XII AT LITTLE MONKEY’S SWIMMING SCHOOL

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 tightly¹ 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 awkward². They were all the time catching³ 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 vexed⁴, 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 revenge⁵.

 

“Tiger,” he said, “if you would keep your mouth from being open so much, and Zebra, if you would not splash⁶ 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 Antelope⁷ 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. Leopard⁸, who was all spotted⁹, 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 gaily¹⁰ 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 queer¹¹ as do two very mean animals who are lying on this beach all dressed up in ugly, striped bathing suits.”

 

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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. Hyena¹² 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 pointed¹³ 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.

 

1 tightly   

adv.紧紧地，坚固地，牢固地

参考例句：

• My child holds onto my hand tightly while we cross the street.横穿马路时，孩子紧拉着我的手不放。
• The crowd pressed together so tightly that we could hardly breathe.人群挤在一起，我们几乎喘不过气来。

2 awkward   

adj.笨拙的，尴尬的，使用不便的，难处理的

参考例句：

• John is so shy and awkward that everyone notices him.约翰如此害羞狼狈，以至于大家都注意到了他。
• I was the only man among the guests and felt rather awkward.作为客人中的唯一男性，我有些窘迫。

3 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

4 vexed   

adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
• He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 revenge   

v.报...之仇，为...报仇 ；n.报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• She poisoned his mind with ideas of hate and revenge.她用复仇的思想来毒害他的心灵。
• There was anger in his eyes and revenge in his heart.他两眼闪现怒火，一心只想复仇。

6 splash   

v.溅，泼；n.溅泼声，溅出的水等，斑点

参考例句：

• I fell into the water with a splash.我跌入水中，激起水花四溅。
• There's a splash of paint on the white wall.白墙上溅上了一片油漆。

7 antelope   

n.羚羊；羚羊皮

参考例句：

• Choosing the antelope shows that China wants a Green Olympics.选择藏羚羊表示中国需要绿色奥运。
• The tiger was dragging the antelope across the field.老虎拖着羚羊穿过原野。

8 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

9 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

10 gaily   

adv.欢乐地，高兴地

参考例句：

• The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
• She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。

11 queer   

adj.奇怪的，异常的，不舒服的，眩晕的

参考例句：

• I heard some queer footsteps.我听到某种可疑的脚步声。
• She has been queer lately.她最近身体不舒服。

12 hyena   

n.土狼，鬣狗

参考例句：

• African hyena noted for its distinctive howl.非洲鬣狗，以其特别的嚎叫而闻名。
• The hyena's public image is not aided by its ridiculous appearance.鬣狗滑稽的外表无助于改善它在公众心中的形象。

13 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。