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"Salome, the camel, has ten humps.
Salome, the camel, has ten humps. Salome, the camel, has ten humps, so
ride, Salome, ride. Salome, the camel, has nine humps."
"Oh no. Not again. He's singing
again, Caliph. It’s always the same old song about Salome, the camel. Make
him stop, please," complained Omar, the dromedary.
Life in the desert wasn't always so
great, at least for Caliph and Omar. The five camels lived amongst the
date palms, pyramids, and sand dunes. Four of the five were unhappy and
that was because of Derik. He lived near the big pyramid, under the date
palm, right in the middle of the oasis and all he did was sing. It wasn't
just because he sang. It was that he sang the same song, over, and over,
and over again; day after day, week after week, month after month. Caliph
and Omar were tired of it, as was Ali, and his little baby, Wael.
One night, Wael fussed until the wee
hours of the morning. Ali was very tired. He sat in the shadow of the
pyramid, rocking Wael, trying to get him to sleep. All night long, as the
crickets chirped, and the owls hooted, Wael cried. When the sun came up,
he finally went to sleep. Ali didn't dare put him down, so he held him as
he snored softly. Just as Ali began to doze off, Derik began to sing
loudly, "Salome, the camel, has ten humps. Salome, the camel, has ten
humps. Salome, the camel, has ten humps, so ride, Salome, ride. Salome,
the camel, has nine humps..."
Wael's big brown eyes opened wide
and he began to cry. "Derik!" Ali yelled. "Would you please stop singing?
You've woken Wael up!"
Derik said, "I'm sorry," and stopped
singing. Instead he munched on a few dates. Wael went back to sleep and
Ali shut his tired eyes.
Later that day, Caliph was reading a
poem by Rudyard Kipling, 'How The Camel Got His Hump'. He was to a very
interesting part when he heard, "Salome, the camel, has seven humps.
Salome, the camel, has seven humps. Salome, the camel, has seven humps, so
ride, Salome, ride."
He couldn't concentrate on what he
was reading. He turned this way and that, trying not to let Derik's
singing irritate him, but finally he got very angry and called over, "Derik.
Please stop that singing. I can't read. You're disturbing me!"
Derik said, "I'm sorry," and stopped
singing. He ate some more dates and then took a nap.
Wael woke up so Ali took him for a
walk. Omar and Caliph went to get a drink from the spring that bubbled up
the center of the oasis. Seeing that they were all gone, Derik sang his
little heart out. "Salome, the camel, has five humps. Salome, the camel,
has five humps. Salome, the camel, has five humps, so ride, Salome, ride."
As he was singing the song for the tenth time, a cluster of dates fell out
of the palm and landed on his blanket, which was made of gold threads and
red tassels and lay across his hump. He stopped singing and looked around.
There stoods Ahmed, his master,
pushing the tree back and forth. He yelled at Derik, "Would you stop
singing that song! I can hear it clear on the other side of the pyramid.
It's very annoying!"
Derik said, "I'm sorry," and stopped
singing. Instead he munched on some dates.
That night, after all the camels had
returned, they noticed that Derik wasn't singing. This made them very
happy. Caliph sat down and finished reading his poem. Ali got Wael to
sleep and then dozed off himself. Omar gazed up into the stars, enjoying
the peace and quiet.
 When morning came, nobody heard
Derik singing. They went over to the date palm and found Derik lying
there. He was very sick. You see, every time someone had asked him to stop
singing, he'd eaten dates. He had been told so many times to stop, that
he'd eaten too many dates. Now he was sick. Derik was ill that entire day.
The others were worried about him.
Ahmed, the master, heard about Derik
and came to see if he could help. He stayed all day with him and then,
seeing that he was still sick, he stayed all night long too, nursing him
back to health. Every camel at the oasis felt sad. They actually began to
miss not hearing Derik sing.
In the morning, when Derik woke up,
he felt normal again. Ahmed petted him and then went back to the other
side of the pyramid. Derik looked at the others. He knew that his singing
bothered them, so he didn't utter a note. While Derik slept, the other
camels had talked together. They approached him. "Please sing, Derik," Ali
begged. "We missed not hearing you sing. Wael missed you too. Sing for us,
please?"
Derik smiled a big smile. He sang,
"Salome, the camel, has ten humps..." The others were happy because as
long as they heard Derik singing, they knew he was feeling well. From then
on Derik tried not to sing the song quite as much, especially if Caliph
was trying to read, or if Ali was trying to get Wael to sleep. The date
palms swayed in the afternoon breezes to the sound of Derik’s voice.
"Salome, the camel, has no humps. Salome, the camel, has no humps. Salome,
the camel, has no hums, 'cause Salome is a horse." |
