British literature summaries - 2020

Short summary - Just So Stories
Sir Joseph Rudyard Kipling

Why does a whale eat only small fish

When the whale ate all the fish, the little sly fish described to him all the charm of a human snack and told where to find it, but warned that the man is a restless creature. The whale swallowed the sailor along with his raft and suspenders. In the whale's stomach, the sailor began to run, jump, and generally behave very actively, so that the whale felt unwell. When he asked his prey to get out of his stomach, the sailor promised to think about it if the whale took him home to the white cliffs of Albion. Before going home, the guy inserted a whale into the throat with a grill made of raft boards and suspenders, so that he could only eat very, very small fish. And the sly fish swam away and hid in the mud, under the threshold of the equator, because she was afraid that the whale would get angry with her.

As a hump appeared on the back of a camel

When the land was completely new, the animals that helped the man came to the camel, who lived in the middle of the huge Howling Desert, and tried to attract him to active work, but he answered only “hrb” and scored them at their request. The animals complained to the gin; when the camel told him his usual “hornbeam”, he awarded him a hump so that the beast could work 3 days without lunch breaks.

How wrinkles appeared on rhino skin

The Persian fire-worshiper baked sweet bread with raisins, but the rhino drove it onto a palm tree and ate all the bread. When the rhino took off all its smooth skin and went for a swim, a man poured stale crumbs and burnt raisins into it. To get rid of tingling, the rhino began to rub against a palm tree, but only rubbed the folds and completely erased the buttons.

How a leopard became spotted

All animals lived in the High Feldt desert, where hunters were easily found: humans and leopards. To protect themselves, the animals went into the forest and acquired camouflage stripes and spots. The wise Babun advised the leopard to get spots, and the Ethiopian also to make changes in his appearance. In the forest they caught a zebra and a giraffe; they showed hunters why they can hear and smell animals, but they don’t see. Ethiopian turned black and covered the leopard with 5 fingerprints.

Elephant child

When the elephants did not have a trunk, a curious elephant asked many questions, for which it was repeatedly beaten. Finally, he wanted to know what the crocodile dined with. With this question he turned to the crocodile; he grabbed his nose and began to draw him into the water. Python pulled a curious baby by its hind legs, but the elephant's nose remained elongated. He could get bananas for them, as well as chop all those who had previously opened their paws.

The request of the old kangaroo

The kangaroo, who at that time had a fluffy skin and short legs, asked the three gods to make him unlike the others, and that everyone would know about him by 5 o’clock in the evening. He got so one of the gods that he asked the dingo to chase a kangaroo. As a result, the hind legs of the kangaroo stretched out to make it more convenient to jump. But he refused to thank the dingo for acquiring the kangaroo.

How armadillos appeared

Jaguarikha told her inexperienced son about a hedgehog (it needs to be thrown into the water to turn around) and a turtle (it is better to scratch it out of the shell), but they managed to confuse the nonsense, who, as a result of hunting, only hurt his paw. To escape, the turtle began to learn to curl up, and the hedgehog to swim. As a result of training, the tortoise’s guards parted, and the hedgehog’s needles stuck together. Jaguarich advised her son to leave them alone and called the new animals armadillos.

How the first letter was written

A primitive man named Tegulay Bopsulay broke his spear. While he was repairing it, Tefi's daughter sent a drawing with a stranger for her mother with a request to send a new spear, but she was frightened by strange drawings and raised the whole village to beat the stranger (and his hair was smeared with clay). So the first thought came about the need for writing.

How was the first alphabet composed

For several days, Tegumai and Tefi came up with images of letters: A looks like an open mouth of a carp, U - like its tail, oh - like a stone or open mouth, etc. Letters are combined into words.

Sea crab that played with the sea

In the most ancient times, a wizard showed animals how to play, and they began to play: a beaver - a beaver, a cow - a cow, etc. For a smart person, this game was too simple. The sea crab decided to mop up and flanked sideways into the sea. This was noticed only by the daughter of Adam. The wizard approved the affairs of all animals (for example, the pieces of land that the elephant planted, he made the Himalayan mountains). But Adam complained about the ebbs and flows; it turned out that this is a crab bully. The wizard made him small and once a year robs him of his armor. The little girl gave the crab her scissors so that he could dig minks and open nuts.

The man was lazy and did not want to row to the shore. In order for the sea to work for him twice a day, the wizard gave the command to the lunar old man and the rat, which gnawed at his net (the fisherman dragged the sea past the continents with a net).

The cat that walked on its own

A wise primitive woman tamed animals (a dog with delicious bones, a horse and a cow with fragrant hay). The cat, who walked where he wanted, watched all this (the dog even received a promise of eternal enmity for not going with her to scout); the woman promised that if she praised the cat once - he could go into the cave, two - sit near the fire, three - drink milk 3 times a day. The woman did not want this, but the cat, playing with her baby and catching a mouse, won praise three times, which was witnessed by the hide that closed the entrance, fire, and krynki with milk. But the man concluded his agreement with the cat: if he doesn’t always catch mice, the man will throw one of his five things (boots, a stone ax, a log and a pole ax) at him, and the dog promised to chase him if he doesn’t caress with baby.

The moth that stamped his foot

Suleiman-ibn-Daoud had many quarrelsome wives and one beloved wife of Balkis, as well as a magic ring that caused genies (however, Suleiman did not want to show off his strength and pacify his husband with the help of genies). In the garden, he once saw a married couple of moths quarreling, and the husband claimed that it was enough for him to stamp his foot - and the whole palace of Suleiman would disappear. The wife, taught by Balkin, urged him to stomp, and Suleiman, being in collusion with her husband, ordered the gins to take the castle into the air. So was not only the moth's wife pacified, but also the brawl sultans.