JUST SO STORIES

By Rudyard Kipling

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• How the Whale Got His Throat
• How the Camel Got His Hump
• How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin
• How the Leopard Got His Spots
• The Elephant's Child
• The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo
• The Beginning of the Armadillos
• How the First Letter Was Written
• How the Alphabet Was Made
• The Crab That Played with the Sea
• The Cat That Walked by Himself
• The Butterfly That Stamped

HOW THE WHALE GOT HIS THROAT

Long, long ago, in the sea, there lived a Whale. He ate fish. He ate every kind of fish you can think of — starfish, crabs, and eels too. He gobbled up every fish in the whole sea, until only one small fish was left.

This fish was called the 'Stute Fish. ('Stute is a short way of saying "smart.") He swam close to the Whale's ear, so he would be safe.

The Whale stood up on his tail and said, "I'm hungry!"

The small 'Stute Fish said, "Great Whale, have you ever tasted Man?"

"No," said the Whale. "What's that like?"

"Nice," said the 'Stute Fish. "Nice, but a little bumpy to chew."

"Then bring me some!" said the Whale, splashing the sea with his tail.

"One is enough," said the 'Stute Fish. "Swim to a certain spot far out at sea, and you will find a shipwrecked sailor sitting on a raft. He has blue pants, suspenders (straps that hold up pants), and a pocket-knife. He is a very clever man."

So the Whale swam and swam until he found the sailor floating on his raft, dipping his toes in the water. (His mother had said he could paddle his feet, so he did.)

The Whale opened his mouth wide — wider — widest, until it almost touched his tail. Then he swallowed the sailor whole, raft, blue pants, suspenders, and pocket-knife too! He smacked his lips and spun around three times.

But the sailor was clever. As soon as he found himself inside the Whale's dark, warm belly, he began to stomp and jump and bang and dance around. He would not sit still. The Whale felt terrible.

"This man is bumpy," the Whale told the 'Stute Fish, "and now I have the hiccups! What do I do?"

"Tell him to come out," said the 'Stute Fish.

So the Whale called down his own throat, "Come out and behave! I've got the hiccups!"

"No," said the sailor. "Take me home to my own shore first. Then I'll think about it." And he danced even harder.

"You'd better take him home," the 'Stute Fish told the Whale. "I should have warned you — he's very clever."

So the Whale swam and swam, hiccupping the whole way, until he reached the sailor's home shore. He opened his mouth wide, and the sailor walked out.

But while the Whale was swimming, the clever sailor had used his knife to cut the raft into a small square grate — like a screen with crossed bars. He tied it tight with his suspenders (that's why you must remember the suspenders!) and wedged it firmly inside the Whale's throat. There it stuck fast!

Then he said this little rhyme:

By means of a grating
I have stopped your eating.

The sailor walked home to his mother and lived happily ever after. So did the Whale — but from that day on, the grate stuck in his throat. He could not cough it up or swallow it down. So now whales can only eat very small fish. That is why whales never eat people anymore.

The small 'Stute Fish hid himself in the mud, afraid the Whale might be angry with him.

The sailor kept the knife, but he left the suspenders behind — tied inside the Whale's throat — and that is the end of that story.

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When the ship rocks and sways in the deep green sea,
And the trunks start to slide across the floor,
When you're not washed or dressed as you should be —
Then you'll know you are far, far from shore!

HOW THE CAMEL GOT HIS HUMP

Now here is the story of how the Camel got his big hump.

Long ago, when the world was new, the Animals were just starting to work for Man. There was a Camel who lived in the middle of a big, empty desert because he did not want to work. He was lazy and grumpy. He ate sticks and thorns and weeds all day, doing nothing at all. Whenever anyone spoke to him, he only said, "Humph!" Nothing else.

On Monday, the Horse came to him wearing a saddle and said, "Camel, come out and trot like the rest of us!"

"Humph!" said the Camel. The Horse went off and told the Man.

Then the Dog came, carrying a stick, and said, "Camel, come and fetch and carry like the rest of us!"

"Humph!" said the Camel. The Dog went off and told the Man.

Then the Ox came, wearing his yoke (a wooden bar used for pulling), and said, "Camel, come and plough like the rest of us!"

"Humph!" said the Camel. The Ox went off and told the Man.

That evening, the Man called the Horse, the Dog, and the Ox together and said, "I'm sorry, friends, but that Humph-thing won't work. So you three will just have to work twice as hard."

This made the Three very angry. They held a meeting at the edge of the desert. The Camel came over, chewing weeds lazily, and laughed at them. Then he said "Humph!" and walked away again.

Just then, the Djinn (a magical spirit) in charge of All Deserts came rolling by in a cloud of dust. He stopped to talk with the Three.

"Djinn," said the Horse, "is it right for anyone to be lazy, with the world so new?"

"Certainly not," said the Djinn.

"Well," said the Horse, "there's someone out in your desert who hasn't worked at all since Monday. He won't trot."

"That's my Camel!" said the Djinn. "What does he say about it?"

"He just says 'Humph!'" said the Dog. "And he won't fetch or carry."

"He says nothing else," said the Ox, "and he won't plough."

"Very well," said the Djinn. "I'll fix him. Just wait."

The Djinn found the Camel lazily staring at his own reflection in a puddle.

"My friend," said the Djinn, "what's this about you doing no work, with the world so new?"

"Humph!" said the Camel.

The Djinn sat down and thought very hard, planning a great piece of magic, while the Camel kept staring at himself in the water.

"You've made the other three work extra hard because you are so lazy," said the Djinn, still thinking.

"Humph!" said the Camel.

"I wouldn't say that again if I were you," said the Djinn. "You might say it once too often. Now — I want you to work!"

The Camel said "Humph!" once more — and right away, he felt his back puff up! It grew into a big lump.

"Do you see that?" said the Djinn. "That is your very own hump. You made it happen by refusing to work. Today is Thursday, and you haven't worked since Monday. Now you will work."

"How can I," said the Camel, "with this hump on my back?"

"That hump was made on purpose," said the Djinn. "Now you can work for three days without eating, because you can live off your hump. Go join the other Three, and behave yourself!"

So the Camel went off, hump and all, to join the other animals. And to this very day, the Camel always wears a hump (now we just call it a "hump," so as not to hurt his feelings). But he has never made up for those three days he missed. And he still has not learned how to behave.

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The Camel's hump is an ugly lump —
You can see it at the zoo.
But an uglier hump is the lazy hump
From having too little to do!

Kids and grown-ups too,
If we don't have enough to do,
We get the hump —
That grumpy hump —
The hump that is black and blue!

We wake up cranky, with hair a mess,
Growling and grumbling too.
We frown at our boots, our bath, our toys —
Oh, what is a body to do?

The cure for this trouble is not to sit still
Reading books by the fire.
Take a shovel and dig in the dirt instead,
Until you start to perspire (sweat)!

Then the sun and the wind will blow it away —
That horrible, grumpy hump —
And you'll feel just fine, all black-and-blue-free,
No more of that lazy old lump!

HOW THE RHINOCEROS GOT HIS SKIN

Once upon a time, on a lonely island by the shores of the Red Sea, there lived a Parsee (a man from Persia). The sun shone so brightly off his hat that it sparkled more than words can say...