EPHINEOUS ANTEATER'S TONGUE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 70, 23 March 1935, Page 2 (Supplement)

EPHINEOUS ANTEATER'S TONGUE.

(Book prize to TCsmc Peacocke, 10. Owens Koad, Epsom, S.RI ; age 15.) Many, many years ago, before you or I were born, there lived strange animals upon this earth. Xow, one of these animals, namely Ephineous Anteater (you can guess how he gof his name), was wry long and thin, and for evei hungry. J I is tail was long, very mi>"h longer than it is now, and indescribably bushy. Tt was very useful to him, because with it he swept the ground in sea,rch of the little insects upon which he lived. He was so proud of his beautiful tail, that after every sweeping he would hurry down to the cool, deep river which flowed silently through the forest, to wash it.

But though he swept the earth with his big, long brush, he could never get enough to eat, for his mouth was so small that nothing but tiny insects could get into it, and his tongue was so short that he could not pick many up, and that is the reason why he was always hungry.

One cold, nasty day in winter, a very forlorn Kphineous was wandering through the forest thoroughly cold, and hungry, for all the little insects were in their nice warm homes, deep clown in the cosy earth, far out of his reach. As lie turned a corner of the twiaty little track which led through the forest, he saw in front of him a great liig tree, at the foot of which was a furry bear fast asleep. , Ephineous crept closer and closer, and when lie had reached the bear he disI covered beside him a large jar of honey , dripping onto the ground. j "OooJi!" he exclaimed, hiss eyes I opened wide in excitement, "what a j lovely dinner that honey will make me, i and picking up the jar he hurried off to his den, which was back along the little twisty track which led through the forest. Arrived there, he sat down, mindful of his brush, and began to lick up the honey with great enjoyment. At first he licked the surface of the honey, but gradually his tongue sank lower and lower, until finally it was stuck in the honey, unable to move either up or down. "(Jeli! oo! ceuck!" poor Ephineous died to speak, but he couldn't, so getting up on to his legs he swung round and round, trying to get his tongue oux of the honey, but it was no use. His tongue was fixed so firmly, that when Ephineous swung, the jar swung with him. Suddenly he heard a loud voice, and saw the funny bear beside him, looking very fierce. "What are you doing with my honey?" roared Bruin, and, of course, Ephineous could not speak and answer him, he just troubled where he stood, and. the jar trembled, too. Then Bruin saw the plight he was in, and became quite sympathetic. "You poor thing," he said, adding as jan after thought, "It serves you jollv well right for stealing, doesn't it?" His voice was so fierce and growly, that Ephineous dumbly nodded in agreement, and the jar nodded too. Then Bruin, who was really sorry for the poor ant-eater, had an idea. ' "I'll get my mates to help you," lie said, and lumbered off into the- forest, returning in a few seconds with six other furry bears. "Now," lie said, "we'll have a tug-of-war, ell, boys?"' The other bears assented joyfully, and Bruin and two others took hold of the jar, while the ; other four bears firmly grasped Ephineous' beautiful bushy tail, which gives you an idea of how big it was. One! two! three! and the tug-of-war started. Nothing happened for a while, and then Ephineous felt his tonguo begin to stretch, as Bruin and his two helpers gave an extra hard tug at the jar. By this time his poor, beautiful tail was feeling very sore and as though it didn't belong to him any longer. Suddenly, the strain being too great, his tail snapped, and Ephineous and the four bears described a wonderful somersault in the air. And when they readied the earth with a hard bang, which knocked all the breath out of them, it was to discover that Ephineous' tongue had come right out of the honey. But what a tongue it was! So long and narrow, so black and dreadfully sore. His tail, no longer his pride and joy. was very much smaller, although it was still bushy. He eyed it thoughtfully. '"Yes." he said, "it will still brush up the insects," and he tried it.

]fe brushed a deep hole in the "round ami saw an ant, two ants, three ants a whole army of ants, and his tongue' his long black tongue, went down into the hole and came up again with twenty ants uuon it. Again and again his tongue went down, and came back loaded with ants, all of which lie swallowed until he was absolutely full up and unable to fit any more i.ito his* stomach.

Finding his, tongue was now so usn■fii 1 to him, he didn't mind about his tail so much; indeed Ephineous found it easier to wield now it was shorter, and he felt quite happy after all he had bren through.

Ever since that eventful day, Ephineous has been great friends with Bruin, and ho has noser been hungry once, because he can get his tongue right down, deep into tlic earth and get as many ants or other insects as lie wants. So he finds his elongated tongue a good recompense for the shortening of his beautiful bushy tail, which is, however, still of great "use to him. Though his tail is no longer hie pride, he is fast becoming proud of his tongue which is able to gather up so many insects to feed him and keep him alive in the forest through -which the little twisty track rambles.