How the Whale Became Read Online Free

gun, and Bang! But Slylooking was over the wall and three fields away and still running.
    There and then Man untied Foursquare and led him into the farm kitchen. He gave him a great bowlful of food and after that a rug to stretch out on at the fireside.
    But that night, and every night after it, Slylooking had to sleep in the wet wood. And whenever he came sneaking back to the farm, sniffing for hens, Foursquare would hear him. He would jump up from his rug, barking at the top of his voice, and Man would be out through the door with his gun.
    But Slylooking was too foxy to be caught. In fact, he was so foxy that pretty soon nobody called him Slylooking any more. They called him what we call him – plain Fox.

How the Polar Bear Became
    When the animals had been on earth for some time they grew tired of admiring the trees, the flowers and the sun. They began to admire each other. Every animal was eager to be admired, and spent a part of each day making itself look more beautiful.
    Soon they began to hold beauty contests.
    Sometimes Tiger won the prize, sometimes Eagle, and sometimes Ladybird. Every animal tried hard.
    One animal in particular won the prize almost every time. This was Polar Bear.
    Polar Bear was white. Not quite snowy white, but much whiter than any of the other creatures. Everyone admired her. In secret, too, everyone was envious of her. But however much they wished that she wasn’t quite so beautiful, they couldn’t help giving her the prize.
    ‘Polar Bear,’ they said, ‘with your white fur, you are almost too beautiful.’
    All this went to Polar Bear’s head. In fact, she became vain. She was always washing and polishing her fur, trying to make it still whiter. After a while she was winning the prize every time. The only timesany other creature got a chance to win was when it rained. On those days Polar Bear would say:
    ‘I shall not go out in the wet. The other creatures will be muddy, and my white fur may get splashed.’
    Then, perhaps, Frog or Duck would win for a change.
    She had a crowd of young admirers who were always hanging around her cave. They were mainly Seals, all very giddy. Whenever she came out they made a loud shrieking roar:
    ‘Ooooooh! How beautiful she is!’
    Before long, her white fur was more important to Polar Bear than anything. Whenever a single speck of dust landed on the tip of one hair of it – she was furious.
    ‘How can I be expected to keep beautiful in this country!’ she cried then. ‘None of you have ever seen me at my best, because of the dirt here. I am really much whiter than any of you have ever seen me. I think I shall have to go into another country. A country where there is none of this dust. Which country would be best?’
    She used to talk in this way because then the Seals would cry:
    ‘Oh, please don’t leave us. Please don’t take your beauty away from us. We will do anything for you.’
    And she loved to hear this.
    Soon animals were coming from all over the world to look at her. They stared and stared as Polar Bear stretched out on her rock in the sun. Then they went off home and tried to make themselves look like her. But it was no use. They were all the wrong colour.

    They were black, or brown, or yellow, or ginger, or fawn, or speckled, but not one of them was white. Soon most of them gave up trying to look beautiful. But they still came every day to gaze enviously at Polar Bear. Some brought picnics. They sat in a vast crowd among the trees in front of her cave.
    ‘Just look at her,’ said Mother Hippo to her children. ‘Now see that you grow up like that.’
    But nothing pleased Polar Bear.
    ‘The dust these crowds raise!’ she sighed. ‘Why can’t I ever get away from them? If only there were some spotless, shining country, all for me…’
    Now pretty well all the creatures were tired of her being so much more admired than they were. But one creature more so than the rest. He was Peregrine Falcon.
    He was a beautiful bird, all