:
"Fallen into the fire, and so will you
On little Drumikin. Tum-pa, tum-too!"
"How very annoying!" sighed the Eagle, thinking regretfully of the tender morsel he had let slip.
Meanwhile Lambikin trundled along, laughing to himself, and singing:
"Tum-pa, tum-too;
Tum-pa, tum-too!"
Every animal and bird he met asked him the same question: