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HOW THE CAMEL GOT HIS HUMP

Once upon a time, when the world was new and the Animals were just beginning to work for the Man, there was a Camel, and he lived in the middle of a Desert because he did not want to work. He ate sticks and thorns and prickles and nothing more. He was very lazy and idle; and when anybody spoke to him he said "Humph!" Just "Humph!" and no more.

First the Horse came to him on Monday morning with a saddle on his back, and said, "Camel, О Camel, come out and carry the Man on your back like the rest of us."

"Humph!" said the Camel; and the Horse went away and told the Man.

Then the Dog came to him with a stick in his mouth and said, "Camel, О Camel, come and fetch and carry like the rest of us."

"Humph!" said the Camel; and the Dog went away and told the Man.

Soon the Ox came to him, with the yoke on his neck, and said, "Camel, O Camel, come and plough like the rest of us."

"Humph!" said the Camel; and the Ox went away and told the Man.

At the end of the day the Man called the Horse and the Dog and the Ox together, and said, "I am very sorry for you; but the Camel in the Desert won't work. He has not come here by now, so I am going to leave him alone, and you must work double time to make up for it."

The Horse, the Dog, and the Ox were very angry; and they held a meeting on the edge of the desert; and the Camel came by most lazy and idle, and laughed at them. Then he said "Humph!" and went away again.

Soon there came along the Djinn in Charge of All Deserts. He came in a cloud of dust (Djinns always travel that way because it is Magic). He stopped to talk with the Horse, the Dog and the Ox.

"Djinn in Charge of All Deserts," said the Horse, "is it right for any one to be idle, when the world is so new and there is so much work to do?"

"Of course not," said the Djinn.

"Well," said the Horse, "there's an animal in the middle of your Desert, with a long neck and long legs, and he hasn't done any work since Monday morning. He doesn't want to carry anybody on his back."

"Whew!" said the Djinn, whistling, "That's my Camel! What does he say about it?"

"He says 'Humph!'" said the Dog; "and he won't fetch and carry."

"Does he say anything else?"

"Only 'Humph; and he won't plough," said the Ox.

"Very good," said the Djinn. "I will humph him if you wait a minute."

The Djinn flew across the Desert and found the Camel. He was most idle, and he was looking at his own reflection in a pool of water.

"My dear friend," said the Djinn, "why don't you work, when the world is so new and there is so much work to do?"

"Humph!" said the Camel.

The Djinn sat down, and began to think of a Great Magic, while the Camel looked idly at his own reflection in the pool of water.

"You've given the Horse, the Dog and the Ox extra work since Monday morning, because you were idle," said the Djinn.

"Humph!" said the Camel.

"I wouldn't say that again if I were you," said the Djinn; "you say it too often. Now, listen to me, Camel. You must work."

And the Camel said "Humph!" again. And when he said it he looked at his back, and he saw a great big humph.

"Do you see that?" said the Djinn. "That's your own humph. You have got it because you did not work. Today is Thursday, and you've done no work since Monday when the work began. Now you are going to work."

"How can I," said the Camel, "with this humph on my back?"

"You missed three days," said the Djinn. "You will be able to work now for three days without eating, because you can live on your humph. Come out of the Desert and join the other animals and behave."

And the Camel came out of the Desert and went away to join the Horse, the Dog and the Ox. And from that day to this the Camel always wears a humph (we call it "hump" now); but he has never yet caught up with the three days that he missed at the beginning of the world, and he has never yet learned how to behave.


* * *

The Camel's hump is an ugly lump

Which well you may see at the Zoo;

But uglier yet is the hump we get

From having too little to do.

Kiddies and grown-ups too-oo-oo,

If we haven't enough to do-oo-oo,

We get the hump—

Cameelious hump—

The hump that is black and blue!




A. Choose the sentence that expresses the main idea of the story.

  1. The camel didn't want to work.
  2. It is not right to be idle.
  3. The djinn punished the camel for idleness.
  4. The animals were angry with the camel.

B. Answer the questions.

  1. Which of the animals was idle?
  2. What did the horse ask the camel to do?
  3. What did the dog ask the camel to do?
  4. What did the ox ask the camel to do?
  5. Why were the animals angry with the camel?
  6. What did the animals do?
  7. How did the camel behave at the meeting?
  8. What question did the horse ask the djinn?
  9. Was the djinn pleased with the camel's behaviour?
  10. In what way did the djinn punish the camel?
  11. Why was the hump a useful thing?
  12. Was the camel able to catch up with the three days he had missed?

C. Name the characters who:

  1. didn't want to work
  2. carried the man on his back
  3. fetched and carried
  4. ploughed
  5. told the animals to work double time
  6. punished the camel

D. Answer the questions.

  1. 1. What is the setting of the story?
  2. Name the characters in the story. Who is the main character?
  3. Why is there a conflict between the characters?
  4. Can the animals solve the problem themselves?
  5. Does the man help the animals to solve the problem?
  6. Who is the conflict resolved by?
  7. How does he resolve it?
  8. When do the characters in the story feel angry, sorry, surprised? Why?
  9. Which of the characters changes by the end of the story? Is it a positive or a negative change?

E. Fill in the words:

pool, dust, yoke, edge, reflection, meeting, stick, ox, thorns, saddle, hump, desert, double, idle, join, behave, carry, punish, plough, laughed.

  1. The camel lived in the middle of the …………………… .
  2. He ate sticks and ……………………… and nothing more.
  3. He was very lazy and ……………………… .
  4. First the horse came to the camel with a ………………… on his back.
  5. Then the dog came to him with a ………………………… in his mouth.
  6. Soon the ……………………… came to him with the ………………………… on his neck.
  7. The animals asked the camel to …………………………, to fetch or to ……………………… like the rest of them, but the camel said only "Humph".
  8. The man told the animals to work ……………………… time to do the camel's work.
  9. The animals were very angry and held a ………………… on the …………………… of the desert, and the camel ………………………… at them and went away.
  10. The djinn came in a cloud of ………………………… and the animals told him about the camel.
  11. The djinn decided to ………………………… the camel, and he flew across the desert.
  12. He found the camel who was looking at his ………………………… in the ……………… of water.
  13. The djinn made a big …………………… on the camel's back.
  14. He told the camel to …………………… the horse, the dog and the ox and to …………………… .

F. Learn the words of exercise E for the dictation.

G. Retell the story.

H. Learn the dialogues and role-play the story.

I. Tell the story from the point of view of:

a) the camel; b) the djinn; c) the horse, the dog or the ox.