Just So Stories for Little Children / Просто сказки. Книга для чтения на английском языке

They are out hunting in the spickly-speckly forest, and they are looking for Mr. One-Two-Three-Where’s-your-Breakfast. If you look a little you will see Mr. One-Two-Three not far away. The Ethiopian has hidden behind a splotchy-blotchy tree because it matches his skin, and the Leopard is lying beside a spickly-speckly bank of stones because it matches his spots. Mr. One-Two-Three-Where’s-your-Breakfast is standing up eating leaves from a tall tree. This is really a puzzle-picture like “Find-the-Cat”.

�I’ll make ’em with the tips of my fingers,’ said the Ethiopian.

�There’s plenty of black left on my skin still. Stand over!’

Then the Ethiopian put his five fingers close together (there was plenty of black left on his new skin still) and pressed them all over the Leopard, and wherever the five fingers touched they left five little black marks, all close together. You can see them on any Leopard’s skin you like, Best Beloved. Sometimes the fingers slipped and the marks got a little blurred; but if you look closely at any Leopard now you will see that there are always five spots – off five fat black finger-tips.

�Now you are a beauty!’ said the Ethiopian. �You can lie out on the bare ground and look like a heap of pebbles. You can lie out on the naked rocks and look like a piece of pudding-stone. You can lie out on a leafy branch and look like sunshine sifting through the leaves; and you can lie right across the center of a path and look like nothing in particular.

Think of that and purr[89 - to purr – мурлыкать, урчать]!’

�But if I’m all this.’ Said the Leopard. �why didn’t you go spotty too?’

�Oh, plain black’s best for a nigger,’ said the Ethiopian. �Now come along and we’ll see if we can’t get even with Mr. One-Two-Three-Where’s-your-Breakfast!’

So they went away and lived happily ever afterward, Best Beloved. That is all.

Oh, now and then you will hear grown-ups say, �Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots?’ I don’t think even grownups would keep on saying[90 - to keep on doing smth – продолжать делать что-либо] such a silly thing if the Leopard and the Ethiopian hadn’t done it once – do you? But they will never do it again, Best Beloved.

They are quite contented[91 - to be contented – быть довольным, удовлетво-риться] as they are.