Part 1 of 3 · 2 minThe Tiger Is Coming!

Once there was a green forest full of flowers. All kinds of animals lived there together, happily. The trees were heavy with fruit, the river ran clear, and the birds sang. In that forest lived a little monkey named Chintu. Chintu was very quick. At climbing trees she had no equal. Bananas and mangoes were her favourite things to eat. But Chintu had one big bad habit. She told lies, often. She thought it was fun to frighten the other animals and then laugh at them.

Chintu had three good friends. A big elephant called Bheem. Bheem was very strong but walked slowly, and he always helped others. A rabbit called Rocky. Rocky could run very fast but was rather easily frightened. And a parrot called Pinky. Pinky talked all the time. Whatever she heard, she told everybody at once.

One morning Chintu sat on the riverbank and thought. "I am so clever. All of them believe me. Let me have some fun for once," she said to herself. Just then she saw ripe bananas in the farmer's garden nearby. The farmer was keeping watch. Chintu wanted to eat them all by herself.

At once Chintu ran into the middle of the forest and shouted as loudly as she could. "Oh no! A tiger is coming! A big tiger! Everybody run! The tiger is coming!"

Bheem the elephant heard her and was frightened. "Where is the tiger? Where?" he said, looking all around. There was a small tree nearby. Bheem tried to hide behind that tree. But an elephant is big, so his face, his ears and his trunk all stuck out. The tree just looked like a stick in front of him. Chintu saw it and laughed to herself, ha ha ha.

Rocky the rabbit went trembling into his burrow, crying "Ayyo, a tiger!" Only his head stayed outside, watching.

Pinky the parrot flew about screeching, "Tiger, tiger, tiger! Run, run!" The whole forest was in an uproar.

Everybody hid. Chintu strolled quietly into the garden. The farmer was looking the other way. Chintu took two big bananas, ate them and filled her stomach. Then she came back and laughed. "Oh, my friends! I made a mistake. It was not a tiger, only a cat that came running past. To me it looked like a tiger."

Bheem said angrily, "Chintu, don't do this. We were frightened."

Rocky said, "My heart was thumping."

Pinky screeched again, "A cat, a cat, a cat."

Chintu said, "Sorry, I won't do it again." But inside, she was already thinking of the next bit of fun.