“To slay thee, tyrant, had I killed my boy,” answered Tell. Gessler ordered him to be seized, but in the confusion Tell took his son in his arms and escaped to his mountain home. Some time after this as Gessler was riding through the forest, Tell drew his bow and shot an arrow straight through the heart of the tyrant. In this way was Switzerland freed from tyranny.
THE ELEPHANT’S TRUNK
In which we find out what happened by asking questions.
At first elephants had short noses. Listen while I tell you how they came to have long noses, which we call trunks.
Once there was a little elephant who lived in Africa. He asked ever so many questions. He asked the ostrich why her feathers grew so long. He asked the giraffe what made his skin spotty. He asked the hippopotamus why her eyes were red. He asked about everything he saw.
One morning he asked: “What does the crocodile have for dinner?” Everybody said: “Hush! Don’t ask so many foolish questions!”
He came upon the Kolokolo bird sitting on a thorn bush and asked what the crocodile has for dinner. She told him to go to the Limpo river and find out. The next morning he went to the river.
He had never seen a crocodile, so when he saw one he did not know it. He first saw a big snake on a rock and said: