“Oh,” answered the monkey, “it’s a place where they have more houses than there are trees in the woods, but I don’t like it. Once I was in a city park menagerie, and I never got half enough peanuts. I don’t like the noise, either.”
There was a great deal of noise as the wagon, with the cages of Sharp Eyes and Chacko on it, rattled through the streets.
At last the wagon turned into a quieter place, where there was much green grass and many trees.
“Oh! are they taking me back home again?” asked Sharp Eyes aloud, as he saw the trees. “This looks a little like my home,” and he looked down from the wagon, hoping to see a hollow tree.
“No, this is not the forest,” said Chacko, the monkey. “This is a menagerie, or zoo. I remember the place. I lived here a number of years ago. I am glad to be back, for here the children give you many peanuts. They don’t feed them all to the squirrels.”
“And so this is a zoo, is it?” asked Sharp Eyes.
“Yes, that’s what it is,” answered the monkey. “We’ll soon be put in larger cages, where the boys and girls can see us. You’ll like it in the zoo, Sharp Eyes.”
“I hope I shall,” returned the silver fox. “Oh, there is my friend Tum Tum!” he cried, as he caught sight of an elephant.