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“Ian, I thought
all day about what story I was going to tell you tonight and I’ve got the
perfect one.” Mac tapped Ian on the shoulder.
“You know what,
Mac? I don’t think I need a story tonight. I’m so tired that I’m ready to
fall asleep. I’m sure you’re tired of telling me stories.”
“Oh no I’m not.
I’ve got a great one for tonight. Let me tell you,” Mac pleaded.
“All right. I’m
all ears.”
“My ancestor,
Gulliver Raccoon, was a great explorer. He traveled the world with Marco
Polo. They went all over China and to India. When they arrived in India,
Marco Polo wanted to visit some other people, so Gulliver stayed in the
city. He found a huge tree and slept inside a hole in the middle of the
trunk. Each day he’d wander about. He had to be careful to avoid the cows.
They were everywhere. There was also plenty to eat; fruit, vegetables,
bread and rice. Gulliver enjoyed his visit, until one day. An Indian man
named Haramba, was out picking rice. His back hurt and he was weak from
hunger. He was a very poor man who had only one ox. He lived in a
dilapidated shack on the outskirts of the city.
“Gulliver went
exploring the woods. He’d heard about tigers and wanted to see one for
himself. The woods skirted the rice paddies. He saw all sorts of people
bent over taking care of the rice. Gulliver ignored them and continued his
search for the tiger. He didn’t see the bag that fell over his head and
scooped him up or the man who’d thrown it. Gulliver screamed and kicked
and wanted out of the bag. He knew it wasn’t the tiger!
“Haramba tied the
bag up and carried it over his shoulder. He ignored Gulliver’s kicks and
punches. When Haramba got to the river, he looked for a boat. Haramba
didn’t have his own boat, so he borrowed someone else’s and dropped the
bag into the boat. Haramba was happy. He could take the raccoon to the
palace and sell it to the Rajah for a lot of money. The Rajah had a zoo on
his palace grounds with all sorts of strange animals. Haramba had never
seen a striped animal like this with patches around its eyes. He rowed
across the wide river and arrived at the royal palace.
“He picked up the
bag and carried it over his shoulder. He went around to the back of the
palace and found the zoo area. After a bargaining session, he handed
Gulliver over to a palace guard and zookeeper and walked off with a bag of
gold coins. Gulliver was taken out of the bag and put in a cage with a few
other animals. He stayed there for days, forced to eat slop and bits of
rotting melon.”
“Poor Gulliver. I
wouldn’t want to be kept in a cage,” Ian said.
“He didn’t want to
either. It just so happens that Marco Polo went to visit the Rajah, who
invited him to his zoo. When he came upon the cage with Gulliver in it, he
demanded Gulliver’s release. The Rajah let Gulliver free and he continued
his journeys around the world with Marco Polo.”
“That was a nice
story, Mac. You’ve got a lot of interesting ancestors,” Ian said.
“I’m truly blessed
that way, aren’t I? Well, time for bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” Mac
yawned and lay down on the branch. Both Ian and Mac dreamed all night
about tigers and royal palaces. |
