Children's Story - 2

How the Neck Grew

The giraffe used to enjoy the company of the deer.  In fact, it looked like the deer, with a short neck. The giraffe and the deer were afraid of the tiger, the leopard and the lion.  So, they wandered together, picking berries and eating grass which were soft and sweet.

The little giraffe used to enjoy eating berries much more than the leaves.  The giraffe was like any other animal, but it could not produce any sound.  It could not roar like a lion, bleat like a goat, neigh like a horse trumpet like an elephant or bark like a dog. So, many animals found pleasure in teasing the mute giraffe.

The fox would play tricks and the bear would frighten it.  The monkey found pleasure in teasing the giraffe.  Seeing this was an entertainment for many other animals.

The monkey knew that the giraffe likes grapes more than any other fruit. It would pretend friendliness and ask,

            “Would you like to have a bunch of grapes?”

Naturally the giraffe would move its head to say, “Yes”.  “Say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ “ – the monkey would demand.  To this also, the giraffe would only move its head. 

            “If you come with me, I will get you a big bunch of grapes.  Will you come with me?”

Drops of saliva dripped from the mouth of the giraffe.  But it just moved its head.

            “Oh! What a bunch it is going to be!” continued the  monkey.

            “So sweet and juicy!  No other animal would have tasted such a sweet bunch.”

The giraffe’s mouth began to water all the more.  It followed the monkey.  As it walked its dreams were all about tasting its dream fruit.

The monkey led the giraffe to a deep forest.  To its surprise, it found all the animals in the forest had assembled there.  Yes, once again the monkey had decided to play a joke on the giraffe, to amuse other animals.

            “Do you want that bunch?”

The giraffe moved its head to say “Yes”.

            “Open your mouth to say Yes or No”, said the monkey.

The giraffe  moved its head again.  All the other animals gave a big roar of laughter.  The monkey climbed the tree and showed a big bunch on the vine and asked,

            “Is it this bunch that you want?” 

When the giraffe moved its head, there was again a thunderous laughter from other animals.  The monkey showed the bunch from a height and asked the giraffe to eat it.  The giraffe lifted its forelegs and stretched its little neck and tongue to reach the grapes.  It gave a jerk to its neck.  The laughter of other animals put the giraffe to shame, but the giraffe wouldn’t easily get defeated.  It  started jerking its neck and continued the attempt.  It was real fun for all other animals.

Each time it jerked, the neck became longer.  For some time the monkey did not realize it.  When it knew that the giraffe was sure to reach the bunch it was holding, it hopped on to higher branches.  The giraffe wouldn’t yield.  It jerked and jerked, and its neck grew inch by inch.  Along with its grew its legs making it taller and taller.

The other animals  could not believe their eyes.  The monkey hopped and hopped, and it had no higher branches to hop on.  The giraffe’s neck  had grown so long that it snatched the bunch from the monkey’s hand.  Then it  turned to  the other  bunches on the vine.

There was no laughter from the animals.  After  finishing the grapes, the giraffe with its l-o-o-o-ong neck started walking back.  That is why the giraffe  has such a majestic walk besides its long neck.  Today, it can pluck any berry from any height, which no other animal can reach.