Animal Stories - Page 5

Food for the vultures

One hot day, a lion and a wild boar arrived at a small spring together. There was only room for one at a time, and they argued so fiercely about who should drink first that they began to fight.

The lion slashed the boar with his sharp claws, and they boar tossed the lion with his great tusks. The more they fought the thirstier they became, but neither stopped to think how silly they were until they hear some vultures cackling in the sky above. They were waiting for one of them to kill the other so they  could fly down and eat the loser.

"What fools we are to be fighting like this," said the lion. "We'll only end up as food for villainous vultures and crows," said the boar. "Please drink first, you beautiful boar," said the lion. "No. no, loveliest of lions, you drink first," insisted the boar. And they became the best of friends.

A wolf in sheep's clothing – for supper

Another wolf – as big and bad as the others – thought of a clever trick for getting an easy supper. Instead of throwing away the skin of the sheep he'd just eaten, he wrapped it round himself so tightly that even the other sheep couldn't tell the difference. Then he crept into the farmer's sheep barn just before the door was locked for the night. "Ha, ha," he chuckled to himself. "This is easier than falling off a log."

Then, the door opened again. The farmer had decided to kill a sheep for his supper. "That one looks fat and plump," he said. And with that he grabbed the disguised wolf and dropped him in a big pot of boiling water.

Talk as much as you like – but carry a big stick

Hares are rather noisy animals that love to hear themselves talking. One day a hare was giving a long speech, waving his paws around, to a lot of other animals. They were getting rather bored when two lions strolled up. They listened quietly while the hare told the animals they should all have fair shares of everything. "What do you think, Mr Lion?" the hare asked one of them at last. "Yes, a good speech," said the lion with a yawn. "But if you want anyone to take you seriously, you need to have big teeth and sharp claws."

Shutting the stable door when the horse has gone

Every night as Bill the Bat went swooping by the little cottage to hunt, he heard a nightingale singing in its cage by the open window. One night he stopped, and perched on the edge of the roof. "Why do you only sing at night?" he asked the nightingale. "It's because I was so busy singing in the daytime that I was caught," she replied. "Now I will only sing at night." Bill sniffed and looked down his beak at her. "Not much good being careful now," he said. "You should have thought of that before they caught you." And he went gliding away into the night.

One question too many

As you know if you live near one, foxes are always asking questions. A wild boar was sharpening his tusks against a tree trunk one day, when along came a curious fox. "Oh, dear," groaned the boar under its breath. "This fox is always asking silly questions. He'll drive me mad one day." "Whatever are you doing?" asked the fox, without saying "Good morning" first. "Sharpening my tusks so I can toss fools in the air," growled the boar. "How odd," replied the fox. "Why do you want to do that?" "To stop them asking stupid questions," snapped the boar, and tossed the fox into the top of the tree.

The empty-headed wolf

Fanny the farm dog was sleeping peacefully in the sun against the wall of the barn.Suddenly, she heard a noise and opened one eye. There was a big wolf licking his lips and looking hungry.

"Oh dear," said Fanny to herself. "I must think quickly!" "I expect you want to eat me for dinner, Mr Wolf," she said, "but look at me. I'm skinny and thin. Tonight, my master and his family are having a big feast with their friends. There'll be lots of left-overs for me. Come back this time tomorrow and I'll be nice and fat." "That's a good idea," said the wolf. "I enjoy a plump dog. I'll have a mouse for supper today, and leave plenty of room for you tomorrow." And off he went. Next day the wolf returned, with his mouth watering. He looked around for Fanny and spotted her fast asleep on the roof of the barn. "What are you doing up there?" he shouted. "Come down at once." "Oh no," called Fanny. There's only room down there for one fool."

The timid lion

A big lion was just dropping off to sleep one dark night when he heard a strange croaking noise that seemed to come from the lake nearby. The lion put his paws over his ears, but the darker the night the louder the noise. The lion began to have nightmares. "There's a dreadful monster living in the lake," he thought. "It comes out at night to eat lions." He lay flat under a bush, hardly daring to breathe. At last, the first grey light appeared. The lion looked out fearfully, but all he could see were dozens of bullfrogs croaking away. "Fancy being afraid of the dark," he said to himself. "What a big silly I am."

Fooled by his own shadow

A big bad wolf was coming home one day as the sun set. As he turned his head he caught sight of his shadow. It was enormous.

"Fancy that," said the wolf. "I'm much taller and longer than I thought I was. In fact, I'm really a very strong, handsome fellow. Why I'm even bigger than that lion over there. If I go over and growl at him he'll probably ask me to be king of the animals in his place."

So he walked over importantly and growled, and the lion immediately jumped on him and ate him. "That wolf was a fool," thought the lion, "but he tasted good."