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by
Anne English
There once was a time when none of the animals in the world had tails -not a single one.
The horse had no tail to swish away the flies. The dog had no tail to wag when he was happy and the monkey had no tail to curl round the branches when he was jumping from tree to tree.
The wise lion, who was king of the animals, knew there was something missing, and he thought and thought until he had a clever idea.
"Animals, animals," he roared, "I, the lion, the king of all the animals, command you to come to a meeting in the Great Meadow. Roar, roar!"
When they heard the lion roar every animal from far and near came hurrying to the Great Meadow. First came the fox and the squirrel, then the horse, the dog and the cat. Then came the monkey and the mouse. The lion waited for them all to arrive.
"Sit in a circle round me," he told them, "and hear what I have to say"
More and more animals came until the circle was almost complete. The elephant and the pig were nearly late, but last of all was the rabbit. He had been eating a carrot when he heard the lion roar, and had finished it before coming to the Great Meadow. And now he was the very last to arrive.
The lion held up his paw for silence.
"Friends," he said, "I have been thinking." He paused. "I have been thinking that something is missing for all of us, so I have invented -TAILS." And he held up a huge bag full of tails. "You will get one each," he told the animals, "and wear your own always." How the animals clapped and cheered their clever leader.
"Now, first come, first served," said the lion, "and as I was here first I get the first tail." And from the bag he pulled a marvellous long golden tail with a black tassel at the end, and put it on himself. How wonderful it made him look. He waved it proudly, while the animals watched, and waited for their tails.
The lion stood in the circle and called out, "The fox. " He gave the fox a long, thick, bushy tail, like a brush. Fox put it on and went away proudly.
"Next, the squirrel," said the lion. And the squirrel too got a huge bushy tail, which he curved up over his back before leaping away. The horse came next, and from the bag the lion pulled a long, strong, black tail, combed out until it was silky and straight. The horse was delighted, and galloped off swishing his new tail from side to side.
The cat and the dog came into the circle together, and they each received a straight tail which would wave or wag from side to side, or up and down, as they pleased. The monkey was given an extremely long tail. He curled it over his arm, so that he couldn't trip over it, and went jumping away into the trees.
By now the bag of tails was half empty, so there was not much choice for the elephant when it came to his turn. In fact his tail looks like a piece of chewed string -just look at it, if you see an elephant. But he put it on quite happily, and lumbered off.
"Mouse," called the lion, and the mouse came. Now considering how small a mouse is, he did very well, for the tail pulled from the bag for him was very long indeed. Mouse put it on and scuttled away, trailing his tail behind him.
"Humph!" said the lion, as the pig came up. "Not much left now," and he took out yet another straight, stringy tail. The pig was not pleased.
"The elephant and the mouse have tails like that," he said. "Can I have something different, please?" The lion shook his head.
"Sorry," he said, "you arrived almost last, and this is all there is."
"Oh, very well then," said the pig, taking the stringy tail and looking at it crossly. "This will just not suit me," he muttered, "just imagine a pig with a straight tail!"
As he walked away he trod on a thick twig.
"Hoink, hoink," he grunted, "I have an idea. Lions aren't the only ones with brains." And he took his tail and wrapped it tightly round the twig.
When he pulled the twig out the tail stayed curly: "I like that better," said the pig, and he stuck on his new curly tail.
Last of all to receive a tail was the rabbit. By now the lion was rather tired of tails, and he hurriedly shook the bag upside down to get out the last one. It was tiny -just a tiny thin piece of tail. The poor rabbit was disappointed, but he knew there was nothing left, so he thanked the lion and took the tail. But it was so small he couldn't bring himself to put it on.
"This is just a nothing tail," he told himself. "Not a bushy tail, like the fox's, or swishy like the horse's. Not even long enough to wave or wag. I will look silly with this one." He sighed. The lion had given them all tails, and they would have to wear them, the rabbit knew.
As the rabbit wandered along, thinking about his piece of tail, he came to a prickly bush, and had a wonderful idea.
"Rabbits can think as well as lions and pigs," he said. And he took his tail and stroked it gently backwards and forwards over the prickles, until the tail became soft and round.
"That's better," thought the rabbit, looking at it happily: Then he stuck on his new fluffy tail, and bobbed away merrily.
