“Oh, ho! I know what the matter was,” the man said. “The tiger tickled the lion. Tamba tickled Nero with his tail through the bars of the cage. That’s what made Nero angry. Tamba, you’re a bad, mischievous tiger!” and he shook his finger at the striped animal. Tamba walked over to the corner of his cage and curled up.
“Well, I had some fun, anyhow!” he thought. “I waked Nero up all right!”
And so he had. And now Nero knew what had happened, for Tum Tum, the jolly elephant, had seen it all, and Tum Tum said:
“It wasn’t a fly on the end of your nose, Nero; it was the fuzzy tip of Tamba’s tail. I saw him tickle you!”
“Oh, you did, did you?” cried Nero, and this time he did not roar. “Why did you tickle me, Tamba?”
“Oh, I didn’t like to see you sleeping so nicely when I couldn’t sleep, because I’m thinking so much of the jungle,” answered the tiger. “Besides, it was only a joke. I wanted to see if I could make you think my tail was a fly on your nose. I did.”
“Yes, you surely did,” admitted Nero. “I felt the tickle, even in my sleep. But if it was only a joke, Tamba, I won’t be angry. I like a joke as well as any one,” and Nero laughed in his lionish way. “But, after this, I’m going to sleep in the far corner of my cage, where your tail won’t reach me. A joke is all right, but sleep is better. Now it will be my turn to play a joke on you, Tamba.”
“Yes,” said Dido, the dancing bear, “you want to look out for yourself, Tamba. A joke is a joke on both sides.”
“Oh, well, I don’t care,” said Tamba, but he was not as jolly about it as he might have been.