March 15, 2025 • 51 mins
Read along at Ririro.com
"My Father's Dragon" tells the story of Elmer Elevator, who runs away from home to rescue a baby dragon held captive on Wild Island. Equipped with supplies suggested by a clever cat, Elmer bravely faces the island's wild animals, using his wit and resources to outsmart them at every turn. He eventually frees the dragon from its captors, and together they escape, beginning a lasting friendship.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-kids-stories-0-6-years--6559507/support.
"My Father's Dragon" tells the story of Elmer Elevator, who runs away from home to rescue a baby dragon held captive on Wild Island. Equipped with supplies suggested by a clever cat, Elmer bravely faces the island's wild animals, using his wit and resources to outsmart them at every turn. He eventually frees the dragon from its captors, and together they escape, beginning a lasting friendship.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-kids-stories-0-6-years--6559507/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My Father's Dragon. My Father Meets the Cat Part one.
One cold, rainy day, when my father was a little boy,
he met an old alley cat on his street. The
cat was very drippy and uncomfortable, so my father said,
wouldn't you like to come home with me? This surprised
(00:23):
the cat. She had never before met any one who
cared about old alley cats, but she said, I'd be
very much obliged if I could sit by a warm
furnace and perhaps have a saucer of milk. We have
a very nice furnace to sit by, said my father,
(00:43):
and I'm sure my mother has an extra saucer of milk.
My father and the cat became good friends, but my
father's mother was very upset about the cat. She hated cats,
particularly ugly old alley cats Elmer elevator. She said to
(01:03):
my father, if you think I'm going to give that
cat a saucer of milk, you're very wrong. Once you
start feeding stray alley cats, you might as well expect
to feed every stray in town, and I am not
going to do it. This made my father very sad,
(01:24):
and he apologized to the cat because his mother had
been so rude. He told the cat to stay away,
and that somehow he would bring her a saucer of
milk each day. My father fed the cat for three weeks,
but one day his mother found the cat's saucer in
the cellar, and she was extremely angry. She whipped my
(01:48):
father and threw the cat out the door. But later
on my father sneaked out and found the cat. Together,
they went for a walk in the park and tried
to think of nice things to talk about. My father said,
when I grow up, I'm going to have an aeroplane.
(02:09):
Wouldn't it be wonderful to fly just anywhere you might
think of? Would you like to fly very very much?
Asked the cat. I certainly would. I'd do anything if
I could fly, well, said the cat, If you'd really
(02:30):
like to fly that much, I think I know a
sort of way you might get to fly while you're
still a little boy. You mean you know where I
could get an aeroplane. Well, not exactly an aeroplane, but
something even better. As you can see, I'm an old
(02:52):
cat now, but in my younger days I was quite
a traveler. My traveling days are over, but last spring
I took just one more trip and sailed to the
island of Tangerina, stopping at a port of Cranberry. Well,
(03:13):
it just so happened that I missed the boat, and
while waiting for the next I thought I'd look around
a bit. I was particularly interested in a place called
Wild Island, which we had passed on our way to Tangerina.
Wild Island and Tangerina are joined together by a long
(03:37):
string of rocks, but people never go to Wild Island
because it's mostly jungle and inhabited by very wild animals.
So I decided to go across the rocks and explore
it for myself. It certainly is an interesting place, but
(03:59):
I saw something there that made me want to weep.
My Father's dragon, My Father runs Away Part two. Wild
Island is practically cut in two by a very wide
and muddy river, continued the cat. This river begins near
(04:23):
one end of the island and flows into the ocean
at the other. Now, the animals there are very lazy,
and they used to hate having to go all the
way round the beginning of this river to get to
the other side of the island. It made visiting inconvenient
and mail deliveries slow, particularly during the Christmas rush. Crocodiles
(04:48):
could have carried passengers and mail across the river. But
crocodiles are very moody and not the least bit dependable,
and are always looking for something to eat. They don't
care if the animals have to walk around the river.
So that's just what the animals did for many years.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
But what does this.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
All have to do with air oplanes, said my father,
who thought the cat was taking an awfully long time
to explain. Be patient, Alma, said the cat, and went
on with the story. One day, about four months before
I arrived on Wild Island, a baby dragon fell from
(05:32):
a low flying cloud on to the bank of the river.
He was too young to fly very well, and besides
he had bruised one wing quite badly, so he couldn't
get back to his cloud. The animals found him soon afterwards,
and everybody said, why, this is just exactly what we've
(05:56):
needed all these years. They tied a big rope around
his neck and waited for the wing to get well.
This was going to end all there crossing the river troubles.
I've never seen a dragon, said my father.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Did you see him? How big is he? Oh?
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Yes, indeed I saw the dragon in fact, we became
great friends, said the cat. I used to hide in
the bushes and talk to him when nobody was around.
He was not a very big dragon, about the size
of a large black bear, although I imagine he's grown
quite a bit since I left. He's got a long
(06:41):
tail and yellow and blue stripes his horn and eyes,
and the bottoms of his feet are bright red, and
he has gold colored wings. Oh, how wonderful, said my father.
What did the animals do with him? When his wing
(07:02):
got well? They started training him to carry passengers, And
even though he is just a baby dragon, they work
him all day and all night too. Sometimes they make
him carry loads that are much too heavy, and if
he complains, they twist his wings and beat him. He's
(07:25):
always tied to a stake on a rope just long
enough to go across the river. His only friends are
the crocodiles, who say hello to him once a week
if they don't forget. Really, he's the most miserable animal
I've ever come across. When I left, I promised i'd
(07:46):
try to help him some day, although I couldn't see how.
The rope around his neck is about the biggest toughest
rope you can imagine, with so many knocks, it would
take days to untie them all. Anyway, you were talking
about aeroplanes, you gave me a good idea. Now I'm
(08:10):
quite sure that if you were able to rescue the dragon,
which wouldn't be the least bit easy, he'd let you
ride him most anywhere, provided you were nice to him.
Of course, how about trying it? Oh, I'd love to,
said my father, And he was so angry at his
(08:31):
mother for being rude to the cat that he didn't
feel the least bit sad about running away from home
for a while. That very afternoon, my father and the
cat went down to the docks to see about ships
going to the island of Tangerina. They found out that
a ship would be sailing the next week, so right
(08:54):
away they started planning for the rescue of the dragon.
The cat was a great eight help in suggesting things
for my father to take with him, and she told
him everything she knew about Wild Island. Of course, she
was too old to go along. Everything had to be
kept a very secret, so when they found or bought
(09:18):
anything to take on the trip, they hid it behind
a rock in the park. The night before my father sailed.
He borrowed his father's knapsack, and he and the cat
packed everything very carefully. He took chewing gum, two dozen
pink lollipops, a package of rubber bands, black rubber boots,
(09:42):
a compass, a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste, six
magnifying glasses, a very sharp jackknife, a comb and a
hair brush, seven hair ribbons of different colors, an empty
grain bag with a label saying cranberry, some clean clothes,
and enough food to last my father while he was
(10:03):
on the ship. He couldn't live on mice, so he
took twenty five peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and six
apples because that's all the apples he could find in
the pantry. When everything was packed, my father and the
cat went down to the docks to the ship. A
night watchman was on duty, so while the cat made
(10:25):
loud queer noises to distract his attention, my father ran
over the gangplank onto the ship. He went down into
the hold and hid among some bags of wheat. The
ship sailed early the next morning. My father's dragon My
(10:47):
father finds the island. Part three. My father hid in
the hold for six days and nights. Twice he was
nearly caught when the ship stopped to take on more cargo,
but at last he heard a sailor say that the
next port would be Cranberry and that they'd be unloading
(11:08):
the wheat there. My father knew that the sailors would
send him home if they caught him, so he looked
in his knapsack and took out a rubber band and
the empty grain bag with the label saying Cranberry. At
the last moment, my father got inside the bag knapsack
and all folded the top of the bag inside and
(11:30):
put the rubber band around the top. He didn't look
just exactly like the other bags, but it was the
best he could do. Soon the sailors came to unload.
They lowered a big net into the hold and began
moving the bags of wheat. Suddenly, one sailor yelled, Great Scott,
(11:53):
this is the queerest bag of wheat I've ever seen.
It's all lumpy like, but the label says it's to
go to Cranberry. The other sailors looked at the bag too,
and my father, who was in the bag, of course,
tried even harder to look like a bag of wheat.
Then another sailor felt the bag and he just happened
(12:15):
to get hold of my father's elbow. I know what
this is. He said, this is a bag of dried
corn on the cob, and he dumped my father into
the big net, along with the bags of wheat. This
all happened in the late afternoon, so late that the
(12:35):
merchant in Cranberry who had ordered the wheat, didn't count
his bags until the next morning. He was a very
punctual man and never late for dinner. The sailors told
the captain, and the captain wrote down on a piece
of paper that they had delivered one hundred and sixty
bags of wheat and one bag of dried corn on
(12:55):
the cob. They left the piece of paper for the
merchant and sailed away that evening. My father heard later
that the merchant spent the whole next day counting and
recounting the bags and feeling each one, trying to find
the bag of dried corn on the cob. He never
found it, because as soon as it was dark, my
(13:18):
father climbed out of the bag, folded it up, and
put it back in his knapsack. He walked along the
shore to a nice sandy place and lay down to sleep.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
My father was.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Very hungry when he woke up the next morning. Just
as he was looking to see if he had anything
left to eat, something hit him on the head. It
was a tangerine. He had been sleeping right under a
tree full of big, fat tangerines, and then he remembered
(13:56):
that this was the island of tangerine. Tangerine trees grew
wild everywhere. My father picked as many as he had
room for, which was thirty one, and started off to
find Wild Island. He walked and walked and walked along
(14:18):
the shore, looking for the rocks that joined the two islands.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
He walked all day.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
And once when he met a fisherman and asked him
about Wild Island. The fisherman began to shake and couldn't
talk for a long while. It scared him that much
just thinking about it. Finally, he said, many people have
tried to explore Wild Island, but not one has come
(14:46):
back alive. We think they were eaten by wild animals.
This didn't bother my father. He kept walking and slept
on the beach again that night. It was beautifully clear
the next day and way down the shore, my father
could see a long line of rocks leading out into
(15:08):
the ocean, and way way out at the end he
could see a tiny patch of green. He quickly ate
seven tangerines and started down the beach. It was almost
dark when he came to the rocks, but there, way
out in the ocean, was the patch of green. He
(15:31):
sat down and rested for a while, remembering that the
cat had said, if you can go out to the
island at night, because then the wild animals won't see
you coming along the rocks, and you can hide when
you get there. So my father picked seven more tangerines,
(15:53):
put on his black rubber boots, and waited for dark.
It was a very black night, and my father could
hardly see the rocks ahead of him. Sometimes they were
quite high, and sometimes the waves almost covered them, and
they were slippery and hard to walk on. Sometimes the
(16:15):
rocks were far apart, and my father had to get
a running start and leap from one to the next.
After a while, he began to hear a rumbling noise.
It grew louder and louder as he got nearer to
the island. At last it seemed as if it was
(16:36):
right on top of the noise, and he was. He
had jumped from a rock on to the back of
a small whale who was fast asleep and cuddled up
between two rocks. The whale was snoring and making more
noise than a steam shovel, so it never heard my
(16:57):
father say, oh, I didn't know that was you, and
it never knew my father had jumped on its back
by mistake. For seven hours, my father climbed and slipped
and leapt from rock to rock, but while it was
still dark, he finally reached the very last rock and
(17:20):
stepped off on to Wild Island, my Father's Dragon. My
Father finds the River Part four. The jungle began just
beyond a narrow strip of beach, thick, dark, damp, scary jungle.
(17:40):
My father hardly knew where to go, so he crawled
under a wahoo bush to think and ate eight tangerines.
The first thing to do, he decided, was to find
the river, because the dragon was tied somewhere along its bank.
Then he thought, if the river flowed into the ocean,
(18:01):
I ought to be able to find it quite easily
if i'd just walk along the beach far enough. So
my father walked until the sun rose, and he was
quite far from the ocean rocks. It was dangerous to
stay near them because they might be guarded in the daytime.
He found a clump of tall grass and sat down.
(18:25):
Then he took off his rubber boots and ate three
more tangerines. He could have eaten twelve, but he hadn't
seen any tangerines on this island and could not risk
running out of something to eat. My father slept all
that day and only woke up late in the afternoon
when he heard a funny little voice saying, queer, queer,
(18:48):
what a dear little dock, I mean, dear, dear, what
a queer little rock. My father saw a tiny paw
rubbing itself on his knapsack. He lay very still, and
the mouse, for it was a mouse, hurried away, muttering
to itself, I must smell tum duddy, I mean, I
must tell somebody. My father waited a few minutes and
(19:12):
then started down the beach because it was almost dark
now and he was afraid the mouse really would tell somebody.
He walked all night, and two scary things happened. First,
he just had to sneeze, so he did, and somebody
close by said, is that you monkey? My father said yes.
(19:38):
Then the voice said you must have something on your back, monkey,
and my father said yes, because he did he had
his knapsack on his back. What do you have on
your back, monkey.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Asked the voice.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
My father didn't know what to say, because what would
a monkey have on its back, and how how would
it sound telling someone about it if it did have something.
Just then another voice said, I bet you're taking your
sick grandmother to the doctors. My father said yes and
(20:14):
hurried on. Quite by accident, he found out later that
he had been talking to a pair of tortoises. The
second thing that happened was that he nearly walked right
between two wild boars who were talking in low solemn whispers.
When he first saw the dark shapes, he thought there
(20:36):
were boulders. Just in time he heard one of them say,
there are three signs of a recent invasion. First, fresh
tangerine peals were found under the wahoo bush near the
ocean rocks. Second, a mouse reported an extraordinary rock some
(20:56):
distance from the ocean rocks, which, upon first other investigation,
simply wasn't there. However, more fresh tangerine peals were found
in the same spot, which is the third sign of invasion.
Since tangerines do not grow on our island, somebody must
(21:17):
have brought them across the ocean rocks from the other island,
which may or may not have something to do with
the appearance and or disappearance of the extraordinary rock reported
by the mouse. After a long silence, the other boar said,
you know, I think we're taking all this too seriously.
(21:41):
Those peals probably floated over here or by themselves, and
you know how unreliable mice are. Besides, if there had
been an invasion, I would have seen it. Perhaps you're right,
said the first ball, Shall we retire? Whereupon they both
trundled back into the jungle. Well, that taught my father
(22:04):
a lesson, and after that he saved all his tangerine peals.
He walked all night, and toward morning came to the river.
Then his troubles really began. My Father's Dragon My Father
Meets some Tigers Part five. The river was very wide
(22:29):
and muddy, and the jungle was very gloomy and dense.
The trees grew close to each other, and what room
there was between them was taken up by great high
ferns with sticky leaves. My father hated to leave the beach,
but he decided to start along the river bank, where
at least the jungle wasn't quite so thick. He ate
(22:52):
three tangerines, making sure to keep all the peels this time,
and put on his rubber boots. My father tried to
follow the river bank, but it was very swampy, and
as he went farther the swamp became deeper. When it
was almost as deep as his boot tops, he got
stuck in the oozy, mucky mud. My father tugged and tugged,
(23:18):
and nearly pulled his boots right off, but at last
he managed to wade to a drier place. Here, the
jungle was so thick that he could hardly see where
the river was. He unpacked his compass and figured out
the direction he should walk in order to stay near
the river. But he didn't know that the river made
(23:39):
a very sharp curve away from him, just a little
way beyond, and so as he walked straight ahead, he
was getting farther and farther away from the river. It
was very hard to walk in the jungle. The sticky
leaves of the ferns caught at my father's hair, and
he kept tripping over roots and rotten logs. Sometimes the
(24:03):
trees were clumped so closely together that he couldn't squeeze
between them and had to walk a long way around.
He began to hear whispery noises, but he couldn't see
any animals anywhere. The deeper into the jungle he went
the surrey, he was that something was following him, and
(24:25):
then he thought he heard whispery noises on both sides
of him, as well as behind. He tried to run,
but he tripped over more roots, and the noises only
came nearer. Once or twice, he thought he heard something
laughing at him. At last, he came out into a
clearing and ran right into the middle of it so
(24:47):
that he could see anything that might try to attack him.
He was surprised when he looked and saw fourteen green
eyes coming out of the jungle all around the clearing,
and when the green eyes turned into seven tigers. The
tigers walked around him in a big circle, looking hungrier
(25:09):
all the time, and then they sat down and began
to talk. I suppose you thought we didn't know you
were trespassing in our jungle. Then the next tiger spoke,
I suppose you're going to say you didn't know it
was our jungle. Did you know that not one explorer
(25:29):
has ever left this island alive, said the third tiger.
My father thought of the cat and knew this wasn't true,
but of course he had too much sense to say
so one doesn't contradict a hungry tiger. The tigers went
on talking in turn. You're our first little boy. You know,
(25:50):
I'm curious to know if you're especially tender. Maybe you
think we have regular meal times, but we don't. We
just eat whenever we're feeling hungry, said the fifth tiger.
And we are very hungry right now. In fact, I
can hardly wait, said the sixth I can't wait, said
(26:15):
the seventh tiger. And then all the tigers said together
in a loud roar, let's begin right now, and they
moved in closer. My father looked at those seven hungry tigers,
and then he had an idea. He quickly opened his
knapsack and took out the chewing gum. The cat had
(26:38):
told him that tigers are especially fond of chewing gum,
which was very scarce on the island. So he threw
them each a piece, but they only growled as fond
as we are of chewing gum, We're sure we'd like
you even better, And they moved so close that he
could feel them breathing on his face. But this is
(27:01):
very special chewing gum, said my father. If you keep
on chewing it long enough, it will turn green, and
then if you plant it, it will grow more chewing gum.
And the sooner you start chewing, the sooner you'll have more.
The tigers said, why you don't say, isn't that fine?
(27:22):
And as each one wanted to be the first to
plant the chewing gum, they all unwrapped their pieces and
began chewing as hard as they could. Every once in
a while, one tiger would look into another's mouth and say, nope,
it's not done yet, Until finally, they were all so
busy looking into each other's mouths to make sure that
(27:43):
no one was getting ahead, that they forgot all about
my father, My Father's dragon My father meets a Rhinoceros
Part six. My father soon found a trail away from
the clearing. All sorts of animals might be using it too,
(28:04):
but he decided to follow the trail. No matter what
he met, because it might lead to the dragon. He
kept a sharp look out in front and behind, and
went on. Just as he was feeling quite safe, he
came around a curve right behind the two wild boars.
(28:25):
One of them was saying to the other, did you
know that the tortoises thought they saw Monkey carrying his
sick grandmother to the doctor's last night. But Monkey's grandmother
died a week ago, so they must have seen something else.
I wonder what it was. I told you that there
was an invasion afoot, said the other boar, and I
(28:46):
intend to find out what it is. I simply can't
stand invasions. Nay, neither, said a tiny little voice. I
mean me neither. And my father knew that the mouse
was there too well, said the first wild boar. You
search the trail up this way to the dragon. I'll
(29:06):
go back down the other way through the big clearing,
and we'll send mouse to watch the ocean rocks in
case the invasion should decide to go away before we
find it. My father hid behind him mahogany tree just
in time, and the first boar walked right past him.
My father waited for the other boar to get a
(29:26):
head start on him, but he didn't wait very long
because he knew that when the first boar saw the
tiger's chewing gum in the clearing, he'd be even more suspicious.
Soon the trail crossed a little brook, and my father,
who was by this time very thirsty, stopped to get
a drink of water. He still had on his rubber boots,
(29:49):
so he waded into a little pool of water and
was stooping down when something quite sharp picked him up
by the seat of the pants and shook him very hard.
Don't you know that's my private weeping pool, said a deep,
angry voice. My father couldn't see who was talking because
he was hanging in the air right over the pool,
(30:11):
but he said, oh no, I'm so sorry. I didn't
know that everybody had a private weeping pool. Everybody doesn't,
said the angry voice, But I do, because I have
such a big thing to weep about, and I drown
everybody I find using my weeping pool. With that, the
animal tossed my father up and down over the water.
(30:35):
What is it that you weep about so much? Asked
my father, trying to get his breath, And he thought
over all the things he had in his pack. Oh,
I have many things to weep about, but the biggest
thing is the color of my tusk. My father squirmed
every which way trying to see the tusk, but it
(30:57):
was through the seat of his pants, where he couldn't
possibly see it. When I was a young rhinoceros, my
tusk was pearly white, said the animal, And then my
father knew that he was hanging by the seat of
his pants from my rhinoceros tusk. But it has turned
a nasty yellow gray in my old age, and I
(31:17):
find it very ugly. You see everything else about me
as ugly. But when I had a beautiful tusk, I
didn't worry so much about the rest. Now that my
tusk is ugly too, I can't sleep nights just thinking
about how completely ugly I am, and I weep all
the time. But why should I be telling you all
(31:39):
these things. I caught you using my pool, and now
I'm gonna drown you. Oh wait a minute, Rhinoceros, said
my father. I have something that will make your tusk
all white and beautiful again. Just let me down and
I'll give them to you. The rhinoceros said, you do,
(31:59):
I can hardly believe it. Why I'm so excited. He
put my father down and danced around in a circle
while my father got out the tube of tooth paste
and the tooth brush. Now said my father, just move
your tusk a little nearer, please, and I'll show you
how to begin. My father wet the brush in the pool,
(32:22):
squeezed on a dab of tooth paste, and scrubbed very
hard in one tiny spot. Then he told the rhinoceros
to wash it off, and when the pool was calm again,
he told the rhinoceros to look in the water and
see how white the little spot was. It was hard
to see in the dim light of the jungle, but
(32:42):
sure enough, the spot shone pearly white, just like new.
The rhinoceros was so pleased that he grabbed the tooth
brush and began scrubbing violently, forgetting all about my father.
Just then my father heard hoofsteps, and he jumped behind
the rhinoceros. It was the boar, coming back from the
(33:04):
big clearing where the tigers were chewing gum. The boar
looked at the rhinoceros, and at the toothbrush, and at
the tube of toothpaste, and then he scratched his ear
on a tree. Tell me, rhinoceros, he said, where did
you get that fine tube of toothpaste? And that toothbrush?
Too busy, said the rhinoceros, and he went on brushing
(33:27):
as hard as he could. The boar sniffed angrily and
trotted down the trail toward the dragon, muttering to himself,
very suspicious. Tiger's too busy chewing gum. Rhinoceros too busy
brushing his tusk. Must get hold of that invasion. Don't
like it one bit, not one bit. It's upsetting everybody terribly.
(33:52):
Wonder what it's doing here anyway, my father's dragon. My
father meets a lion Part seven. My father waved good
bye to the rhinoceros, who was much too busy to notice,
got a drink farther down the brook, and waded back
to the trail. He hadn't gone very far when he
(34:14):
heard an angry animal roaring.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Ding blast it.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
I told you not to go blackberrying yesterday.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Won't you ever learn? What will your mother say?
Speaker 1 (34:26):
My father crept along and peered into a small clearing.
Just ahead, a lion was prancing about, clawing at his mane,
which was all snarled and full of BlackBerry twigs. The
more he clawed, the worse it became, and the madder
he grew, and the more he yelled at himself, because
it was himself he was yelling at all the time.
(34:47):
My father could see the trail went through the clearing,
so he decided to crawl around the edge in the
underbush and not disturbed the lion. He crawled and crawled,
and the yelling grew louder and louder. Just as he
was about to reach the trail on the other side,
the yelling suddenly stopped. My father looked around and saw
(35:11):
the lion glaring at him. The lion charged and skiddered
to a stop a few inches away. Who are you,
the lion yelled at my father. My name is Elma Elevator.
Where do you think you are going? I'm going home,
said my father. Ha, that's what you think, said the lion.
(35:36):
Ordinarily I'd save you for afternoon tea, but I happened
to be upset enough and hungry enough to eat you
right now. And he picked up my father in his
front paws to feel how fat he was. Oh, please, lion,
before you eat me tell me why you were so particularly.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Upset to day.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
It's my mane, said the lion, as he was figuring
out how many bites the little boy would make. You'll
see what a dreadful mess it is, and I don't
seem to be able to do anything about it. My
mother is coming over on the dragon this afternoon, and
if she sees me this way, I'm afraid she'll stop
my allowance. She can't stand messy man's. But I'm going
(36:21):
to eat you now, so it won't make any difference
to you. Oh wait a minute, said my father, and
I'll give you just the things you need to make
your mane all tidy and beautiful. I have them here
in my pack, you do, said the lion. Well give
them to me, and perhaps I'll save you for afternoon
(36:41):
tea after all, and he put my father down on
the ground. My father opened the pack and took out
the comb and the brush, and the seven hair ribbins
of different colors. Look, he said, I'll show you what
to do on your forelock, where you can watch me.
Urst you brush awhile, then you comb, and then you
(37:04):
brush again until all the twigs and snarls are gone.
Then you divide it up into three and braid it
like this and tie a ribon around the end. As
my father was doing this, the lion watched very carefully
and began to look much happier. When my father tied
on the ribbon, he was all smiles. Oh that's wonderful,
(37:29):
really wonderful, said the lion. Let me have the corm
and brush and see if I can do it. So
my father gave him the comb and brush, and the
lion began busily grooming his mane. As a matter of fact,
he was so busy that he didn't even know when
my father left my Father's Dragon My Father Meets a
(37:53):
Gorilla Part eight. My father was very hungry, so he
sat down under a baby banyan tree on the side
of the trail and ate four tangerines. He wanted to
eat eight or ten, but he only had thirteen left
and it might be a long time before he could
get more. He packed away all the peals and was
(38:15):
about to get up when he heard the familiar voices
of the boars. I wouldn't have believed it if I
hadn't seen them with my own eyes. But wait and
see for yourself. All the tigers are sitting around chewing
gum to beat the band. Old rhinoceros is so busy
brushing his tusk that he doesn't even look around to
(38:36):
see who's going by. And they're all so busy they
won't even talk to me. Horse Feathers said the other boar,
Now very close to my father, they'll talk to me.
I'm going to get to the bottom of this if
it's the last thing I do. The voices passed my
father and went around a curve, and he hurried on
(38:56):
because he knew how much more upset the boars would
be when they saw the lion's mane tied up in
hair ribbons. Before long, my father came to a cross roads,
and he stopped to read the signs. Straight ahead. An
arrow pointed to the beginning of the river, to the
left the ocean rocks, and to the right to the
(39:19):
dragon ferry. My father was reading all these signs when
he heard poor steps and ducked behind the sign post.
A beautiful lioness paraded past and turned down toward the clearings.
Although she could have seen my father if she had
bothered to glance at the post, she was much too
(39:39):
occupied looking dignified to see anything but the tip of
her own nose. It was the lion's mother, of course,
and that thought my father must mean that the dragon
was on this side of the river. He hurried on,
but it was farther away than he had judged. He
finally came to the river bank in the late afternoon
(40:01):
and looked all round, but there was no dragon anywhere
in sight. He must have gone back to the other side.
My father sat down under a palm tree and was
trying to have a good idea when something big and
black and hairy jumped out of the tree and landed
with a loud crash at his feet. Well, said a
(40:24):
huge voice, Well what said my father, for which he
was very sorry when he looked up and discovered that
he was talking to an enormous and very fierce gorilla.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Well explain yourself, said the gorilla. I'll give you till
ten to tell me your name, business, your age, and
what's in that pack.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
And he began counting to ten as fast as he could.
My father didn't even have time to say Elma, elevator
explorer before the gorilla interrupted.
Speaker 2 (40:57):
Too slow. I'll twist your the way I twist that
dragon's wings, and then we'll see if you can't hurry
up a bit.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
He grabbed my father's arms, one in each fist, and
was just about to twist them when he suddenly let
go and began scratching his chest with both hands.
Speaker 3 (41:16):
Blast those fleas, he raged, They won't give me a
moment's peace, and the worst of it is that you
can't even get a good look at them. Rosie, Rhada, Rachel,
Ruthie Ruby, ROBERTA, come here and get rid of this
flea on my chest.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
He's driving me crazy.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
Six little monkeys tumbled out of the palm tree, dashed
to the gorilla and began combing the hair on his chest.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
Well, said the gorilla, it's still there.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
We're looking. We're looking, said the six little monkeys. But
they're awfully hard to see. You know, I know, said
the gorilla. But hurry, I've got work to do, and
he winked at my father. Oh, gorilla, said my father.
In my knapsack, I have six magnifying glasses. They'd be
(42:10):
just the thing for hunting fleas. My father unpacked them
and gave one to Rosy, one to Roda, one to Rachel,
one to Ruthie. One to Ruby and one to Roberta.
Why they are miraculous, said the six little monkeys. It's
easy to see the fleas now, only there are hundreds
(42:31):
of them, and they went on hunting frantically. A moment later,
many more monkeys appeared out of a nearby clump of
mangroves and began crowding around to get a look at
the fleece through the magnifying glass. They completely surrounded the gorilla,
and he could not see my father, nor did he
(42:51):
remember to twist his arms. My father's dragon, my father
makes a bridge wh Pard nine. My father walked back
and forth along the bank, trying to think of some
way to cross the river. He found a high flagpole
with a rope going over to the other side. The
(43:13):
rope went through a loop at the top of the
pole and then down the pole and around a large crank.
A sign on the crank said to summon dragon yank
the crank report disorderly conduct to gorilla. From what the
cat had told my father, he knew that the other
end of the rope was tied around the dragon's neck,
(43:36):
and he felt sorrier than ever for the poor dragon.
If he were on this side, the gorilla would twist
his wings until it hurt so much that he'd have
to fly to the other side. If he were on
the other side, the gorilla would crank the rope until
the dragon would either choke to death or fly back
to this side. What a life for a baby dragon.
(43:57):
My father knew that if he called to the dragon
to come across the river, the gorilla would surely hear him,
so he thought about climbing the pole and going across
on the rope. The pole was very high, and even
if he could get to the top without being seen,
he'd have to go all the way across hand over hand.
The river was very muddy, and all sorts of unfriendly
(44:21):
things might live in it, but my father could think
of no other way to get across. He was about
to start up the pole when despite all the noise
the monkeys were making, he heard a loud splash behind him.
He looked all around in the water, but it was
dusk now and he couldn't see anything there. It's me, crocodile,
(44:43):
said a voice to the left. The water's lovely, and
I have such a craving for something sweet. Won't you
come in for a swim. A pale moon came out
from behind the clouds, and my father could see where
the voice was coming from. The crocodile's head was just
p out of the water. Oh no, thank you, said
(45:03):
my father. I never swim after sundown. But I do
have something sweet to offer you. Perhaps you'd like a lollipop,
and perhaps you have friends who would like lollipops too. Lollipops,
said the crocodile. Why that is a treat.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
How about it? Boys?
Speaker 1 (45:22):
A whole chorus of voices shouted hooray lollipops, and my
father counted as many as seventeen crocodiles with their heads
just peeping out of the water. That's fine, said my father,
as he got out the two dozen pink lollipops and
the rubber bands. I'll stick one here in the bank.
(45:43):
Lollipops last longer if you keep them out of the water.
You know, now one of you can have this one.
The crocodile who had first spoken swam up and tasted it. Delicious,
mighty delicious, he said. Now, if you don't mind, my
father said, I'll just walk along your back and fasten
(46:04):
another lollipop to the tip of your tail with a
rubber band. You don't mind, do you. Oh no, not
in the least, said the crocodile. Can you let your
tail out of the water just a bit, asked my father. Yes,
of course, said the crocodile, and he lifted up his tail.
Then my father ran along his back and fastened another
(46:26):
lollipop with a rubber band. Who's next, said my father,
and a second crocodile swam up and began sucking on
that lollipop. Now, you gentlemen can save a lot of
time if you just line up across the river, said
my father, and I'll be along to give you each
a lollipop. So the crocodiles lined up right across the
(46:48):
river with their tails in the air, waiting for my
father to fasten on the rest of the lollipops. The
tail of the seventeenth crocodile just reached the other bank.
My father's dragon. My father finds the dragon. Part ten.
(47:09):
When my father was crossing the back of the fifteenth
crocodile with two more lollipops to go, the noise of
the monkeys suddenly stopped, and he could hear a much
bigger noise, getting louder every second. Then he could hear
seven furious tigers and one raging rhinoceros, and two seething
lions and one ranting gorilla, along with countless screeching monkeys
(47:34):
led by two extremely irate wild boars, all yelling it's a.
Speaker 2 (47:39):
Trick, it's a trick.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
There was an invasion, and it must be after our dragon,
kill it, kill it. The whole crowd stampeded down the bank.
As my father was fixing the seventeenth lollipop for the
last crocodile, he heard a wild boar scream.
Speaker 2 (47:58):
Look it came this. It's over there now see the
crocodiles made a bridge for.
Speaker 1 (48:05):
It, and just as my father leaped onto the other bank,
one of the wild boars jumped onto the back of
the first crocodile. My father didn't have a moment to
spare by. Now the dragon realized that my father was
coming to rescue him. He ran out of the bushes
and jumped up and down, yelling, here I am, I'm
(48:26):
right here.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Can you see me? Hurry?
Speaker 1 (48:29):
The boar is coming over on the crocodile's tour. They're
all coming over all, please hurry, hurry. The noise was
simply terrific. My father ran up to the dragon and
took out his very sharp jackknife. Steady, old boy, steady,
we'll make it. Just stand still, he told the dragon
(48:52):
as he began to soar through the big rope. By
this time, both balls, all seven tigers, the two lions,
the rheinghnoceros, and the gorilla, along with the countless screeching monkeys,
were all on their way across the crocodiles, and there
was still a lot of rope.
Speaker 2 (49:08):
To cut through.
Speaker 1 (49:09):
Ah horror, the dragon kept saying, But my father again
told him to stand still. If I don't think I
can make it, said my father, we'll fly over to
the other side of the river and I can finish
cut in the rope there. Suddenly, the screaming grew louder
and madder, and my father thought the animals must have
(49:30):
crossed the river. He looked around and saw something which
surprised and delighted him, partly because he had finished his lollipop,
and partly because, as I told you before, crocodiles are
very moody and not the least bit dependable, and are
always looking for something to eat. The first crocodile had
turned away from the bank and started swimming down the river.
(49:52):
The second crocodile hadn't finished yet, so he followed right
after the first, still sucking his lollipop. All the rest
did the same, one right after the other, until they
were all swimming away in a line. The two wild boars,
the seven tigers, the rhinoceros, the two lions, the gorilla,
along with the countless screeching monkeys, were all riding down
(50:16):
the middle of the river on the train of crocodiles,
sucking pink lollipops, and all yelling and screaming and getting
their feet wet. My father and the dragon laughed themselves
weak because it was such a silly sight. As soon
as they had recovered, my father finished cutting the rope,
and the dragon raced around in circles and tried to
(50:38):
turn a summersault. He was the most excited baby dragon
that ever lived. My father was in a hurry to
fly away, and when the dragon finally calmed down a bit,
my father climbed up onto his back, all aboard, said
the dragon, where shall we go? We'll spend the night
on the beach, and tomorrow we'll start on a long
(51:00):
journey home. So it's after the shores of Tangerina, shouted
my father, as the dragon soared above the dark jungle
and the muddy river, and all the animals bellowing at them,
and all the crocodiles licking pink lollipops and grinning white grins.
After all, what did the crocodiles care about a way
(51:21):
to cross the river, and what a fine feast they
were carrying on their backs. As my father and the
dragon passed over the ocean rocks, they heard a tiny
excited voice scream, bum cag, bum cag. We'd read our nagon,
I mean, we need our dragon. But my father and
the dragon knew that nothing in the world would ever
(51:45):
make them go back to wild Island.
My Father's Dragon. My Father Meets the Cat Part one.
One cold, rainy day, when my father was a little boy,
he met an old alley cat on his street. The
cat was very drippy and uncomfortable, so my father said,
wouldn't you like to come home with me? This surprised
(00:23):
the cat. She had never before met any one who
cared about old alley cats, but she said, I'd be
very much obliged if I could sit by a warm
furnace and perhaps have a saucer of milk. We have
a very nice furnace to sit by, said my father,
(00:43):
and I'm sure my mother has an extra saucer of milk.
My father and the cat became good friends, but my
father's mother was very upset about the cat. She hated cats,
particularly ugly old alley cats Elmer elevator. She said to
(01:03):
my father, if you think I'm going to give that
cat a saucer of milk, you're very wrong. Once you
start feeding stray alley cats, you might as well expect
to feed every stray in town, and I am not
going to do it. This made my father very sad,
(01:24):
and he apologized to the cat because his mother had
been so rude. He told the cat to stay away,
and that somehow he would bring her a saucer of
milk each day. My father fed the cat for three weeks,
but one day his mother found the cat's saucer in
the cellar, and she was extremely angry. She whipped my
(01:48):
father and threw the cat out the door. But later
on my father sneaked out and found the cat. Together,
they went for a walk in the park and tried
to think of nice things to talk about. My father said,
when I grow up, I'm going to have an aeroplane.
(02:09):
Wouldn't it be wonderful to fly just anywhere you might
think of? Would you like to fly very very much?
Asked the cat. I certainly would. I'd do anything if
I could fly, well, said the cat, If you'd really
(02:30):
like to fly that much, I think I know a
sort of way you might get to fly while you're
still a little boy. You mean you know where I
could get an aeroplane. Well, not exactly an aeroplane, but
something even better. As you can see, I'm an old
(02:52):
cat now, but in my younger days I was quite
a traveler. My traveling days are over, but last spring
I took just one more trip and sailed to the
island of Tangerina, stopping at a port of Cranberry. Well,
(03:13):
it just so happened that I missed the boat, and
while waiting for the next I thought I'd look around
a bit. I was particularly interested in a place called
Wild Island, which we had passed on our way to Tangerina.
Wild Island and Tangerina are joined together by a long
(03:37):
string of rocks, but people never go to Wild Island
because it's mostly jungle and inhabited by very wild animals.
So I decided to go across the rocks and explore
it for myself. It certainly is an interesting place, but
(03:59):
I saw something there that made me want to weep.
My Father's dragon, My Father runs Away Part two. Wild
Island is practically cut in two by a very wide
and muddy river, continued the cat. This river begins near
(04:23):
one end of the island and flows into the ocean
at the other. Now, the animals there are very lazy,
and they used to hate having to go all the
way round the beginning of this river to get to
the other side of the island. It made visiting inconvenient
and mail deliveries slow, particularly during the Christmas rush. Crocodiles
(04:48):
could have carried passengers and mail across the river. But
crocodiles are very moody and not the least bit dependable,
and are always looking for something to eat. They don't
care if the animals have to walk around the river.
So that's just what the animals did for many years.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
But what does this.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
All have to do with air oplanes, said my father,
who thought the cat was taking an awfully long time
to explain. Be patient, Alma, said the cat, and went
on with the story. One day, about four months before
I arrived on Wild Island, a baby dragon fell from
(05:32):
a low flying cloud on to the bank of the river.
He was too young to fly very well, and besides
he had bruised one wing quite badly, so he couldn't
get back to his cloud. The animals found him soon afterwards,
and everybody said, why, this is just exactly what we've
(05:56):
needed all these years. They tied a big rope around
his neck and waited for the wing to get well.
This was going to end all there crossing the river troubles.
I've never seen a dragon, said my father.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Did you see him? How big is he? Oh?
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Yes, indeed I saw the dragon in fact, we became
great friends, said the cat. I used to hide in
the bushes and talk to him when nobody was around.
He was not a very big dragon, about the size
of a large black bear, although I imagine he's grown
quite a bit since I left. He's got a long
(06:41):
tail and yellow and blue stripes his horn and eyes,
and the bottoms of his feet are bright red, and
he has gold colored wings. Oh, how wonderful, said my father.
What did the animals do with him? When his wing
(07:02):
got well? They started training him to carry passengers, And
even though he is just a baby dragon, they work
him all day and all night too. Sometimes they make
him carry loads that are much too heavy, and if
he complains, they twist his wings and beat him. He's
(07:25):
always tied to a stake on a rope just long
enough to go across the river. His only friends are
the crocodiles, who say hello to him once a week
if they don't forget. Really, he's the most miserable animal
I've ever come across. When I left, I promised i'd
(07:46):
try to help him some day, although I couldn't see how.
The rope around his neck is about the biggest toughest
rope you can imagine, with so many knocks, it would
take days to untie them all. Anyway, you were talking
about aeroplanes, you gave me a good idea. Now I'm
(08:10):
quite sure that if you were able to rescue the dragon,
which wouldn't be the least bit easy, he'd let you
ride him most anywhere, provided you were nice to him.
Of course, how about trying it? Oh, I'd love to,
said my father, And he was so angry at his
(08:31):
mother for being rude to the cat that he didn't
feel the least bit sad about running away from home
for a while. That very afternoon, my father and the
cat went down to the docks to see about ships
going to the island of Tangerina. They found out that
a ship would be sailing the next week, so right
(08:54):
away they started planning for the rescue of the dragon.
The cat was a great eight help in suggesting things
for my father to take with him, and she told
him everything she knew about Wild Island. Of course, she
was too old to go along. Everything had to be
kept a very secret, so when they found or bought
(09:18):
anything to take on the trip, they hid it behind
a rock in the park. The night before my father sailed.
He borrowed his father's knapsack, and he and the cat
packed everything very carefully. He took chewing gum, two dozen
pink lollipops, a package of rubber bands, black rubber boots,
(09:42):
a compass, a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste, six
magnifying glasses, a very sharp jackknife, a comb and a
hair brush, seven hair ribbons of different colors, an empty
grain bag with a label saying cranberry, some clean clothes,
and enough food to last my father while he was
(10:03):
on the ship. He couldn't live on mice, so he
took twenty five peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and six
apples because that's all the apples he could find in
the pantry. When everything was packed, my father and the
cat went down to the docks to the ship. A
night watchman was on duty, so while the cat made
(10:25):
loud queer noises to distract his attention, my father ran
over the gangplank onto the ship. He went down into
the hold and hid among some bags of wheat. The
ship sailed early the next morning. My father's dragon My
(10:47):
father finds the island. Part three. My father hid in
the hold for six days and nights. Twice he was
nearly caught when the ship stopped to take on more cargo,
but at last he heard a sailor say that the
next port would be Cranberry and that they'd be unloading
(11:08):
the wheat there. My father knew that the sailors would
send him home if they caught him, so he looked
in his knapsack and took out a rubber band and
the empty grain bag with the label saying Cranberry. At
the last moment, my father got inside the bag knapsack
and all folded the top of the bag inside and
(11:30):
put the rubber band around the top. He didn't look
just exactly like the other bags, but it was the
best he could do. Soon the sailors came to unload.
They lowered a big net into the hold and began
moving the bags of wheat. Suddenly, one sailor yelled, Great Scott,
(11:53):
this is the queerest bag of wheat I've ever seen.
It's all lumpy like, but the label says it's to
go to Cranberry. The other sailors looked at the bag too,
and my father, who was in the bag, of course,
tried even harder to look like a bag of wheat.
Then another sailor felt the bag and he just happened
(12:15):
to get hold of my father's elbow. I know what
this is. He said, this is a bag of dried
corn on the cob, and he dumped my father into
the big net, along with the bags of wheat. This
all happened in the late afternoon, so late that the
(12:35):
merchant in Cranberry who had ordered the wheat, didn't count
his bags until the next morning. He was a very
punctual man and never late for dinner. The sailors told
the captain, and the captain wrote down on a piece
of paper that they had delivered one hundred and sixty
bags of wheat and one bag of dried corn on
(12:55):
the cob. They left the piece of paper for the
merchant and sailed away that evening. My father heard later
that the merchant spent the whole next day counting and
recounting the bags and feeling each one, trying to find
the bag of dried corn on the cob. He never
found it, because as soon as it was dark, my
(13:18):
father climbed out of the bag, folded it up, and
put it back in his knapsack. He walked along the
shore to a nice sandy place and lay down to sleep.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
My father was.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Very hungry when he woke up the next morning. Just
as he was looking to see if he had anything
left to eat, something hit him on the head. It
was a tangerine. He had been sleeping right under a
tree full of big, fat tangerines, and then he remembered
(13:56):
that this was the island of tangerine. Tangerine trees grew
wild everywhere. My father picked as many as he had
room for, which was thirty one, and started off to
find Wild Island. He walked and walked and walked along
(14:18):
the shore, looking for the rocks that joined the two islands.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
He walked all day.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
And once when he met a fisherman and asked him
about Wild Island. The fisherman began to shake and couldn't
talk for a long while. It scared him that much
just thinking about it. Finally, he said, many people have
tried to explore Wild Island, but not one has come
(14:46):
back alive. We think they were eaten by wild animals.
This didn't bother my father. He kept walking and slept
on the beach again that night. It was beautifully clear
the next day and way down the shore, my father
could see a long line of rocks leading out into
(15:08):
the ocean, and way way out at the end he
could see a tiny patch of green. He quickly ate
seven tangerines and started down the beach. It was almost
dark when he came to the rocks, but there, way
out in the ocean, was the patch of green. He
(15:31):
sat down and rested for a while, remembering that the
cat had said, if you can go out to the
island at night, because then the wild animals won't see
you coming along the rocks, and you can hide when
you get there. So my father picked seven more tangerines,
(15:53):
put on his black rubber boots, and waited for dark.
It was a very black night, and my father could
hardly see the rocks ahead of him. Sometimes they were
quite high, and sometimes the waves almost covered them, and
they were slippery and hard to walk on. Sometimes the
(16:15):
rocks were far apart, and my father had to get
a running start and leap from one to the next.
After a while, he began to hear a rumbling noise.
It grew louder and louder as he got nearer to
the island. At last it seemed as if it was
(16:36):
right on top of the noise, and he was. He
had jumped from a rock on to the back of
a small whale who was fast asleep and cuddled up
between two rocks. The whale was snoring and making more
noise than a steam shovel, so it never heard my
(16:57):
father say, oh, I didn't know that was you, and
it never knew my father had jumped on its back
by mistake. For seven hours, my father climbed and slipped
and leapt from rock to rock, but while it was
still dark, he finally reached the very last rock and
(17:20):
stepped off on to Wild Island, my Father's Dragon. My
Father finds the River Part four. The jungle began just
beyond a narrow strip of beach, thick, dark, damp, scary jungle.
(17:40):
My father hardly knew where to go, so he crawled
under a wahoo bush to think and ate eight tangerines.
The first thing to do, he decided, was to find
the river, because the dragon was tied somewhere along its bank.
Then he thought, if the river flowed into the ocean,
(18:01):
I ought to be able to find it quite easily
if i'd just walk along the beach far enough. So
my father walked until the sun rose, and he was
quite far from the ocean rocks. It was dangerous to
stay near them because they might be guarded in the daytime.
He found a clump of tall grass and sat down.
(18:25):
Then he took off his rubber boots and ate three
more tangerines. He could have eaten twelve, but he hadn't
seen any tangerines on this island and could not risk
running out of something to eat. My father slept all
that day and only woke up late in the afternoon
when he heard a funny little voice saying, queer, queer,
(18:48):
what a dear little dock, I mean, dear, dear, what
a queer little rock. My father saw a tiny paw
rubbing itself on his knapsack. He lay very still, and
the mouse, for it was a mouse, hurried away, muttering
to itself, I must smell tum duddy, I mean, I
must tell somebody. My father waited a few minutes and
(19:12):
then started down the beach because it was almost dark
now and he was afraid the mouse really would tell somebody.
He walked all night, and two scary things happened. First,
he just had to sneeze, so he did, and somebody
close by said, is that you monkey? My father said yes.
(19:38):
Then the voice said you must have something on your back, monkey,
and my father said yes, because he did he had
his knapsack on his back. What do you have on
your back, monkey.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Asked the voice.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
My father didn't know what to say, because what would
a monkey have on its back, and how how would
it sound telling someone about it if it did have something.
Just then another voice said, I bet you're taking your
sick grandmother to the doctors. My father said yes and
(20:14):
hurried on. Quite by accident, he found out later that
he had been talking to a pair of tortoises. The
second thing that happened was that he nearly walked right
between two wild boars who were talking in low solemn whispers.
When he first saw the dark shapes, he thought there
(20:36):
were boulders. Just in time he heard one of them say,
there are three signs of a recent invasion. First, fresh
tangerine peals were found under the wahoo bush near the
ocean rocks. Second, a mouse reported an extraordinary rock some
(20:56):
distance from the ocean rocks, which, upon first other investigation,
simply wasn't there. However, more fresh tangerine peals were found
in the same spot, which is the third sign of invasion.
Since tangerines do not grow on our island, somebody must
(21:17):
have brought them across the ocean rocks from the other island,
which may or may not have something to do with
the appearance and or disappearance of the extraordinary rock reported
by the mouse. After a long silence, the other boar said,
you know, I think we're taking all this too seriously.
(21:41):
Those peals probably floated over here or by themselves, and
you know how unreliable mice are. Besides, if there had
been an invasion, I would have seen it. Perhaps you're right,
said the first ball, Shall we retire? Whereupon they both
trundled back into the jungle. Well, that taught my father
(22:04):
a lesson, and after that he saved all his tangerine peals.
He walked all night, and toward morning came to the river.
Then his troubles really began. My Father's Dragon My Father
Meets some Tigers Part five. The river was very wide
(22:29):
and muddy, and the jungle was very gloomy and dense.
The trees grew close to each other, and what room
there was between them was taken up by great high
ferns with sticky leaves. My father hated to leave the beach,
but he decided to start along the river bank, where
at least the jungle wasn't quite so thick. He ate
(22:52):
three tangerines, making sure to keep all the peels this time,
and put on his rubber boots. My father tried to
follow the river bank, but it was very swampy, and
as he went farther the swamp became deeper. When it
was almost as deep as his boot tops, he got
stuck in the oozy, mucky mud. My father tugged and tugged,
(23:18):
and nearly pulled his boots right off, but at last
he managed to wade to a drier place. Here, the
jungle was so thick that he could hardly see where
the river was. He unpacked his compass and figured out
the direction he should walk in order to stay near
the river. But he didn't know that the river made
(23:39):
a very sharp curve away from him, just a little
way beyond, and so as he walked straight ahead, he
was getting farther and farther away from the river. It
was very hard to walk in the jungle. The sticky
leaves of the ferns caught at my father's hair, and
he kept tripping over roots and rotten logs. Sometimes the
(24:03):
trees were clumped so closely together that he couldn't squeeze
between them and had to walk a long way around.
He began to hear whispery noises, but he couldn't see
any animals anywhere. The deeper into the jungle he went
the surrey, he was that something was following him, and
(24:25):
then he thought he heard whispery noises on both sides
of him, as well as behind. He tried to run,
but he tripped over more roots, and the noises only
came nearer. Once or twice, he thought he heard something
laughing at him. At last, he came out into a
clearing and ran right into the middle of it so
(24:47):
that he could see anything that might try to attack him.
He was surprised when he looked and saw fourteen green
eyes coming out of the jungle all around the clearing,
and when the green eyes turned into seven tigers. The
tigers walked around him in a big circle, looking hungrier
(25:09):
all the time, and then they sat down and began
to talk. I suppose you thought we didn't know you
were trespassing in our jungle. Then the next tiger spoke,
I suppose you're going to say you didn't know it
was our jungle. Did you know that not one explorer
(25:29):
has ever left this island alive, said the third tiger.
My father thought of the cat and knew this wasn't true,
but of course he had too much sense to say
so one doesn't contradict a hungry tiger. The tigers went
on talking in turn. You're our first little boy. You know,
(25:50):
I'm curious to know if you're especially tender. Maybe you
think we have regular meal times, but we don't. We
just eat whenever we're feeling hungry, said the fifth tiger.
And we are very hungry right now. In fact, I
can hardly wait, said the sixth I can't wait, said
(26:15):
the seventh tiger. And then all the tigers said together
in a loud roar, let's begin right now, and they
moved in closer. My father looked at those seven hungry tigers,
and then he had an idea. He quickly opened his
knapsack and took out the chewing gum. The cat had
(26:38):
told him that tigers are especially fond of chewing gum,
which was very scarce on the island. So he threw
them each a piece, but they only growled as fond
as we are of chewing gum, We're sure we'd like
you even better, And they moved so close that he
could feel them breathing on his face. But this is
(27:01):
very special chewing gum, said my father. If you keep
on chewing it long enough, it will turn green, and
then if you plant it, it will grow more chewing gum.
And the sooner you start chewing, the sooner you'll have more.
The tigers said, why you don't say, isn't that fine?
(27:22):
And as each one wanted to be the first to
plant the chewing gum, they all unwrapped their pieces and
began chewing as hard as they could. Every once in
a while, one tiger would look into another's mouth and say, nope,
it's not done yet, Until finally, they were all so
busy looking into each other's mouths to make sure that
(27:43):
no one was getting ahead, that they forgot all about
my father, My Father's dragon My father meets a Rhinoceros
Part six. My father soon found a trail away from
the clearing. All sorts of animals might be using it too,
(28:04):
but he decided to follow the trail. No matter what
he met, because it might lead to the dragon. He
kept a sharp look out in front and behind, and
went on. Just as he was feeling quite safe, he
came around a curve right behind the two wild boars.
(28:25):
One of them was saying to the other, did you
know that the tortoises thought they saw Monkey carrying his
sick grandmother to the doctor's last night. But Monkey's grandmother
died a week ago, so they must have seen something else.
I wonder what it was. I told you that there
was an invasion afoot, said the other boar, and I
(28:46):
intend to find out what it is. I simply can't
stand invasions. Nay, neither, said a tiny little voice. I
mean me neither. And my father knew that the mouse
was there too well, said the first wild boar. You
search the trail up this way to the dragon. I'll
(29:06):
go back down the other way through the big clearing,
and we'll send mouse to watch the ocean rocks in
case the invasion should decide to go away before we
find it. My father hid behind him mahogany tree just
in time, and the first boar walked right past him.
My father waited for the other boar to get a
(29:26):
head start on him, but he didn't wait very long
because he knew that when the first boar saw the
tiger's chewing gum in the clearing, he'd be even more suspicious.
Soon the trail crossed a little brook, and my father,
who was by this time very thirsty, stopped to get
a drink of water. He still had on his rubber boots,
(29:49):
so he waded into a little pool of water and
was stooping down when something quite sharp picked him up
by the seat of the pants and shook him very hard.
Don't you know that's my private weeping pool, said a deep,
angry voice. My father couldn't see who was talking because
he was hanging in the air right over the pool,
(30:11):
but he said, oh no, I'm so sorry. I didn't
know that everybody had a private weeping pool. Everybody doesn't,
said the angry voice, But I do, because I have
such a big thing to weep about, and I drown
everybody I find using my weeping pool. With that, the
animal tossed my father up and down over the water.
(30:35):
What is it that you weep about so much? Asked
my father, trying to get his breath, And he thought
over all the things he had in his pack. Oh,
I have many things to weep about, but the biggest
thing is the color of my tusk. My father squirmed
every which way trying to see the tusk, but it
(30:57):
was through the seat of his pants, where he couldn't
possibly see it. When I was a young rhinoceros, my
tusk was pearly white, said the animal, And then my
father knew that he was hanging by the seat of
his pants from my rhinoceros tusk. But it has turned
a nasty yellow gray in my old age, and I
(31:17):
find it very ugly. You see everything else about me
as ugly. But when I had a beautiful tusk, I
didn't worry so much about the rest. Now that my
tusk is ugly too, I can't sleep nights just thinking
about how completely ugly I am, and I weep all
the time. But why should I be telling you all
(31:39):
these things. I caught you using my pool, and now
I'm gonna drown you. Oh wait a minute, Rhinoceros, said
my father. I have something that will make your tusk
all white and beautiful again. Just let me down and
I'll give them to you. The rhinoceros said, you do,
(31:59):
I can hardly believe it. Why I'm so excited. He
put my father down and danced around in a circle
while my father got out the tube of tooth paste
and the tooth brush. Now said my father, just move
your tusk a little nearer, please, and I'll show you
how to begin. My father wet the brush in the pool,
(32:22):
squeezed on a dab of tooth paste, and scrubbed very
hard in one tiny spot. Then he told the rhinoceros
to wash it off, and when the pool was calm again,
he told the rhinoceros to look in the water and
see how white the little spot was. It was hard
to see in the dim light of the jungle, but
(32:42):
sure enough, the spot shone pearly white, just like new.
The rhinoceros was so pleased that he grabbed the tooth
brush and began scrubbing violently, forgetting all about my father.
Just then my father heard hoofsteps, and he jumped behind
the rhinoceros. It was the boar, coming back from the
(33:04):
big clearing where the tigers were chewing gum. The boar
looked at the rhinoceros, and at the toothbrush, and at
the tube of toothpaste, and then he scratched his ear
on a tree. Tell me, rhinoceros, he said, where did
you get that fine tube of toothpaste? And that toothbrush?
Too busy, said the rhinoceros, and he went on brushing
(33:27):
as hard as he could. The boar sniffed angrily and
trotted down the trail toward the dragon, muttering to himself,
very suspicious. Tiger's too busy chewing gum. Rhinoceros too busy
brushing his tusk. Must get hold of that invasion. Don't
like it one bit, not one bit. It's upsetting everybody terribly.
(33:52):
Wonder what it's doing here anyway, my father's dragon. My
father meets a lion Part seven. My father waved good
bye to the rhinoceros, who was much too busy to notice,
got a drink farther down the brook, and waded back
to the trail. He hadn't gone very far when he
(34:14):
heard an angry animal roaring.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Ding blast it.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
I told you not to go blackberrying yesterday.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Won't you ever learn? What will your mother say?
Speaker 1 (34:26):
My father crept along and peered into a small clearing.
Just ahead, a lion was prancing about, clawing at his mane,
which was all snarled and full of BlackBerry twigs. The
more he clawed, the worse it became, and the madder
he grew, and the more he yelled at himself, because
it was himself he was yelling at all the time.
(34:47):
My father could see the trail went through the clearing,
so he decided to crawl around the edge in the
underbush and not disturbed the lion. He crawled and crawled,
and the yelling grew louder and louder. Just as he
was about to reach the trail on the other side,
the yelling suddenly stopped. My father looked around and saw
(35:11):
the lion glaring at him. The lion charged and skiddered
to a stop a few inches away. Who are you,
the lion yelled at my father. My name is Elma Elevator.
Where do you think you are going? I'm going home,
said my father. Ha, that's what you think, said the lion.
(35:36):
Ordinarily I'd save you for afternoon tea, but I happened
to be upset enough and hungry enough to eat you
right now. And he picked up my father in his
front paws to feel how fat he was. Oh, please, lion,
before you eat me tell me why you were so particularly.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Upset to day.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
It's my mane, said the lion, as he was figuring
out how many bites the little boy would make. You'll
see what a dreadful mess it is, and I don't
seem to be able to do anything about it. My
mother is coming over on the dragon this afternoon, and
if she sees me this way, I'm afraid she'll stop
my allowance. She can't stand messy man's. But I'm going
(36:21):
to eat you now, so it won't make any difference
to you. Oh wait a minute, said my father, and
I'll give you just the things you need to make
your mane all tidy and beautiful. I have them here
in my pack, you do, said the lion. Well give
them to me, and perhaps I'll save you for afternoon
(36:41):
tea after all, and he put my father down on
the ground. My father opened the pack and took out
the comb and the brush, and the seven hair ribbins
of different colors. Look, he said, I'll show you what
to do on your forelock, where you can watch me.
Urst you brush awhile, then you comb, and then you
(37:04):
brush again until all the twigs and snarls are gone.
Then you divide it up into three and braid it
like this and tie a ribon around the end. As
my father was doing this, the lion watched very carefully
and began to look much happier. When my father tied
on the ribbon, he was all smiles. Oh that's wonderful,
(37:29):
really wonderful, said the lion. Let me have the corm
and brush and see if I can do it. So
my father gave him the comb and brush, and the
lion began busily grooming his mane. As a matter of fact,
he was so busy that he didn't even know when
my father left my Father's Dragon My Father Meets a
(37:53):
Gorilla Part eight. My father was very hungry, so he
sat down under a baby banyan tree on the side
of the trail and ate four tangerines. He wanted to
eat eight or ten, but he only had thirteen left
and it might be a long time before he could
get more. He packed away all the peals and was
(38:15):
about to get up when he heard the familiar voices
of the boars. I wouldn't have believed it if I
hadn't seen them with my own eyes. But wait and
see for yourself. All the tigers are sitting around chewing
gum to beat the band. Old rhinoceros is so busy
brushing his tusk that he doesn't even look around to
(38:36):
see who's going by. And they're all so busy they
won't even talk to me. Horse Feathers said the other boar,
Now very close to my father, they'll talk to me.
I'm going to get to the bottom of this if
it's the last thing I do. The voices passed my
father and went around a curve, and he hurried on
(38:56):
because he knew how much more upset the boars would
be when they saw the lion's mane tied up in
hair ribbons. Before long, my father came to a cross roads,
and he stopped to read the signs. Straight ahead. An
arrow pointed to the beginning of the river, to the
left the ocean rocks, and to the right to the
(39:19):
dragon ferry. My father was reading all these signs when
he heard poor steps and ducked behind the sign post.
A beautiful lioness paraded past and turned down toward the clearings.
Although she could have seen my father if she had
bothered to glance at the post, she was much too
(39:39):
occupied looking dignified to see anything but the tip of
her own nose. It was the lion's mother, of course,
and that thought my father must mean that the dragon
was on this side of the river. He hurried on,
but it was farther away than he had judged. He
finally came to the river bank in the late afternoon
(40:01):
and looked all round, but there was no dragon anywhere
in sight. He must have gone back to the other side.
My father sat down under a palm tree and was
trying to have a good idea when something big and
black and hairy jumped out of the tree and landed
with a loud crash at his feet. Well, said a
(40:24):
huge voice, Well what said my father, for which he
was very sorry when he looked up and discovered that
he was talking to an enormous and very fierce gorilla.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Well explain yourself, said the gorilla. I'll give you till
ten to tell me your name, business, your age, and
what's in that pack.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
And he began counting to ten as fast as he could.
My father didn't even have time to say Elma, elevator
explorer before the gorilla interrupted.
Speaker 2 (40:57):
Too slow. I'll twist your the way I twist that
dragon's wings, and then we'll see if you can't hurry
up a bit.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
He grabbed my father's arms, one in each fist, and
was just about to twist them when he suddenly let
go and began scratching his chest with both hands.
Speaker 3 (41:16):
Blast those fleas, he raged, They won't give me a
moment's peace, and the worst of it is that you
can't even get a good look at them. Rosie, Rhada, Rachel,
Ruthie Ruby, ROBERTA, come here and get rid of this
flea on my chest.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
He's driving me crazy.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
Six little monkeys tumbled out of the palm tree, dashed
to the gorilla and began combing the hair on his chest.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
Well, said the gorilla, it's still there.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
We're looking. We're looking, said the six little monkeys. But
they're awfully hard to see. You know, I know, said
the gorilla. But hurry, I've got work to do, and
he winked at my father. Oh, gorilla, said my father.
In my knapsack, I have six magnifying glasses. They'd be
(42:10):
just the thing for hunting fleas. My father unpacked them
and gave one to Rosy, one to Roda, one to Rachel,
one to Ruthie. One to Ruby and one to Roberta.
Why they are miraculous, said the six little monkeys. It's
easy to see the fleas now, only there are hundreds
(42:31):
of them, and they went on hunting frantically. A moment later,
many more monkeys appeared out of a nearby clump of
mangroves and began crowding around to get a look at
the fleece through the magnifying glass. They completely surrounded the gorilla,
and he could not see my father, nor did he
(42:51):
remember to twist his arms. My father's dragon, my father
makes a bridge wh Pard nine. My father walked back
and forth along the bank, trying to think of some
way to cross the river. He found a high flagpole
with a rope going over to the other side. The
(43:13):
rope went through a loop at the top of the
pole and then down the pole and around a large crank.
A sign on the crank said to summon dragon yank
the crank report disorderly conduct to gorilla. From what the
cat had told my father, he knew that the other
end of the rope was tied around the dragon's neck,
(43:36):
and he felt sorrier than ever for the poor dragon.
If he were on this side, the gorilla would twist
his wings until it hurt so much that he'd have
to fly to the other side. If he were on
the other side, the gorilla would crank the rope until
the dragon would either choke to death or fly back
to this side. What a life for a baby dragon.
(43:57):
My father knew that if he called to the dragon
to come across the river, the gorilla would surely hear him,
so he thought about climbing the pole and going across
on the rope. The pole was very high, and even
if he could get to the top without being seen,
he'd have to go all the way across hand over hand.
The river was very muddy, and all sorts of unfriendly
(44:21):
things might live in it, but my father could think
of no other way to get across. He was about
to start up the pole when despite all the noise
the monkeys were making, he heard a loud splash behind him.
He looked all around in the water, but it was
dusk now and he couldn't see anything there. It's me, crocodile,
(44:43):
said a voice to the left. The water's lovely, and
I have such a craving for something sweet. Won't you
come in for a swim. A pale moon came out
from behind the clouds, and my father could see where
the voice was coming from. The crocodile's head was just
p out of the water. Oh no, thank you, said
(45:03):
my father. I never swim after sundown. But I do
have something sweet to offer you. Perhaps you'd like a lollipop,
and perhaps you have friends who would like lollipops too. Lollipops,
said the crocodile. Why that is a treat.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
How about it? Boys?
Speaker 1 (45:22):
A whole chorus of voices shouted hooray lollipops, and my
father counted as many as seventeen crocodiles with their heads
just peeping out of the water. That's fine, said my father,
as he got out the two dozen pink lollipops and
the rubber bands. I'll stick one here in the bank.
(45:43):
Lollipops last longer if you keep them out of the water.
You know, now one of you can have this one.
The crocodile who had first spoken swam up and tasted it. Delicious,
mighty delicious, he said. Now, if you don't mind, my
father said, I'll just walk along your back and fasten
(46:04):
another lollipop to the tip of your tail with a
rubber band. You don't mind, do you. Oh no, not
in the least, said the crocodile. Can you let your
tail out of the water just a bit, asked my father. Yes,
of course, said the crocodile, and he lifted up his tail.
Then my father ran along his back and fastened another
(46:26):
lollipop with a rubber band. Who's next, said my father,
and a second crocodile swam up and began sucking on
that lollipop. Now, you gentlemen can save a lot of
time if you just line up across the river, said
my father, and I'll be along to give you each
a lollipop. So the crocodiles lined up right across the
(46:48):
river with their tails in the air, waiting for my
father to fasten on the rest of the lollipops. The
tail of the seventeenth crocodile just reached the other bank.
My father's dragon. My father finds the dragon. Part ten.
(47:09):
When my father was crossing the back of the fifteenth
crocodile with two more lollipops to go, the noise of
the monkeys suddenly stopped, and he could hear a much
bigger noise, getting louder every second. Then he could hear
seven furious tigers and one raging rhinoceros, and two seething
lions and one ranting gorilla, along with countless screeching monkeys
(47:34):
led by two extremely irate wild boars, all yelling it's a.
Speaker 2 (47:39):
Trick, it's a trick.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
There was an invasion, and it must be after our dragon,
kill it, kill it. The whole crowd stampeded down the bank.
As my father was fixing the seventeenth lollipop for the
last crocodile, he heard a wild boar scream.
Speaker 2 (47:58):
Look it came this. It's over there now see the
crocodiles made a bridge for.
Speaker 1 (48:05):
It, and just as my father leaped onto the other bank,
one of the wild boars jumped onto the back of
the first crocodile. My father didn't have a moment to
spare by. Now the dragon realized that my father was
coming to rescue him. He ran out of the bushes
and jumped up and down, yelling, here I am, I'm
(48:26):
right here.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Can you see me? Hurry?
Speaker 1 (48:29):
The boar is coming over on the crocodile's tour. They're
all coming over all, please hurry, hurry. The noise was
simply terrific. My father ran up to the dragon and
took out his very sharp jackknife. Steady, old boy, steady,
we'll make it. Just stand still, he told the dragon
(48:52):
as he began to soar through the big rope. By
this time, both balls, all seven tigers, the two lions,
the rheinghnoceros, and the gorilla, along with the countless screeching monkeys,
were all on their way across the crocodiles, and there
was still a lot of rope.
Speaker 2 (49:08):
To cut through.
Speaker 1 (49:09):
Ah horror, the dragon kept saying, But my father again
told him to stand still. If I don't think I
can make it, said my father, we'll fly over to
the other side of the river and I can finish
cut in the rope there. Suddenly, the screaming grew louder
and madder, and my father thought the animals must have
(49:30):
crossed the river. He looked around and saw something which
surprised and delighted him, partly because he had finished his lollipop,
and partly because, as I told you before, crocodiles are
very moody and not the least bit dependable, and are
always looking for something to eat. The first crocodile had
turned away from the bank and started swimming down the river.
(49:52):
The second crocodile hadn't finished yet, so he followed right
after the first, still sucking his lollipop. All the rest
did the same, one right after the other, until they
were all swimming away in a line. The two wild boars,
the seven tigers, the rhinoceros, the two lions, the gorilla,
along with the countless screeching monkeys, were all riding down
(50:16):
the middle of the river on the train of crocodiles,
sucking pink lollipops, and all yelling and screaming and getting
their feet wet. My father and the dragon laughed themselves
weak because it was such a silly sight. As soon
as they had recovered, my father finished cutting the rope,
and the dragon raced around in circles and tried to
(50:38):
turn a summersault. He was the most excited baby dragon
that ever lived. My father was in a hurry to
fly away, and when the dragon finally calmed down a bit,
my father climbed up onto his back, all aboard, said
the dragon, where shall we go? We'll spend the night
on the beach, and tomorrow we'll start on a long
(51:00):
journey home. So it's after the shores of Tangerina, shouted
my father, as the dragon soared above the dark jungle
and the muddy river, and all the animals bellowing at them,
and all the crocodiles licking pink lollipops and grinning white grins.
After all, what did the crocodiles care about a way
(51:21):
to cross the river, and what a fine feast they
were carrying on their backs. As my father and the
dragon passed over the ocean rocks, they heard a tiny
excited voice scream, bum cag, bum cag. We'd read our nagon,
I mean, we need our dragon. But my father and
the dragon knew that nothing in the world would ever
(51:45):
make them go back to wild Island.
Popular Podcasts
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com