TAILS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 200, 24 August 1929, Page 3 (Supplement)

TAILS.

In the beginning of things all the animals chose their own tails. Some wanted long ones, some wanted short ones, some wanted fluffy ones, and some wanted smooth ones. The tails were all hanging on a long line between two trees, and the tail-less animals walked up and down inspecting each one carefully and weighing its merits. You see, such important things as tails could not be chosen in a hurry, because they had to last a lifetime, and the same pattern had to be handed down to the next generation. The lion, being the king of beasts, chose first. "I would like that flexible, tufted tail. It would be useful for flicking the flies off my back." "And 1 shall have that long, flowing one," said the horse. "It will exactly match my beautiful mane." "That useful thin one will suit me," spoke up the impudent rat. "It.will not be in the way when I am going down holes." "That majestic looking tail is the one for me/ 5 said the ant-eater, importantly. ; « "I shall have this curious little one," trumpeted the elephant, ,; for it will not overshadow iny famous trunk." And so it "went 06. At length all the tails but one had been chosen, when the pig, who had lingered to look for acorns under a sycamore tree, arrived, disgruntled and breathless, on the scene. He looked at the remaining tail with annoyance and disgust. "Well, I suppose I shall have to have it," he said at last. "At least it is not so cumbersome as the ant-eater's.''' *'It might look better with a knot in it," suggested the elephant, so the pig tr'otted CC off with his absurd little tail, and every day for a week he sat on a log and practised tying a knot in it.