Turtle. I took him on my back. When we got to the land he sprang off my back and up the nearest tree. He told his brothers what had happened to him. Then they all rushed at me. They tore off my shell and threw my body back into the sea without it.
Queen Osa. Poor Turtle! Never mind. I’ll give you another shell, for you did your best. Some one must have been telling the monkey tales. Jellyfish, you were his friend. Do you know anything about this?
Jellyfish. I told the monkey that we were going to kill him so that we could get his heart for you. I told him to try and be brave about it.
Queen Osa. You are to blame, then, Jellyfish, for all this trouble. To punish you for meddling, I will take away your shell. And you must go without it forever.
—Oriental Fable.
I WOULD LIKE YOU FOR A COMRADE
Little Girl. I would like you for a comrade, for I love you, that I do,
I never met a little calf as amiable as you;
I would teach you how to dance and sing and how to talk and laugh,
If I were not a little girl and you were not a calf.
Little Calf. I would like you for a comrade; you should share my barley meal
And butt me with your little horns just hard enough to feel;
We would lie beneath the chestnut trees and watch the leaves uncurl,
If I were not a clumsy calf and you a little girl.
—Judge Parry.
