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.”

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