They had always lived upon the banks of this same river, so that every curve and sweep of its waters, every pit and shallow of its bed, every rock and stump³ and wallow upon its bank was as familiar to them as their own mothers. And they are living there yet, I suppose.

 

Not long ago the queen of this tribe of hippopotamuses had a child which she named Keo, because it was so fat and round. Still, that you may not be misled, I will say that in the hippopotamus¹ language "Keo," properly translated, means "fat and lazy" instead of fat and round. However, no one called the queen's attention to this error, because her tusks⁴ were monstrous⁵ long and sharp, and she thought Keo the sweetest baby in the world.

 

He was, indeed, all right for a hippopotamus. He rolled and played in the soft mud of the river bank, and waddled⁶ inland to nibble⁷ the leaves of the wild cabbage that grew there, and was happy and contented⁸ from morning till night. And he was the jolliest hippopotamus that ancient family had ever known. His little red eyes were forever twinkling with fun, and he laughed his merry laugh on all occasions, whether there was anything to laugh at or not.

 

Therefore the black people who dwelt in that region called him "Ippi"—the jolly one, although they dared not come anigh him on account of his fierce mother, and his equally fierce uncles and aunts and cousins, who lived in a vast colony upon the river bank.

 

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