No dinner for
me in this part of the river, then, I think." And so saying, he ran
farther on and fished for his dinner a long way from that place.
The Alligator was very angry at missing his prey a second time, and
determined not to let him escape again.
So on the following day, when his little tormentor returned to the
waterside, the Alligator hid himself close to the bank, in order to
catch him if he could. Now the Jackal was rather afraid of going
near the river, for he thought, "Perhaps the Alligator will catch
me to-day." But yet, being hungry, he did not wish to go without his
dinner; so to make all as safe as he could, he cried: "Where are all
the little crabs gone? There is not one here and I am so hungry; and
generally, even when they are under water, one can see them going
bubble, bubble, bubble, and all the little bubbles go pop! pop! pop!"
On hearing this the Alligator, who was buried in the mud under the
river bank, thought: "I will pretend to be a little crab." And he
began to blow, "Puff, puff, puff! Bubble, bubble, bubble!" and all the
great bubbles rushed to the surface of the river and burst there, and
the waters eddied round and round like a whirlpool; and there was such
a commotion when the huge monster began to blow bubbles in this way
that the Jackal saw very well who must be there, and he ran away as
fast as he could, saying, "Thank you, kind Alligator, thank you;
thank you! Indeed, I would not have come here had I known you were so
close.
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