Giraffe
by Jayasudha Bhaskaran
(The Nilgiris,Tamilnadu,India)
How did Giraffe get long neck and legs?
Once upon a time, there lived a giraffe in a forest. The giraffe was as small as a monkey with small neck and legs. It ate the small plants that could be reached and lived happily.
One day a fox saw the giraffe eating leaves and it wanted to play a prank on the giraffe. It pointed a large tree and said "Oh my dear poor giraffe! The leaves on this tree are very tasty. But you are unlucky for you are too small to reach the branches of the tree."
"How will I get to eat the leaves?" the giraffe asked the fox.
"You stretch your legs and neck as much as possible and you will reach the tree branch", said the fox and it went away.
The poor giraffe believed in the fox and it tried to reach the leaves by stretching its legs and neck. But it was in vain and it could not even reach the top of the small plant nearby. The giraffe did not give up and it tried everyday to reach the leaves.
Months passed by and the giraffe noticed that its neck and legs have grown long over time. Now the giraffe was very happy and it continued in its attempt to reach the leaves.
Years passed by and atlast the giraffe grew tall such that it could reach the leaves of the tree.The giraffe was excited and it wanted to eat as much leaves as possible for it was said to be tasty.
The giraffe chewed a leaf and it could not put up with the bitter taste of the leaves. It turned furious for the fox cheated it by telling lies to it.Thus the poor giraffe grew tall and all its generations as well grew tall.
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