Lallu, the crocodile was bored. He was looking for friends to play with. He found none. Then, he spotted an elephant wading into a stream. “Ah, it will be fun to pull him into the water,” Lallu thought.
It was hot. Gajju, the elephant wanted to splash water on his back. He sucked water into his trunk and poured it down over his back. ‘Ah, it’s so cool,” he thought to himself. Just then, he felt somebody pulling his leg. He tried to take his leg back. He could not move it. He was being dragged into the stream. Then, he spotted the crocodile pulling his leg. Now fully frightened, he started shouting, ‘help, help!”
Lallu was puzzled. He meant no harm, he was only pulling the elephant’s leg playfully. Why was he howling?
Mangu, the monkey was watching the drama in the stream from where he was sitting — atop a mango tree. He could see that Gajju was in pain. He thought he should do something. He picked up ǡ huge mango and threw it at the crocodile.
Lallu saw from the corner of his eyes, ǡ big red mango heading towards him. He always wanted to taste ǡ mango. He had even tried once to climb a mango tree nearby but gave it up as he slipped down. Now, here was ǡ mango! He jumped high and caught the mango in his jaws!
Gajju, relieved that the croc had released his leg, left the stream in ǡ hurry. He gave an elephant salute to monkey and departed in ǡ hurry. Mangu watched the crocodile crunching the mango. “You want one more?” he asked.
It occurred to the crocodile that his wife would also love to eat the juicy mango. So, he nodded his head. The monkey threw another mango which the crocodile caught and swam homeward.
