“Don? Who is Don?” asked Dido.
“Don is a runaway dog. That is, he once ran away,” explained the elephant, reaching for a peanut which a boy held out to him. “But Don is home now after his many adventures.”
“What are adventures?” asked Dido.
“Things that happen to you,” answered Tum Tum. “I had many adventures, and so did Don. A man wrote a book about each of us.”
“What is a book?” asked Dido.
“Oh, don’t ask me,” said Tum Tum. “All I know is that’s what they called it. A book is a queer thing. It is square, like a loaf of bread, but not so thick—at least the books about Don and me were not so thick. And inside the book are thin pieces of something they call pages, or leaves, though they are not green like the leaves of a tree. The leaves in the book are white and on them are funny black marks. And when boys and girls look at the funny black marks, which tell about Don and me, they laugh, those boys and girls do, for I have heard them say so when they come here to the circus to see me.”
“I wonder if my adventures will ever be put in a book?” asked Dido.
“Maybe so,” answered Tum Tum, the jolly elephant. “Have you had many things happen to you?”
“Oh, lots and lots!” cried the dancing bear. “I used to live in the woods, and I went in a box to get some honey and I found myself in a trap.”