The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Bojabi Tree, by Edith Rickert.

COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION
INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN
COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY D. C. HEATH & COMPANY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES
AT
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.
First Edition

In the land of All-the-Beasts there was a GREAT HUNGER. Some of the animals who were so HUNGRY were

They ran around the wood, here and there and everywhere, eating roots and twigs and any old scraps they could find. But still they were HUNGRY.

One day they came to a Big Tree full of fruit. But they could not eat it, for they did not know what it was.

When they had thought a while, they said,[8] “Let us send Robin Rat up the river to Leo, our King, and ask him what the fruit is and whether we may eat it.”

Robin Rat was young and spry. He scuttled up the tree and brought down one of its fruits to show King Leo.

Then Robin Rat scuttled down to the river bank and climbed into his little canoe.

[10]Then he found King Leo on the bank, all ready to receive visitors. He was wearing his crown tipped on the back of his head because he felt happy. He smiled at Robin Rat as pleasant as you please, and asked him to stay to supper.

After supper they curled up and went to sleep. There was nothing else to do, you see. For this is the way it looked in the

In the morning King Leo said politely, “What can I do for you, my small friend?”

Then Robin Rat answered, “Please tell us, King Leo, what is the name of this tree and whether we may eat the fruit of it. We are all SO HUNGRY!”

Then Robin Rat hung his cap over his right ear and climbed into his little canoe.

All the Beasts were waiting for him on the shore. He came up, whisking his paddle this way and that way through the water, just to show how well he could do it.

“What is it, Robin Rat?” said All the Beasts. “Tell us the name!” they roared and howled and grunted and whined and shrieked and squealed, each in his own PARTICULAR voice.

“Oh!” said Robin Rat. “I knew it a while ago, but now I have clean forgotten.”

Then All the Beasts stepped into the water and upset Robin Rat’s little canoe.

Then they said, “Let us send Pinky Pig to King Leo to ask the name of the tree. But Pinky Pig,

He put on his best blue coat and buttoned it up, though it squeezed him a little.

Then he trotted—trip trap, trip trap, trip trap—down to his little rowboat and took his oars to row up the big river.

Then he found King Leo on the bank, all ready to receive visitors. His crown was a little crooked because he had put it on in a hurry when he saw Pinky Pig coming.

and said, “Please, King Leo, we must know the name of this tree or we cannot eat the fruit. Please be so kind as to tell us.”

All the night and all the night he rowed—he rowed—and he ro-o-owed until the oars—dropped—from—his—hands—and the big river took the boat down itself.

Pinky Pig curled up under the seat. And this is the sound that came from the boat:

In the morning Pinky Pig sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was at home. All the Beasts stood on the river bank looking at him. “What is it, Pinky Pig? Tell us the name!” they whistled and snarled and squealed and shrieked and whined and grunted and howled and roared, each in his own PARTICULAR voice.

“I knew it last night,” he said, “but—ah—ah—I—must—have—been—asleep, and—ah—for—got—ten it.”

[26]Then All the Beasts jumped into the water and smashed Pinky Pig’s boat and his oars.

They PLUNGED about and
PUNCHED poor Pinky Pig and
POUNDED him until he went
plop—plop—into the water.

He ran home with the water running off him and making little puddles here and there.

But now All the Beasts were HUNGRIER and HUNGRIER. They could have eaten nails if there had been any nails in the Great Wood.

Then they said, “Giddy Goat is older than Pinky Pig, and wiser than Robin Rat. Let us send him to King Leo to ask the name of the tree, so that we may eat the fruit of it before we starve.

“A-rashum!” said Giddy Goat. He was afraid of catching cold. Away he ran—ker-lipp, ker-lipp—to his house to get a big woolly muffler to wear on the river. He wrapped it three times round his neck and tucked it neatly under his beard.

Then he found King Leo on the bank, not ready to receive visitors. His crown was on straight and he looked very CROSS.

“A-rashum!” said Giddy Goat. “I beg your Majesty’s pardon. I have a cold coming on.”

and said, “If you would be so very kind, King Leo, to tell us the name of this tree, so that we may know whether we may eat the fruit of it.”

“A-rash-oo!” said Giddy Goat and he skipped away—ker-lipp, ker-lipp—to his sailboat.

All the Beasts were waiting for him—rows and rows of them. Those in the back rows looked over the shoulders of those in the front rows, or climbed on their backs.

They pushed and jostled one another until they had upset Giddy Goat’s sailboat. Ker-splash!—he went into the river.

Such a sight as he was when they pulled him out. His long hair was full of water. His beard was full of water. His eyes were full of water. His beautiful new muffler was full of water.

When the animals crowded round him to ask the name of the tree, he shook himself so that the water flew in their faces, and ran away home—ker-lipp, ker-lipp—with a most dreadful

His wife made him go to bed. And not one word could anyone get from him all that day but A-tchoo! A-rashum! A-TCHOO!

By this time All the Beasts were so HUNGRY that they sat round the tree and cried.

“What shall we do?” they wailed and howled and buzzed and grunted and groaned and sobbed and lamented, each in his own most PARTICULAR voice.

Then Tommy Tortoise, who had been lying asleep in the sun, opened one eye, and said, “What is all this fuss about? Haven’t you found out the name of this tree YET?”

[37]“Oh, well,” said he, “if that’s all, I’ll go and get it for you.”

You never heard such a noise—not even at the circus—as there was when they all said this, each in his own PARTICULAR voice.

Then he crawled slowly home, trailing one foot after the other, as some boys do on their way to school.

[38]“Mother,” said Tommy Tortoise. “How can I remember the name of that tree if I go up the river to get it?”

“Tommy,” said Mrs. Tortoise, “do you remember how you used to go to school with all the other little tortoises and learn things?”

He said the Nines table because anybody can say the Tens, and he wasn’t sure about the Elevens.

Then she said, “Now, Tommy, whatever happens to you, mind your manners. Remember to bow to King Leo and to speak to him so politely that he will know you have been well brought up.”

Then he put on his cap with the red tassel, and he went down to the river. He had no boat; so he had to swim.

When he was tired swimming, he would turn over on his shell and float with all his legs kicking in the water, just as the Baby kicks in his bath.

When Tommy Tortoise reached King Leo’s home, King Leo was NOT curled up comfortably wearing his crown and ready to receive visitors. He was standing on the river bank waving his tail. His big head was waggling this way and that way, and he was not smiling AT ALL.

“Bojabi,” whispers Tommy Tortoise to himself, and jumps—ker-lump—into the river again.

All the night and all the night he made up a little song and sang it, like this:

All the Beasts were lying on the bank of the river. Far away they heard the little, thin voice of Tommy Tortoise singing his song. They pricked up their ears, looking this way and that way as they listened.

“What is it?” they cried, each in his own PARTICULAR voice. You would have thought that all the circuses in the world were there.

[47]After that All the Beasts in that wood were never hungry. They could always eat bojabi.

They made Tommy Tortoise their king. “For,” they said, “if he could remember the name of the bojabi tree, he can do anything.”

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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Bojabi Tree

THE BOJABI TREE

CHAPTER ONE
ROBIN RAT

CHAPTER TWO
PINKY PIG

CHAPTER THREE
GIDDY GOAT

CHAPTER FOUR
TOMMY TORTOISE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Bojabi Tree

THE BOJABI TREE

CHAPTER ONE ROBIN RAT

CHAPTER TWO PINKY PIG

CHAPTER THREE GIDDY GOAT

CHAPTER FOUR TOMMY TORTOISE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

CHAPTER ONE
ROBIN RAT

CHAPTER TWO
PINKY PIG

CHAPTER THREE
GIDDY GOAT

CHAPTER FOUR
TOMMY TORTOISE