An apilibish, or butterfly, exactly of the color of a dead leaf, said: “I am fortunate, for I am not easily noticed when I stand still; but as soon as I fly I am espied by those horrid birds. How I hate birds! So many of them are seeking the lives of us poor butterflies who do not harm them.”
Another butterfly of brilliant colors said: “How thankful I am to be able to fly so quickly and erratically! If it were not for this, I should have very little chance to live, for the birds can espy me so far away with my bright colors. They make for me, and try to seize me in their horrid ugly bills. My fleetness is a great gift indeed, and helps me to escape from them.”
A tiny viviki, or mosquito, said: “How I hate spiders, dragon flies, and their kind, for they like to feed upon us poor mosquitoes.” These blood-thirsty little creatures never thought of those whom they plagued to death, and who wished they were all dead.
An oseli, or lizard, said: “I am glad I am so green, so that I can approach my prey.” The frogs and the toads also praised their colors, for they too could draw near their prey and not be so easily seen by their enemies.
Every insect, every fly, small or large, was complaining of an enemy. Every animal and bird of the forest was doing the same thing, according to its own point of view; but they said nothing of their own doings of the same kind to every creature they persecuted or preyed upon. These had also their own point of view in regard to them.
Furthermore, a wise insect, while listening to the woes of one of his kind, said: “If we had no enemies, we should multiply so fast that there would be no room for all the insects in the forest.”
A totangoli, or chameleon, said: “Great gifts have been given to me; my skin changes color according to my surroundings. If I am walking in the grass, it turns green; farther on, if I find myself on a fallen tree, it takes the color of the bark. During the day I cannot tell the different shades of color which it takes. This continual change of color keeps me from being easily seen by my enemies, and allows me to approach flies and insects on which I feed.”
CHAPTER XXXVIII
THE NJOKOOS, OR ELEPHANTS
Several herds of njokoos that had been hunted mercilessly by men in the immense shrub-covered country in which they had lived all their lives, encountered one another one day. Wherever they went, the hand of the human beings was against them. If they went one way, they met them; if they went another, they met them again. They had no peace, and were relentlessly pursued everywhere.
So the njokoos hated human beings, and wondered how a creature so small, compared with their huge bodies, often slew them, and why they were so full of evil devices to set snares to kill them. The old njokoos, who had seen nearly one hundred rainy seasons, remembered the time when they could roam in peace in vast herds over a great part of the land. But now it was not so, and every year the herds became smaller and smaller, so many were killed. Every njokoo missed some friend who had been his or her constant companion. They were all filled with sorrow, which they expressed by trumpetings. These were followed by a long silence. The njokoos were all thinking.