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IIIThe Giraffe and the CrocodileWritten and Illustrated byILONA BASTOS |
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| Being as proud as the
Giraffe was, she wouldn't allow any remarks to her
behaviour. So, she became very angry and shouted,
bewaring to keep away from the crocodile: "That's exactly what I say... you should mind your own business and go away... Shame on you! How dare you to occupy the best place in the border? Do you think the river and the shade belong to you? Do you think you are the king? But no, you are not! I'll teach you!" The Giraffe left very angry, while the crocodile, once the agitation had calmed down, turned to the other side and fell asleep like a baby, disregarding the grousing of the Giraffe. However, the Giraffe was a scientist, as we know, and she didn't intend to give up. Now, she had only one thought in mind: to invent a potion that would turn her into a crocodile. That would be great and everybody would know who was really in charge there! The Giraffe worked tirelessly in her laboratory. She experimented, and changed, and tried again, until she finally managed to invent a magic potion suitable to the situation. Victoriously,
the Giraffe returned to the border of the river, where
the crocodile was still sleeping. But the scientist was
so excited she didn't even notice that. "Look!" she said. And she took the magic potion very quickly. As it was to be expected, the effects appeared in a second. The whole Giraffe trembled, a chill ran down her spine, and the elegant legs shrank until we couldn't see them. Her body became small and almost plump, green coloured and soft, laying down on a tender little leaf. And, not far way, the snoring crocodile appeared to her as a gigantic monster, an enormous dinosaur. "Mummy...", cried with a shrill voice the Giraffe, who had turned into a caterpillar. "My invention failed..." Only you and I took notice of this Giraffe's anecdote, of course. No one else ever got to know it. The crocodile didn't, because he slept all the time, dreaming with wonderful bathes in the river. The other animals didn't either, because they had seen nothing. The Giraffe resented, naturally. It was quite a blow in her self-esteeme. Yet she didn't give up. She worked hard all night long. She wove and wove tirelessly, and in the early hours of the morning she broke the cocoon and faced the first rays of the sun. Then, beautiful butterfly of a thousand colours, spread its wings and flied away. ........ |
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Copyright © 1998-2001 - Ilona Bastos. All Rights ReservedBackground Sound: Tchaikovsky, Overture |
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