Hippo-Tortoise

The Hippopotamus and the Tortoise

By Bob Blackman

Howard the hippopotamus was grazing alone in the great field by the river’s edge. He always grazed alone. He liked it that way because the thing Howard hated most was sharing. If another hippo, or any other animal entered the field where he was grazing, Howard, being the biggest of all the animals, rudely chased them away. On this particular day, Howard had discovered a patch of particularly lush green grasses. As he nibbled away, with his eyes to the ground his forward movement was abruptly halted when he bumped into a large tortoise.

Howard sized the tortoise up. He noted two things. First, that they were relatively equal in size, and second, he was much more agile then the slow moving tortoise. He immediately decided that of the two of them, he, the hippopotamus was obviously superior.

“Get out of my field!” Howard demanded.

The tortoise raised his head, turned it in Howard’s direction, stared for half a minute then returned to munching on the grass. This made Howard exceedingly angry. A few foolish animals had from time to time argued with him, but none had ever ignored him. He raised to his full height, and puffed out his chest. “You will depart my field immediately, or experience the power of my wrath,” he shouted.

The tortoise continued to ignore him, causing Howard to shake with anger. He backed off a couple of yards, pawed the ground, and grunted loudly.

The tortoise turned his head toward Howard, and spoke softly, “Young hippopotamus, you are rude and obnoxious. You may well be the owner of this field, though I sincerely doubt it. None-the-less, until you soften your tone and respectfully say please, I shall continue to ignore your unpleasant self.

Howard was overcome with anger. He pawed the ground again, lowered he head and charged. He did not see the tortoise quietly ease his body to the grass and draw his legs into his shell. The force with which Howard crashed against the tortoise shook a nearby tree and the sound of the collision thundered across the field. Howard’s hind legs flew into the air and he tumbled tail over snout, onto the grass on the other side of the tortoise.

The tortoise rose, turned to face him and said quietly, “Now that you’ve got that out off your system, my offer remains. I have eaten my fill and if you ask politely, I will gladly relinquish this field to you.”

Howard sat dazed and stared at the tortoise for several minutes then humbly said, “If you don’t mind sir, I should like to eat some of the grass from your field.”

The tortoise smiled, said, “Enjoy,” and strolled slowly away.

End