by Rudyard Kipling ... India, on December 30, 1865. "It's a long time since we've hunted 'em. "What to?" In the yellow hues of the African plains, hunting was easy for the leopard, whose light coat served as camouflage. William Wymark Jacobs. ", "Umm," said the Leopard. The Giraffe and the Zebra and the Eland … ", And the Leopard scratched his head and said, "It ought to be 'sclusively a delicate greyish-fawn, and it ought to be Zebra; but it is covered all over with black and purple stripes. said the Ethiopian. ", "Well, calling names won't catch dinner," said the Ethiopian. They visited with each other nearly every single day. Giraffe is about seventeen feet high, of a 'sclusively fulvous golden-yellow from head to heel; and Zebra is about four and a half feet high, of a 'sclusively grey-fawn colour from head to heel. Perhaps we've forgotten what they were like. ", "Ummm," said the Ethiopian, looking into the speckly-spickly shadows of the aboriginal Flora-forest. ", "Ho! (Just So Stories Series). He wrote a variety of other short stories, including 'Kim' and 'The Man Who Would Be King,' and many poems. This page, and all contents (except, naturally, the stories), are ©. "The long and the little of it is that we don't match our backgrounds. ", "Oh, plain black's best," said the Ethiopian. ", "Umm," said the Leopard. …physical characteristics, as in “How the Leopard Got His Spots.” In the stories, Kipling parodied the subject matter and style of several traditional works, such as the Buddhist Jataka tales and The Thousand and One Nights. They are quite contented as they are. Book Approach. So he changed his skin then and there, and the Leopard was more excited than ever; he had never seen a man change his skin before. Take a lesson by it, Leopard. he said, when the Ethiopian had worked his last little finger into his fine new black skin. said the Leopard. What in the world have you been doing to yourself, Zebra? Perhaps we've forgotten what they were like. ", "I'll take spots, then," said the Leopard; "but don't make 'em too vulgar-big. He told you to go into spots. So he said, "Be quiet, O you person without any form. You show up in this dark place like a bar of soap in a coal-scuttle. Sometimes the fingers slipped and the marks got a little blurred; but if you look closely at any Leopard now you will see that there are always five spots off five fat black finger-tips. ", "So I did," said the Leopard. ", "But if I'm all this," said the Leopard, "why didn't you go spotty too? Thomas Moore. ", "Oh," said the Ethiopian, "Baviaan didn't mean spots in South Africa. "Now you are a beauty!" How the Leopard Got His Spots by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) Approximate Word Count: 2098 I n the days when everybody started fair, Best Beloved, the Leopard lived in a place called the High Veldt. Create a library and add your favorite stories. Take a lesson by it, Leopard. The detailed illustrations are realistic, engaging, and complement the text. Get started by clicking the "Add" button. This is the story about How The Leopard Got His Spots Summary. ", So they waited till dark, and then the Leopard heard something breathing sniffily in the starlight that fell all stripy through the branches, and he jumped at the noise, and it smelt like Zebra, and it felt like Zebra, and when he knocked it down it kicked like Zebra, but he couldn't see it. 'Member it wasn't the Low Veldt, or the Bush Veldt, or the Sour Veldt, but the 'sclusively bare, hot, shiny High Veldt, where there was sand and sandy-coloured rock and 'sclusively tufts of sandy-yellowish grass. "Sit on its head till the morning same as me. ", "Fiddle!" He was a grown-up. vol: 32p. "You take Baviaan's advice too. "I suppose it is because we have just come in out of the sunshine. ", "Don't you trust it," said the Leopard. The Giraffe and the Zebra and the Eland and the Koodoo and the Hartebeest lived there; and they were 'sclusively sandy-yellow-brownish all over; but the Leopard, he was the 'sclusivist sandiest-yellowish-brownest of them all a greyish-yellowish catty-shaped kind of beast, and he matched the Veldt to one hair. I don't think even grown-ups would keep on saying such a silly thing if the Leopard and the Ethiopian hadn't done it once do you? ", Presently he heard a grunt and a crash and a scramble, and the Ethiopian called out, "I've caught a thing that I can't see. said the Ethiopian. It will be the very thing for hiding in hollows and behind trees.". "this is the way it's done. So he changed his skin then and there, and the Leopard was more excited than ever; he had never seen a man change his skin before. "I wouldn't look like Zebra not for ever so. (Say that quickly aloud, and you will see how, "What is this," said the Leopard, "that is so 'sclusively dark, and yet so full of little pieces of light? Leopard stared, and Ethiopian stared, but all they could see were stripy shadows and blotched shadows in the forest, but never a sign of Zebra and Giraffe. After a long time things lived for ever so long in those days they learned to avoid anything that looked like a Leopard or an Ethiopian; and bit by bit the Giraffe began it, because his legs were the longest they went away from the High Veldt. When all the animals moved away, the hungry leopard had to follow them to the striped, splotchy, spotted forest. He is best known for his tales of India, where he was born and spent his early childhood, and to which he returned as a young man in 1882, before leaving for London in 1889. "Now watch," said the Zebra and the Giraffe. It includes comprehension questions from the story, Spelling assessment, phonics assessment, and a Words to Know Assessment. He told me I ought to change; and as I've nothing to change except my skin I'm going to change that.". Return to the Rudyard Kipling Home Page, or . All parts were clearly … One two three! ", "Wait a bit," said the Ethiopian. I'm going to take Baviaan's advice. ", Then said Baviaan, "The aboriginal Fauna has joined the aboriginal Flora because it was high time for a change; and my advice to you, Ethiopian, is to change as soon as you can. he said, when the Ethiopian had worked his last little finger into his fine new black skin. That is all. ", Then said Baviaan, "The aboriginal Fauna has joined the aboriginal Flora because it was high time for a change; and my advice to you, Ethiopian, is to change as soon as you can. ... Home Essays How The Leopard Got His Spots. One-Two-Three-Where's-your-Breakfast!". And where's your breakfast?". ), Then said Baviaan, "The game has gone into other spots; and my advice to you, Leopard, is to go into other spots as soon as you can. how the leopard got his spots IN the days when everybody started fair, Best Beloved, the Leopard lived in a place called the High Veldt. You show up in this dark place like a bar of soap in a coal-scuttle. ", The Ethiopian scratched his head and said, "It ought to be 'sclusively a rich fulvous orange-tawny from head to heel, and it ought to be Giraffe; but it is covered all over with chesnut blotches. ", Presently he heard a grunt and a crash and a scramble, and the Ethiopian called out, "I've caught a thing that I can't see. They scuttled for days and days till they came to a great forest, 'sclusively full of trees and bushes and stripy, speckly, patchy-blatchy shadows, and there they hid: and after another long time, what with standing half in the shade and half out of it, and what with the slippery-slidy shadows of the trees falling on them, the Giraffe grew blotchy, and the Zebra grew stripy, and the Eland and the Koodoo grew darker, with little wavy grey lines on their backs like bark on a tree trunk; and so, though you could hear them and smell them, you could very seldom see them, and then only when you knew precisely where to look. I went into this spot with you, and a lot of good it has done me. . It smells like Giraffe, and it kicks like Giraffe, but it hasn't any form. He … Summary Just So Stories How the Leopard got his Spots is a fantastic large format picture book, with stunning illustrations by Kimberley Scott to bring wonderful events to life in kids' imaginations. He told you to go into spots. "What to?" You can lie out on the naked rocks and look like a piece of pudding-stone. ", I'll make 'em with the tips of my fingers," said the Ethiopian. Dr Allen said that the title has been inspired by a short story of Rudyard Kipling with a similar name, "How the leopard got his spots". Giraffe is about seventeen feet high, of a 'sclusively fulvous golden-yellow from head to heel; and Zebra is about four and a half feet high, of a 'sclusively grey-fawn colour from head to heel. "But I couldn't all yesterday. This is the picture of the Leopard and the Ethiopian after they had taken Wise Baviaan's advice and the Leopard had gone into other spots and the Ethiopian had changed his skin. ", "Don't you trust it," said the Leopard. After a long time things lived for ever so long in those days they learned to avoid anything that looked like a Leopard or an Ethiopian; and bit by bit the Giraffe began it, because his legs were the longest they went away from the High Veldt. "To a nice working blackish-brownish colour, with a little purple in it, and touches of slaty-blue. ", "Ho! Also know, how the Leopard Got His Spots? Ho!" They are out hunting in the spickly-speckly forest, and they are looking … Long ago, there was the most unlikely of friendships. ", "Well, make up your mind," said the Ethiopian, "because I'd hate to go hunting without you, but I must if you insist on looking like a sun-flower against a tarred fence. said the Leopard. ", "Let us up," said the Zebra, "and we will show you.". A forerunner of these stories is Kipling's "How Fear Came", in The Second Jungle Book (1895). Ho!" 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