Animal Stories - Page 4

The really silly shepherd

Sam the Silly Shepherd found three baby wolf cubs left all alone by their mother. He remembered how the big bad wolf had eaten all his sheep once before, but then he had another of his silly ideas. "If I look after these cubs myself, they'll grow up kind and gentle," he thought. So he fed them by hand and gave them toys to play with, and day by day they grew bigger and bigger. At last they were the same immediately attacked the sheep and killed them. But as they're three of them they did it three times faster than their father.

Dogs and wolves don't mix

Every night, a pack of wolves prowled round a field of fat, juicy sheep, licking their lips hopefully. But every night the farmer's dogs barked to warn their master. One night a wolf crept up to the dogs and said:

"This is silly. You're like us, with long noses and tails. The only difference is that you wear collars and obey your master. That's very old-fashioned. Join us, and we can divide these nice fat sheep between us." The dog scratched their heads thoughtfully, and said "That's a good idea. We'd like some juicy lamb chops." So they let the wolves into the field. The wolves immediately killed all the dogs and then took the sheep for themselves.

Little and large don't mix

There was once a silly old lion who felt ashamed because he was scared of chickens. Yes, chickens! "Elephants are wise," thought the lion. "Perhaps I should go and ask for advice." So he went to Ernest the Elephant, but while he was talking, Ernest kept flapping his great ears. "What's the matter with you?" said the lion crossly. "I'm sorry," said Ernest, "but I get so worried when gnats buzz round my ears. They terrify me." "Really?" said the lion and he felt much better.

The best fighters don't always win

Freddie the Fox was walking through the woods when he heard the noise of a furious fight. He hid between a tree trunk and carefully looked round it. The best fighters don't always winA lion and a bear had found a baby deer dead, and they were fighting to see which of them would eat it for his supper. Each was as strong as the other. The bear hit the lion with his heavy paws, and the lion scratched the bear with his sharp claws.

After a while, they both lay weak and exhausted on the ground, with the baby deer between them. Quick as flash, Freddie nipped out from behind his tree, grabbed the deer and vanished back into the woods. "Oh," gasped the bear and the lion as they got their breath back, "what fools we are. We've scratched and walloped each other until we're half dead, and all we've done is give a fox free supper."

Lions don't believe in sharing

A lion, a donkey and a fox decided to go out hunting together. That way, they thought, they would catch much more than if they went alone, and they were right. At the end of the day they had a big heap of food. "Right," said the donkey, "let's divide it into three piles, one for each of us." So he shared it out in three equal amounts. "What's this?" roared lion, and jumped on the donkey and gobbled him up. "You divide the heap," said lion to the fox. The fox was wise.

He made two piles – a big one, and a small one. "Hmm," said the lion, taking the big one. "Who taught you to share things out so?" "Ask the donkey," answered the fox.

Your money or your life

The big bad wolf gobbled up the little lamb so fast that a bone got stuck in his throat. He was feeling very sorry for himself until he met a heron with a long, long beak. "Ah, Mr Heron," he gasped. "I'll give you a big reward if you reach down my throat and pull out this bone." "How much?" said the heron, suspiciously. "Oh, lots and lots," croaked the wolf. So the heron put his head down the wolf's throat and pulled it out. "Pay up," said the heron. The wolf looked surprised. "You should be happy I didn't bite your head off when it was in my mouth!"

There's no stopping a hungry wolf

There was once a pretty little lamb that skipped happily around the fields. There's no stopping a hungry wolfUnfortunately, nobody warned her that a big bad wolf that sees a pretty little lamb will gobble her up, even if he's already had a good breakfast. The big bad wolf was drinking in the stream when he saw the pretty little lamb further down the bank. "Ah-ha!" thought the wolf. "There's my lunch, but it's good manners to have a reason for eating her." He thought for a moment.

"Oy," he shouted. "You're making my water muddy." "Baa!"laughed the little lamb. "Don't be silly. The water is flowing from you to me." "Bother," thought the wolf, who hadn't noticed that. "Hey," he shouted again. "You were rude to me last year." The little lamb quickly counted on her toes. "That's impossible. I wasn't alive last year," she said. "Bah!" growled the wolf. "Well, I want to eat you anyway." So he did.

A warning to lion

Here's an odd story. A lion once fell in love with a farmer's daughter! The farmer probably thought what you're thinking – that all the lion really wanted was a good meal. So the farmer went to bed to think it over. By the morning he'd thought of a clever plan. "You are certainly a very handsome fellow," he said to the lion. "There's nobody I'd rather have as a son-in-law. I won't need a scarecrow to keep the crows away with you around, eh?" The lion laugh politely.

"But you are a lion, and my daughter's bound to be a little bit frightened. If you really love her, you'll pull out your teeth and cut off your claws."

So the lion, who really did love farmer's daughter, did what her father suggested. But of course as soon as he had, no-one was frightened of him any more, and the farmer beat him with a stick and drove him away.