moments she lay perfectly still, and then, with a long-drawn,
shuddering gasp, threw back her handsome head and died.

It was a cruel death, perhaps, yet it was merciful, for it was far
better to die like that than to grow old, or sick, and be torn to
death by one of her own kind, or left to starve in the jungle.

And, curiously enough, her skin eventually went to the very same
palace where Tranta's had been sent some time before.




HIPPO, THE HIPPOPOTAMUS


Hippo came to the conclusion, in his heavy, phlegmatic way, that
perhaps, as it was getting dark and he was very hungry, it would be as
well to go and get something to eat. So, moving his huge body, and his
short, stumpy legs, he prepared to look around and find his supper.

He was not handsome, by any means. He had an enormous body, a wide
head and nose, big mouth and teeth, and, although he only stood about
four feet high, his tiny eyes, ears and tail made him look ridiculous,
for they were out of all proportion to the rest of his body. As he
crawled out of the damp, marshy ground in which he loved to pass his
time, he seemed one of the ugliest and most awkward of animals, and so
indeed he was.

He had not even a hairy or furry coat to hide some of his ugliness,