The Story of Little Black Sambo

Once upon a time there was a little black boy, and his name was Little
Black Sambo. And his mother was called Black Mumbo. And his Father was
called Black Jumbo. And Black Mumbo made him a beautiful little Red Coat,
and a pair of beautiful little Blue Trousers. And Black Jumbo went to the
Bazaar, and bought him a beautiful Green Umbrella, and a lovely little
Pair of Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings. And then wasn't
Little Black Sambo grand?

So he put on all his Fine Clothes, and went out for a walk in the Jungle.
And by and by he met a Tiger. And the Tiger said to him, "Little Black Sambo,
I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger,
don't eat me up and I'll give you my beautiful little Red Coat." So the
Tiger said, "Very well, I won't eat you this time, but you must give me
your beautiful little Red Coat."  So the Tiger got poor little Black Sambo's
beautiful little Red Coat, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest
Tiger in the Jungle."

And Little Black Sambo went on, and by and by he met another Tiger, and
it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little
Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give
you my beautiful little Blue Trousers." So the Tiger said, "Very well, I
won't eat you this time, but you must give me your beautiful little Blue
Trousers." So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sabmo's beautiful little Blue
Trousers, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

And Little Black Sambo went on and by and by he met another Tiger, and it
said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Black
Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my
beautiful little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings." But
the Tiger said, "What use would your shoes be to me? I've got four feet,
and you've got only two: you haven't got enough shoes for me."

But Little Black Sambo said, "You could wear them on your ears." "So I could,"
said the Tiger: "that's a very good idea. Give them to me, and I won't eat
you this time." So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little
Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings, and went away saying,
"NowI'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

And by and by Little Black Sambo met another Tiger, and it said to him,
"Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Black Sambo said,
"Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful Green
Umbrella." But the Tiger said, "How can I carry an umbrella, when I need
all my paws for walking with?" "You could tie a knot on you tail, and carry
it that way," said Little Black Sambo. "So I could," said the Tiger. "Give
it to me, and I won't eat you this time." So he got poor Little Black Sambo's
beautiful Green Umbrella, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger
in the Jungle."

And poor Little Black Sambo went away crying, because the cruel Tigers
had taken all his fine clothes. Presently he heard a horrible noise that
sounded like "Gr-r-r-r-r-rrrrrrr," and it got louder and louder. "Oh! Dear!"
said Little Black Sambo, "there are all the Tigers coming back to eat me
up! What shall I do?" So he ran quickly to a palm tree, and peeped round
it to see what the matter was.

And there he saw all the Tigers fighting, and disputing which of them was
the grandest. And at last they all got so angry that they jumped up and
took off all the fine clothes, and began to tear each other with their
claws, and bite each other with their great big white teeth.

And they came, rolling and tumbling right to the foot of the very tree
where Little Black Sambo was hiding, but he jumped quickly in behind the
umbrella. And the Tigers all caught hold of each others' tails, as they
wrangled and scrambled, and so they found themselves in a ring round the
tree. Then, when the Tigers were very wee and very far away, Little Black
Sambo jumped up, and called out, "Oh! Tigers! Why have you taken off all
your nice clothes? Don't you want them any more?" But the Tigers only answered,
"Gr-r-r-r-rrrr!"

Then Little Black Sambo said, "If you want them, say so, or I'll take them
away." But the Tigers would not let go of each others' tails, and so the
could only say "Gr-r-r-r-r-rrrrrr!" So Little Black Sambo put on all his
fine clothes again and walked off.

And the Tigers were very, very angry, but still they would not let go of
each others' tails. And they were so angry that they ran round the tree,
trying to each other up, and they ran faster and faster, till they were
whirling round so fast that you couldn't see their legs at all. And they
still ran faster and faster and faster, till they all just melted away,
and there was nothing left but a great big pool of melted butter (or "ghi,"
as it is called in India,) round the foot of the tree.

Now Black Jumbo was just coming home from his work, with a great big brass
pot in his arms, and when he saw what was left of all the Tigers he said,
"Oh! What lovely melted butter! I'll take that home to Black Mumbo for her
to cook with." So he put it all into the great big brass pot, and took it
home to Black Mumbo to cook with.

When Black Mumbo saw the melted butter, wasn't she pleased! "Now," said she,
"we'll all have pancakes for supper!"  So she got flour and eggs and milk
and sugar and butter, and she made a huge big plate of most lovely pancakes.
And she fried them in the melted butter which the Tigers had made, and
they were just as yellow and brown as little Tigers.

And then they all sat down to supper. And Black Mumbo ate Twenty-seven
pancakes, and Black Jumbo ate Fifty-five, but Little Black Sambo ate a
Hundred and Sixty-nine, because he was so hungry.