Part 2 of 3 · 2 minNobody Came

A few days later another idea came to Chintu. She wanted to bathe in the river, but she wanted to go alone. So she shouted again. "Oh no! A flood is coming! The river has risen! The water is coming! Everybody run up the hill!"

Bheem set off at once. But an elephant is not fast. As he ran he stepped on a big rock and slipped. He fell, got up, and ran on. Rocky ran like lightning. Pinky flew about screeching, "Flood, flood, flood!"

Everybody went up the hill and hid there. Chintu jumped into the river, had her bath, splashed the water about and enjoyed herself. Then she came back and said, "Oh dear, the river has not risen. I saw it wrongly. Forgive me."

This time the animals did not believe her. "You have lied again, Chintu," they said angrily.

Chintu laughed and said, "I won't do it again. Really."

The third time Chintu told an even bigger lie. "A huge snake is coming into the forest! A great cobra! It will swallow all of us!" she shouted. This time some of the animals did not believe her. Some were frightened and hid. Chintu ate fruit again and came back.

And so lying became a habit with Chintu. The animals stopped believing her altogether.

Then one day the danger was real. A huge cobra came into the forest. It came to the tree where Chintu was and coiled itself around the trunk. Chintu was terrified. "Help! Help! The snake has caught me! It is really a snake! Come, come!" she screamed at the top of her voice.

Bheem heard her and thought, "She is lying again. Let it be."

Rocky said, "This time I will not believe her."

Pinky screeched, "A lie, a lie, a lie."

Nobody came. Chintu tried to jump down from the tree and run. The snake came after her. Chintu hid behind a rock. The snake came closer.