Adventures of Little Shambhu

Once upon a time there was a little boy who lived near the forest, his name was Shambhu. One day his mother made him a beautiful little red coat, and a pair of beautiful little blue trousers. Then his father went to the bazaar and bought him a big green umbrella and a little pair of purple shoes with red soles and red lining. Shambhu put on all these things, and he looked very smart.

He then went out for a walk in the Jungle. There he met a Tiger. The Tiger said to him, "Shambhu, I'm going to eat you up!"

And Shambhu said, "Oh! Please, Tiger, don't eat me up”

And Tiger said “Ok, I won’t eat you up, but you will give me your beautiful little red coat."

So the Tiger got poor Shambhu's beautiful little red coat, and went away saying - “Now I'm the smartest Tiger in the Jungle."

And Shambhu went on, and then after some distance he met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Shambhu, I'm going to eat you up!"

And Shambhu said, “Oh! Please Tiger, don’t eat me up”

And Tiger said “Ok I won’t eat you up, but you must give me your beautiful blue trousers”

So the Tiger got poor Shambhu's beautiful little blue trousers, and went away saying, "Now I'm the smartest tiger in the Jungle."

And Shambhu went on and by and by he met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Shambhu, I'm going to eat you up!"

And Shambhu said, "Oh! Please, Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful little purple shoes with red soles and red linings."

But the Tiger said, "What use would your shoes be to me? I've got four feet and you've got only two."

"You haven't got enough shoes for me." But Shambhu said, "You could wear them on your ears."

So I could," said the Tiger, "that's a very good idea. Give them to me, and I won't eat you this time."

So the Tiger got poor Shambhu's beautiful little purple shoes with red soles and red linings, and went away saying, "Now I'm the smartest Tiger in the Jungle."

And by and by Shambhu met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Shambhu, I'm going to eat you up!"

And Shambhu said, "Oh! Please, Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up and I'll give you my beautiful green umbrella." But the Tiger said, "How can I carry an umbrella when I need all my paws for walking with?"

"You could tie a knot on your tail, and carry it that way," said Shambhu.

"So I could," said the Tiger. "Give it to me and I won't eat you this time."

So he got poor Shambhu's beautiful green umbrella, and went away saying, "Now I'm the smartest Tiger in the Jungle."

And poor Shambhu went away crying, because the tigers had taken all his fine clothes.

Presently he heard a horrible noise that sounded like "Gr-r-r-r-rrrrrrr," and it got louder and louder.

"Oh dear!" said Shambhu, "There are all the Tigers coming back to eat me up!

What shall I do?"So he ran quickly to a tree, And peeped round it to see what the matter was.

And there he saw all the tigers fighting and disputing which of them was
the smartest.

And at last they all got so angry that they jumped up and took off all the fine clothes and began to tear each other with their claws and bite each other with their great big white teeth. And they came, rolling and tumbling, right to the foot of the very tree where Shambhu was hiding, but he jumped quickly in behind the umbrella. And the Tigers all caught hold of each others' tails.

As they wrangled and scrambled, and so they found themselves in a ring around the tree.

Then, when the Tigers were very far away, Shambhu jumped up and called out, "Oh! Tigers! why have you taken off all your nice clothes? Don't you want them any more?"

But the Tigers only answered “Gr-r-r-rrrrr!"

Then Shambhu said, "If you want them, say so, or I'll take them away." But the Tigers would not let go of each others' tails, and so they could only say "Gr-r-r-rrrrrr!"

And the Tigers were very, very angry, but still they would not let go of each others' tails. And they were so angry that they ran round the tree, trying to eat each other up, and they ran faster and faster till they were whirling round so fast that you couldn't see their legs at all.

And they still ran faster and faster and faster, till they all just melted away, and then there was nothing left but a great big pool of melted “Ghee” round the foot of the tree.

Now Papoo was just coming home from his work, with a great big brass pot in his arms, and when he saw what was left of all the Tigers, he said- "Oh! what lovely melted butter! I'll take that home to Mumoo for her to cook with."

So he put it all into the great big brass pot, and took it home to Mumoo to cook with. When Mumoo saw the melted butter, she was very pleased

"Now," said she, "we'll all have parathas for supper!"

So she got flour and and boiled potatoes and cauliflower, and she made a huge big plate of most lovely parathas. And she fried them in the melted butter which the Tigers had made, and they were just as yellow and brown as little Tigers.

And then they all sat down to supper. And Mumoo ate Twenty-seven pancakes, and Papoo ate Fifty-five, but Shambhu ate a Hundred and Sixty-nine, because he was so hungry.