30 lines
1.7 KiB
Plaintext
30 lines
1.7 KiB
Plaintext
THE HARE AND THE ELEPHANT
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Once upon a time . . . in the Indian jungle, lived a young elephant whose
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playmate was a very large hare. In spite of the difference in size, they were
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great friends and had fun playing strange guessing games. One day, the hare
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said to his chum:
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"Which of us is bigger: you or me?" At that silly question, the little
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elephant nearly choked on his banana.
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"You must be joking!" he exclaimed. "Why, even on tiptoe, you re not as
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high as my knee!" But the hare went on:
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"That's what you think! Since I say that I'm bigger than you, we need a
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judge. Don't you agree?"
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"Oh, yes," said the elephant in surprise.
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"Well, let's go along to the village and see what the Humans have to say.
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They're the cleverest of all the animals, and the best judges!" As they
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reached the village, they met some of the villagers.
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"Look at that young elephant! Isn't he small?" folk remarked as the unusual
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couple strolled by.
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"Yes, he is indeed! But he'll soon grow up," said others. Then somebody
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noticed the hare.
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"What a huge hare!" they all cried. Now, the hare tried to keep in front of
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elephant and puffed out his chest. As he passed, all the villagers exclaimed:
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"Look at his paws! And those ears! That's the biggest hare we've ever
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seen!" When he heard this, the hare turned to his friend, saying,
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"We can go home now! That's settled! I'm huge and you're tiny!" The
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elephant tossed his heavy head. At a loss for words, he knew the hare had won
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by low cunning. But back on the jungle path, he lifted his foot and said to
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the hare, walking ahead, "Get out of my way before a tiny elephant crushes a
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big hare like you!"
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