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My Father's Dragon (Version 2) - Ruth Stiles Gannett · Tarzan and the Golden Lion

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter one of My Father's Dragon. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. My
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Father's Dragon by Ruth Styles Gannett, Chapter one, My father
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: meets the Cat. One cold, rainy day, when my father
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: was a little boy, he met an old alley cat
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: on his street. The cat was very drippy and uncomfortable,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: so my father said, wouldn't you like to come home
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: with me? This surprised the cat. She had never before
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: met any one who cared about old alley cats, but
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: she said, I'd be very much obliged if I could
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: sit by a warm furnace and perhaps have a saucer
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: of milk. We've a very nice furnace to sit by,
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  Speaker 1: said my father, and I'm sure my mother has an
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: extra saucer of milk. My father and the cat became
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: good friends, but my father's mother was very upset about
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: the cat. She hated cats, part particularly ugly old alley cats.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Elmer elevator. She said to my father, if you think
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: I'm going to give that cat a saucer of milk,
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  Speaker 1: you're very wrong. Once you start feeding stray alley cats,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: you might as well expect to feed every stray in
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  Speaker 1: the town, and I'm not going to do it. This
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: made my father very sad, and he apologized to the
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  Speaker 1: cat because his mother had been so rude. He told
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: the cat to stay anyway, and that somehow he would
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  Speaker 1: bring her a saucer of milk each day. My father
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: fed the cat for three weeks, but one day his
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  Speaker 1: mother found the cat's saucer in the cellar, and she
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  Speaker 1: was extremely angry. She whipped my father and threw the
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: cat out the door. But later on my father sneaked
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: out and found the cat. Together, they went for a
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: walk in the park and tried to think of nice
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: things to talk about. My father said, when I grow up,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: I'm going to have an airplane. Wouldn't it be wonderful
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: to fly just anywhere you might think of? Would you
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: like to fly very very much, asked the cat. Certainly
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  Speaker 1: I would. I'd do anything if I could fly, well,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: said the cat, If you'd really like to fly that much,
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  Speaker 1: I think I know of a sort of a way
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  Speaker 1: you might get to fly while you're still a little boy.
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  Speaker 1: You mean, you know where I could get an aeroplane. Well,
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  Speaker 1: not exactly an airplane, but something even better. As you
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: can see, I'm an old alley cat, but in my
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: younger days I was quite a traveler. My traveling days
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  Speaker 1: are over. But last spring I took just one more
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: trip and sailed to the island of Tangerina, stopping at
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: the port of Cranberry. Well, it just so happened that
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: I missed the boat, and while waiting for the next
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: I thought i'd look round a bit. I was particularly
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: interested in a place called Wild Eye Island, which we
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: had passed on our way to Tangerina. Wild Island and
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Tangerina are joined together by a long string of rocks,
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  Speaker 1: But people never go to Wild Island because it's mostly
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: jungle and inhabited by very wild animals. So I decided
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  Speaker 1: to go across the rocks and explore it for myself.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: It certainly is an interesting place, but I saw something
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  Speaker 1: there that made me want to weep. End of chapter one,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: read by Nora Nelson. Chapter two of My Father's Dragon
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: by Ruth styles Gannett. This LibriVox recording is in the
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: public domain. Chapter two, my Father runs away. Wild Island
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  Speaker 1: is practically cut in two by a very wide and
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  Speaker 1: muddy river, continued the cat. This river begins near one
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  Speaker 1: end of the island and flows into the ocean at
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  Speaker 1: the other. Now, the animals there are very lazy, and
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  Speaker 1: they used to hate having to go all the way
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  Speaker 1: around the beginning of this river to get to the
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  Speaker 1: other side of the island. It made visiting inconvenient and
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  Speaker 1: mail deliveries slow, particularly during the Christmas rush. Crocodiles could
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: have carried passengers and mail across the river, but crocodiles
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  Speaker 1: are very moody and not the least bit dependable, and
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  Speaker 1: are always looking for something to eat. They don't care
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  Speaker 1: if animals have to walk around the river. So that's
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: just what the animals did for many years. But what
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  Speaker 1: does all this have to do with airplanes, asked my father,
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  Speaker 1: who thought the cat was taking an awful long time
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  Speaker 1: to explain. Be patient, Elmer, said the cat, and she
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  Speaker 1: went on with the story. One day, about four months
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  Speaker 1: before I arrived on Wild Island, a baby dragon fell
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  Speaker 1: from a low flying cloud on to the bank of
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  Speaker 1: the river. He was too young to fly very well,
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  Speaker 1: and besides he had bruised one wing quite badly, so
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  Speaker 1: he couldn't get back to his cloud. The animals found
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  Speaker 1: him soon afterwards, and everybody said, why, this is just
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  Speaker 1: exactly what we've needed all these years. They tied a
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  Speaker 1: big rubber around his neck and waited for the wing
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  Speaker 1: to get well. This was going to end all their
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: crossing the river troubles. I've never seen a dragon, said
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  Speaker 1: my father. Did you see him? How big is he? Oh? Yes,
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  Speaker 1: indeed I saw the dragon. In fact, we became great friends,
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  Speaker 1: said the cat. I used to hide in the bushes
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  Speaker 1: and talk to him when nobody was around. He's not
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  Speaker 1: a very big dragon, about the size of a large
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  Speaker 1: black bear, although I imagine he's grown quite a bit
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  Speaker 1: since I left. He's got a long tail and yellow
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  Speaker 1: and blue stripes his horn and eyes, and the bottoms
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  Speaker 1: of his feet are bright red, and he has golden
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  Speaker 1: colored wings. Oh, how wonderful, said my father. What did
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  Speaker 1: the animals do with him when his wing got well?
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  Speaker 1: They started training him to carry passengers, And even though
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  Speaker 1: he is just a baby dragon, they work him all
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  Speaker 1: day and all night too. Sometimes they make him carry
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  Speaker 1: loads that are much too heavy, and if he complains,
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  Speaker 1: they twist his wings and beat him. He's always tied
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  Speaker 1: to a stake on a rope just long enough to
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  Speaker 1: go across the river. His only friends are the crocodiles,
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  Speaker 1: who say hello to him once a week, and if
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  Speaker 1: they don't forget. Really, he's the most miserable animal I've
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  Speaker 1: ever come across. When I left, I promise i'd try
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  Speaker 1: to help him some day, although I couldn't see how.
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  Speaker 1: The rope around his neck is the biggest toughest rope
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  Speaker 1: you can imagine, with so many knots in it, it
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  Speaker 1: would take days to untie them. Anyway, when you were
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: talking about airplane, you gave me a good idea. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure that if you were able to rescue the dragon,
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  Speaker 1: which wouldn't be the least bit easy, he'd let you
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  Speaker 1: ride him most anywhere, provide you are nice to him.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, how about trying it? Oh, I'd love to,
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  Speaker 1: said my father, And he was so angry at his
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: mother for being rude to the cat that he didn't
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  Speaker 1: feel the least bit sad about running away from home
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  Speaker 1: for a while. That very afternoon, my father and the
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  Speaker 1: cat went down to the docks to see about the
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  Speaker 1: ships going to the island of Tangerina. They found out
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  Speaker 1: that a ship would be sailing the next week, so
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  Speaker 1: right away they started planning for the rescue of the dragon.
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  Speaker 1: The cat was a great help in suggesting things for
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  Speaker 1: my father to take with him, and she told him
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  Speaker 1: everything she knew about Wild Island. Of course, she was
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  Speaker 1: too old to go along. Everything had to be kept
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  Speaker 1: very secret, so when they found or bought anything to
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  Speaker 1: take on the trip, they hid it behind a rock
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  Speaker 1: in the park. The night before my father sailed, he
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  Speaker 1: borrowed his father's knapsack and he and the cat packed
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  Speaker 1: everything very carefully. He took chewing gum, two dozen pink lollipops,
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  Speaker 1: a package of rubber bands, black rubber boots, a compass,
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  Speaker 1: a tooth brush and a tube of tooth paste, six
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  Speaker 1: magnifying glasses, a very sharp jackknife, a comb and hair brush,
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  Speaker 1: seven hair ribbons of different colors, an empty grain bag
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  Speaker 1: with a label saying Cranberry, some clean clothes, and enough
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  Speaker 1: food to last my father while he was on the ship.
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  Speaker 1: He couldn't live on mice, so he took twenty five
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  Speaker 1: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and six apples, because that's
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  Speaker 1: all the apples he could find in the pantry. When
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  Speaker 1: everything was packed, my father and the cat went down
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  Speaker 1: to the docks to the ship. A night watchman was
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  Speaker 1: on duty, so while the cat made loud queer noises
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  Speaker 1: to distract his attention, my father ran over the gangplank
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  Speaker 1: onto the ship. He went down into the hold and
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  Speaker 1: hid among some bags of wheat. The ship sailed early
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  Speaker 1: the next morning. End of chapter two, read by Nora Nelson.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: Chapter three of My Father's Dragon. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. My
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Father's Dragon by Ruth Style's Gannett. Chapter three, My father
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: finds the island. My father hid in the hold for
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  Speaker 1: six days and nights. Twice he was nearly caught when
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  Speaker 1: the ship stopped to take on more cargo, but at
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  Speaker 1: last he heard a sailors say that the next port
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  Speaker 1: would be Cranberry and that they'd be unloading the wheat there.
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  Speaker 1: My father knew that the sailor would send him home
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  Speaker 1: if they caught him, so he looked in his knapsack
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  Speaker 1: and took out a rubber band and the empty grain
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  Speaker 1: bag with the label saying Cranberry. At the last moment,
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  Speaker 1: my father got inside the bag knapsack and all folded
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  Speaker 1: the top of the bag inside and put the rubber
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  Speaker 1: band around the top. He didn't look just exactly like
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  Speaker 1: the other bags, but it was the best he could do.
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  Speaker 1: Soon the sailors came to unload. They lowered a big
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  Speaker 1: net into the hold and began moving the bags of wheat.
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  Speaker 1: Suddenly one sailor yelled, Great Scott, this is the queerest
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  Speaker 1: bag of wheat I've ever seen. It's all lumpy like,
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  Speaker 1: but the label says it's to go to Cranberry. The
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  Speaker 1: other sailors looked at the bag too, and my father,
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  Speaker 1: who was in the bag, of course, tried even harder
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  Speaker 1: to look like a bag of wheat. And then another
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  Speaker 1: sailor felt the bag and he just happened to get
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  Speaker 1: hold of my father's elbow.
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  Speaker 2: I know what this is.
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  Speaker 1: He he said, it's a bag of dried corn on
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  Speaker 1: the cob, and he dumped my father into the big
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  Speaker 1: net along with the bags of wheat. All this happened
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  Speaker 1: in the late afternoon, so late that the merchant in
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  Speaker 1: Cranberry who had ordered the wheat, didn't count his bags
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  Speaker 1: until the next morning. He was a very punctual man
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  Speaker 1: and never late for dinner. The sailors told the captain,
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  Speaker 1: and the captain wrote down on a piece of paper
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  Speaker 1: that they had delivered one hundred and sixty bags of
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  Speaker 1: wheat and one bag of dried corn on the cob.
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  Speaker 1: They left the piece of paper for the merchant and
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  Speaker 1: sailed away that evening. My father heard later that the
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  Speaker 1: merchant spent the whole next day counting and recounting the
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  Speaker 1: bags and feeling each one to find the bag of
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  Speaker 1: corn on the cob. He never found it, because as
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  Speaker 1: soon as it was dark, my father climbed out of
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  Speaker 1: the bag, folded it up, and put it back in
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  Speaker 1: his knapsack. He walked along the shore to a nice
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  Speaker 1: sandy place and lay down to sleep. My father was
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  Speaker 1: very hungry when he woke up the next morning. Just
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  Speaker 1: as he was looking to see if he had anything
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  Speaker 1: left to eat, something hit him on the head. It
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  Speaker 1: was a tangerine. He had been sleeping right under a
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  Speaker 1: tree full of big, fat tangerines. Then he remembered that
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  Speaker 1: this was the island of Tangerina. Tangerine trees grew wild everywhere.
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  Speaker 1: My father picked as many as he had room for,
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  Speaker 1: which was thirty one and started off to find Wild Island.
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  Speaker 1: He walked and walked and walked along the shore, looking
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  Speaker 1: for the rocks that had joined the two islands. He
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  Speaker 1: walked all day, and once when he met a fisherman
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  Speaker 1: and asked him about Wild Island. The fisherman began to
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  Speaker 1: shake and couldn't talk for a long while. It scared
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  Speaker 1: him that much just thinking about it. Finally, he said,
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  Speaker 1: many people have tried to explore Wild Island, but not
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  Speaker 1: one has come back alive. We think they were eaten
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  Speaker 1: by the wild animals. This didn't bother my father. He
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  Speaker 1: kept walking and slept on the beach again that night.
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  Speaker 1: It was beautifully clear the next day, and way down
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  Speaker 1: the shore, my father could see a long line of
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  Speaker 1: rocks leading out into the ocean, and way way out
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  Speaker 1: at the end he could just see a tiny patch
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  Speaker 1: of green. He quickly ate seven tangerines and started down
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  Speaker 1: the beach. It was almost dark when he came to
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  Speaker 1: the rocks, but there, way out in the ocean was
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  Speaker 1: the patch of green. He sat down and rested awhile,
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  Speaker 1: remembering that the cat had said, if you can go
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  Speaker 1: out to the island at night, because then the wild
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  Speaker 1: animals won't see you coming along the rocks, and you
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  Speaker 1: can hide when you get there. So my father picked
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  Speaker 1: seven more tangerine, put on his black rubber boots, and
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  Speaker 1: waited for dark. It was a very black night, and
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  Speaker 1: my father could hardly see the rocks ahead of him.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes they were quite high, and sometimes the waves almost
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: covered them, and they were slippery and hard to walk on.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes the rocks were far apart, and my father had
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  Speaker 1: to get a running start and leap from one to
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  Speaker 1: the next. After a while, he began to hear a
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  Speaker 1: rumbling noise. It grew louder and louder as he got
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  Speaker 1: nearer to the island. At last it seemed as if
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: he was right on top of the noise, and he was.
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  Speaker 1: He had jumped from a rock on to the back
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  Speaker 1: of a small whale who was fast asleep and cuddled
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  Speaker 1: up between two rocks. The whale was snoring and making
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  Speaker 1: more noise than a steam shovel, so that it never
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  Speaker 1: heard my father say, oh, I didn't know that was you,
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  Speaker 1: and it never knew my father had jumped on its
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: back by mistake. For seven hours, my father climbed and
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  Speaker 1: slipped and leaped from rock to rock, but while it
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: was still dark, he finally reached the very last rock
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  Speaker 1: and stepped off on to Wild Island. End of chapter
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: three read by Norah Nelson.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Chapter four of My Father's Dragon. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: by shrimp Fish My Father's Dragon my Ruth Style's Gannet.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: My Father finds the River. The jungle began just beyond
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: a narrow strip of beach, thick, dark, damp, scary jungle.
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  Speaker 2: My father hardly knew where to go, so he crawled
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: under a wahoo bush to think and ate eight tangerines.
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  Speaker 2: The first thing to do, he decided, was to find
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  Speaker 2: the river, because the dragon was tied somewhere along its bank.
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  Speaker 2: Then he thought, if the river flows into the ocean,
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  Speaker 2: I ought to be able to find it quite easily
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  Speaker 2: if I just walk along the beach far enough. So
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  Speaker 2: my father walked until the sun rose, and he was
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: quite far from the ocean rocks. It was dangerous to
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: stay near them because they might be guarded in the daytime.
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  Speaker 2: He found a clump of tall grass and sat down.
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  Speaker 2: Then he took off his rubber boots and ate three
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  Speaker 2: more tangerines. He could have eaten twelve, but he hadn't
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  Speaker 2: seen any tangerines on this island, and he could not
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: risk running out of something to eat. My father slept
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  Speaker 2: all that day and only woke up late in the
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  Speaker 2: afternoon when he heard a funny little voice saying, queer, queer,
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  Speaker 2: What a dear little dock, I mean, dear dear, what
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: a queer little rock. My father saw a tiny paw
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  Speaker 2: rubbing itself on his knapsack. He lay very still, and
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: the mouse, for it was a mouse, hurried away, muttering
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  Speaker 2: to itself, I must smell somebody, I mean, I must
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  Speaker 2: tell somebody. My father waited a few minutes and then
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: started down the beach because it was almost dark now
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: and he was afraid the mouse really would tell somebody.
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  Speaker 2: He walked all night, and two scary things happened. First,
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: he just had to sneeze, so he did, and somebody
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  Speaker 2: close by said, is that you monkey? My father said yes.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Then the voice said you must have something on your back, monkey,
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: and my father said yes, because he did. He had
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: his knapsack on his back. What do you have on
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: your back, monkey, asked the voice. My father didn't know
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: what to say, because what would a monkey have on
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: its back, and how would it sand telling somebody about
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: it if it did have something. Just then another voice said,
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  Speaker 2: I bet you're taking your sick grandmother to the doctor's.
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  Speaker 2: My father said yes and hurried on. Quite by accident,
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  Speaker 2: he found it later that he had been talking to
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: a pair of tortoises. The second thing that happened was
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: that he nearly walked right between two wild boars who
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: were talking in low, solemn whispers. When he first saw
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: the dark shapes, he thought they were boulders. Just in
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: time he heard one of them say, there are three
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: signes of a recent invasion. First, fresh tangerine pels were
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: found under the wahoo bush near the ocean rocks. Second,
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: a mouse reported in an extraordinary rocks some distance from
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: the ocean rocks, which, upon further investigations, simply wasn't there. However,
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: more fresh tangerine peels were found in the same spot,
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: which is the third sign of invasion. Since tangerines do
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: not grow on our island, somebody must have brought them
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: across the ocean rocks from the other island. Which may
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: or may not have something to do with the appearance
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: and or disappearance of the extraordinary rock reported by the mouse.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: After a long silence, the other boar said, you know,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: I think we're taking all this too seriously. Those peals
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: probably floated over here all by themselves, and you know
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: how unreliable mice are. Besides, if there had been an invasion,
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: I would have seen it. Perhaps you're right, said the
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: first boar. Shall we retire? Whereupon they both trundled back
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: into the jungle. Well, that taught my father a lesson,
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: and after that he saved all his tangerine peals. He
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: walked all night, and toward morning came to the river.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: Then his troubles really began. End of chapter four, chapter
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: five of My Father's Dragon by Ruth styles Ganet. This
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: liprivox recording is in the public domain. Read by shrimp Fish.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: My father meets some tigers. The river was very wide
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: and muddy, and the jungle was very gloomy and dense.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: The trees grew close to each other, and what room
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: there was between them was taken up by great high
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: ferns with sticky leaves. My father hated to leave the beach,
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: but he decided to start along the river bank, where
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: at least the jungle wasn't quite so thick. He ate
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: three tangerines, making sure to keep all the peels this time,
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: and put on his rubber boots. My father tried to
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: follow the river bank, but it was very swampy, and
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: as he went further the swamp became deeper. When it
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: was almost as deep as his boot tops, he got
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: stuck in the oozy, mucky mud. My father tugged and tugged,
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: and nearly pulled his boots right off, but at last
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: he managed to wade to a drier place. Here, the
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: jungle was so thick that he could hardly see where
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: the river was. He unpacked his compass and figured out
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: the direction he should walk in order to stay near
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: the river. But he didn't know that the river made
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: a very sharp curve away from him, just a little
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: way beyond, And so as he walked straight ahead, he
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: was getting farther and farther away from the river. It
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: was very hard to walk in the jungle. The sticky
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: leaves of the ferns caught at my father's hair, and
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: he kept tripping over roots and rotten logs. Sometimes the
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: trees were clumped so closely together that he couldn't squeeze
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: between them and had to walk a long way around.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: He began to hear whispery noises, but he couldn't see
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: any animals anywhere. The deeper into the jungle he went,
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: the surer he was that something was following him, And
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: then he thought he heard whispery noises on both sides
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: of him, as well as behind. He tried to run,
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: but he tripped over more roots, and the noises only
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: came nearer. One or twice he thought he heard something
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: laughing at him. At last, he came out into a
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: clearing and ran right into the middle of it so
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: that he could see anything that might try to attack him.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: Was he surprised when he looked and saw fourteen green
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: eyes coming out of the jungle all around the clearing,
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: And when the green eyes turned into seven tigers. The
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: tigers walked around him in a big circle, looking hungrier
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: all the time, And then they sat down and began
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: to talk. I suppose you thought we didn't know you
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: were trespassing in a jungle. Then the next tiger spoke,
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: I suppose you're going to say, you didn't know it
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: was our jungle. You know that not one explorer has
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: ever left this island alive, said the third tiger. My
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: father thought of the cat and knew this wasn't true,
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: but of course he had too much sense to say
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: so one doesn't contradict the hungry tiger. The tigers went
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: on talking. Turn. You are first, little boy. You know,
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: I'm curious to know if you're especially tender. Maybe you'll
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: think we have regular meal times, but we don't. We
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: just eat whenever we're feeling hungry, said the fifth tiger.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: And we are very hungry right now. In fact, I
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: can hardly wait, said the sixth I can't wait, said
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: the seventh tiger. And then all the tigers set together
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: in a loud roar. Let's begin right now, and they
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: moved in closer. My father looked at those seven hungry tigers,
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: and then he had an idea. He quickly opened his
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: knapsack and took out the chewing gum. The cat had
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: told him that tigers were especially fond of chewing gum,
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: which was very scarce on the island, so he threw
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: them each a piece, but they only growled as fond
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: as we are of chewing gum, We're sure we'd like
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: you even better. And they moved so close that he
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: could feel them breathing on his face. But this is very,
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: very special chewing gum, said my father. If you keep
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: on chewing it long enough, it will turn green, and
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: then if you plant it, it will grow more chewing gum.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: And the sooner you start chewing, the sooner you'll have more.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: The tigers said, why you don't say, isn't that fine?
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: And each one wanted to be the first to plant
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: the chewing gum. They all unwrapped their pieces and began
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: chewing as hard as they could. Every once in a while,
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: one tiger would look into another's mouth and say, nope,
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: it's not done yet, Until finally they were all so
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: busy looking into each other's mouths to make sure that
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: no one was getting ahead, that they forgot all about
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: my father. End of chapter five, Chapter six of My
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: Father's Dragon by Ruth's Style Scanet. This LibriVox recording is
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: in the public domain. Read by shrimp Fish, my father
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: meets a rhinoceros. My father soon found a trail leading
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: away from the clearing all sorts of animals, might be
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: using it too, but he decided to follow the trail
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: no matter what he met, because it might lead to
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: the dragon. He kept a sharp lookout in front and behind,
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: and went on. Just as he was feeling quite safe,
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: he came round a curve right behind the two wild boars.
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: One of them was saying to the other, as you
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: know that the tortoises thought they saw monkey carrying his
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: sick grandmother to the doctor's last night. But Monty's grandmother
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: died a week ago, so they must have seen something else.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: I wonder what it was. I told you that there
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: was an invasion afoot, said the other boar, and I
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: intend to find out what it is. I simply can't
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: stand invasions. Me neither, said a tiny little voice. I
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: mean me neither. And my father knew that the mouse
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: was there too well, said the first boar. You searched
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: the trail up this way to the dragon. I'll go
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: back down the other way through the big clearing, and
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: we'll send mouse to watch the ocean rocks in case
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: the invasion should decide to go away before we find it.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: My father hid behind a mahogany tree just in time,
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: and the first boar walked right past him. My father
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: waited for the other boar to get a head start
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: on him, but he didn't wait very long because he
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: knew that when the first boar saw the tiger's chewing
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: gum and the clearing, he'd be even more suspicious. Soon
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: the trail crossed a little brook, and my father, who
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: by this time was very thirsty, stopped to get a
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: drink of water. He still had on his rubber boots,
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: so he waded into a little pool of water and
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: was stooping down when something quite sharp picked him up
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: by the seat of the pants and shook him very hard.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: Don't you know this my private weeping pool, said a deep,
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: angry voice. My father couldn't see who was talking because
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: he was hanging in the air right over the pool,
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: but he said, oh no, I'm so sorry. I didn't
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: know that everybody had a private weeping pool. Everybody doesn't,
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: said the angry voice. But I do, because I have
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: such a big thing to weep about, and I drowne
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: everybody I find using my weeping pool. With that, the
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: animal tossed my father up and down over the water.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: What is it that you weep about so much? Asked
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: my father, trying to get his breath, and he thought
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: over all the things he had in his pack. Oh,
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: I have many things to weep about, but the biggest
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: thing is the color of my tusk. My father squirmed
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: every which way trying to see the tusk, but it
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: was through the seat of his pants, where he couldn't
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: possibly see it. When I was a young rhinoceros, my
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: tusk was purly white, said the animal. And then my
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: father knew that he was hanging by the seat of
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: his pants from a rhinoceros's tusk. But it had turned
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: a nesty yellow gray in my old age, and I
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: find it very ugly. You see, everything else about me
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: is ugly, But when I had a beautiful tusk, I
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: didn't worry so much about the rest. Now that my
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: tusk is ugly too, I can't sleep nights just thinking
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: about how completely ugly I am, and I weep all
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: the time. But why should I be telling you these things.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: I caught you using my pool, and now I'm going
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: to drown you. Oh wait a minute, Rhinoceros, said my father.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: I have some things that will make your tusk all
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: white and beautiful again. Just let me down. And I'll
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: give them to you. The rhinoceros said, you do. I
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: can hardly believe it. When I'm so excited. He put
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: my father down and danced around in a circle. When
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: my father got out the tube of toothpaste and the toothbrush,
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: now said my father, just move your tusk a little nearer, please,
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: and I'll show you how to begin. My father wet
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: the brush in the pool, squeezed on a dab of toothpaste,
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: and scrubbed very hard in one tiny spot. Then he
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: told the rhinoceros to wash it off, and when the
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: pool was calm again, he told the rhinoceros to lick
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: in the water and see how white the little spot was.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: It was hard to see in the dim light of
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: the jungle, but sure enough the spot shone pearly white,
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: just like new. The rhinoceros was so pleased that he
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: grabbed the toothbrush and began scrubbing violently, forgetting all about
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: my father. Just then my father heard hoof steps, and
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: he jumped behind the rhinoceros. It was the boar, coming
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: back from the big clearing where the tigers were chewing gum.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: The boar looked at the rhinoceros, and at the toothbrush,
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: and at the tube of toothpaste. And then he scratched
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: his ear on a tree. Tell me, rhinoceros, he said,
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: where did you get that fine tube of toothpaste and
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: that toothbrush? Too busy, said the rhinoceros, and he went
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: on brushing as hard as he could. The boar sniffed
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: angrily and trotted down the trail toward the dragon, muttering
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: to himself, tiger's too busy chewing gum. Rhinoceros too busy
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: brushing his tusk. Must get hold of that invasion. Don't
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: like it one bit, not one bit, is upsetting everybody terribly.
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: Wonder what it's doing here anyway. End of chapter six,
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: Chapter seven of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Style's Gannet.
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: shrimp Fish. My father meets a lion. My father waved
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: goodbye to the rhinoceros, who is much too busy to notice,
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: got a drink further down the brook, and waded back
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: to the trail. He hadn't gone very far when he
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: heard an angry animal roaring ding blastics. I told you
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: not to go blackberrying yesterday. Won't you ever learn? What
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: will your mother say? My father crept along in peace,
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: yeered into a small clearing. Just ahead, a lion was
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: prancing about, clawing at his mane, which was all snarled
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: and full of BlackBerry twigs. The more he clawed, the
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: worse it became, and the madder he grew, and the
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: more he yelled at himself, because it was himself he
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: was yelling at all the time. My father could see
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: that the trail went through the clearing, so he decided
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: to crawl around the edge in the underbrush and not
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: disturb the lion. He crawled and crawled, and the yelling
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: grew louder and louder. Just as he was about to
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: reach the trail on the other side, the yelling suddenly stopped.
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: My father looked around and saw the lion glaring at him.
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: The lion charged and skidded to a stop a few
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: inches away. How are you, the lion yelled at my father.
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: My name is Elmer Elevator. Where do you think you're going?
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: I'm going home, said my father. That sway you think,
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: said the lion. Ordinarily i'd see you for afternoon tea,
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: but I happen to be upset and nothing hungry enough
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: to eat you right now. And he picked up my
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: father in his front paws to feel how fat he was.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: My father said, oh, please, lion, before you eat me,
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: tell me why you are so particularly upset to day.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: It is my mane, said the lion, as he was
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: figuring how many bites a little boy would make. You
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: see what a dreadful mess it is, and I don't
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: seem to be able to do anything about it. My
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: mother is coming over in the dragon this afternoon, and
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: if she sees me this way, I'm afraid she'll stop
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: my allowance. She can't stand messy main's. But I'm going
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: to eat you now, so it won't make any difference
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: to you. Oh wait a minute, said my father, and
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: I'll give you just the things you need to make
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: your mane all tidy and beautiful. I have them here
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: in my pack, you do, said the lion. Wen'll give
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: them to me, and perhaps I'll save you for afternoon
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: tea after all, and he put my father down on
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: the ground. My father opened the pack and took out
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: the comb and the brush and the seven hair ribbons
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: of different colors. Look he said, I'll show you what
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: to do on your forelock where you can watch me.
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: First you brush awhile, and then you comb, and then
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: you brush again until all the twigs and snarls are gone.
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: Then you divide it up in three and braid it
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: like this and tie a ribbon around the end. As
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: my father was doing this, the lion watched very carefully
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: and began to look much happier. When my father tied
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: on the ribbon, he was all smiles. Oh, that's wonderful,
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: really wonderful, said the lion. Let me have the comb
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: and brush and see if I can do it. So
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: my father gave him the comb and brush, and the
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: lion began busily grooming his mane. As a matter of fact,
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: he was so busy that he didn't even know when
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: my father left. End of chapter seven Chapter eight of
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: My Father's Dragon by Ruth's Style scan It. This LibriVox
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: recording is in the public domain. Read by shrimp Fish.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: My father meets a gorilla. My father was very hungry,
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: so he sat down under a baby bunyan tree on
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: the side of the trail and ate four tangerines. He
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: wanted to eat eight or ten, but he had only
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: thirteen left, and it might be a long time before
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: he could get more. He pecked away all the peals
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: and was about to get up when he heard the
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: familiar voices of the boars. I wouldn't have believed it
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: if I hadn't seen them with my own eyes. But
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: wait and see for yourself. All the tigers are sitting
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: around chewing gum to beat the band. Old rhinoceros is
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: so busy brushing his tusk that he doesn't even look
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: around to see who's going by. And they're all so
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: busy they won't even talk to me. Horse Feathers, said
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: the other boar. Now very close to my father, they'll
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: talk to me. I'm going to get to the bottom
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: of this of It's the last thing I do. The
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: voices passed my father and went around a curve, and
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: he hurried on because he knew how much more upset
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: the boars would be when they saw the lion's mane
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: tied up in hair ribbons. Before long, my father came
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: to a cross roads, and he stopped to read the signs.
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: Straight ahead, an arrow pointed to the beginning of the river.
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: To the left, the ocean rocks and to the right
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: to the dragon ferry. My father was reading all these
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: signs when he heard paw steps and ducked behind the
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: sign post. A beautiful lioness paraded past and turned down
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: toward the clearings. Although she could have seen my father
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: if she had bothered to glance at the post, she
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: was much too occupied looking dignified to see anything but
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: the tip of her own nose. It was the lion's mother,
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: of course, and that, thought my father must mean that
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: the dragon was on this side of the river. He
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: hurried on, but it was further away than he had judged.
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: He finally came into the river bank in the late
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: afternoon and looked all around, but there was no dragon
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: anywhere in sight. He must have gone back to the
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: other side. My father sat down under a palm tree
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: and was trying to have a good idea when something
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: big and black and hairy jumped out of the tree
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: and landed with a loud crash at his feet. Well,
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: said a huge voice, Well what said my father, for
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: which he was very sorry when he looked up and
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: discovered he was talking to an enormous and very fierce gorilla.
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: Well explain yourself, said the gorilla. I'll give you till
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: ten to tell me your name, business, your age, and
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: what's in that pack. And he began counting to ten
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: as fast as he could. My father didn't even have
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: time to say elmore elevator explorer before the gorilla interrupted,
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: too slow. I'll twist your arms the way I twist
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: that dragon's wings and almost see if you can't hurry
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: up a bit. He grabbed my father's arms, one in
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: each fist and was just about to twist them when
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: he suddenly let go and began scratching his chest with
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: both hands. Bluss those fleas, he raged, they won't give
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: you a moment's piece, and the worst of it is
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: that you can't even get a good look at them. Rosie, Rhoda, Rachel,
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: Ruthie Ruby, Roberta. Come here and get rid of this
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: flea on my chest. It's driving me crazy. Six little
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: monkeys tumbled out of the palm tree, dashed to the
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: gorilla and began combing the hair on his chest. Well,
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: said the gorilla, it's still there. Were'm looking. We're looking,
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: said the six little monkeys. But they're awfully hard to see.
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: You know, I know, said the gorilla, But hurry on, I've
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: got work to do, and he winked at my father. Oh, gorilla,
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: said my father. In my knapsack, I have six magnifying glasses.
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: They'd be just the thing for hunting fleas. My father
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: unpacked them and gave one to Rosie, one to Rhoda,
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: one to Rachel, one to Ruthie, one to Ruby, and
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: one to Roberta. Why they are miraculous, said the six
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: little monkeys. It's easy to see the fleas now, only
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: there are hundreds of them, and they went on hunting frantically.
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: A moment later, many more monkeys appeared out of a
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: nearby clump of mangroves and began crowding around to get
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: a look at the fleas through the magnifying glasses. They
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: completely surrounded the gorilla, and he could not see my father,
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: nor did he remember to twist his arms. End of
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: chapter eight, chapter nine of My Father's Dragon by Ruth
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: Style's Gannet. This LibriVox re hoarding is in the public domain.
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: Read by shrimp Fish. My father makes a bridge. My
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: father walked back and forth along the bank, trying to
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: think of some way to cross the river. He found
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: a high flagpole with the rope going over to the
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: other side. The rope went through a loop at the
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: top of the pole, and then down the pole and
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: around a large crank. A sign on the crank said
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: to summon dragon. Yank the crank, report disorderly conduct to gorilla.
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: From what the cat had told my father, he knew
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: that the other end of the rope was tied around
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: the dragon's neck, and he felt sorrier than ever for
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: the poor dragon. If he were on this side, the
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: gorilla would twist his wings until it hurt so much
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: that he'd have to fly to the other side. If
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: he were on the other side, the gorilla would crank
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: the rope until the dragon would either choke to death
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: or fly back to this side. What a life for
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: a baby dragon. My father knew that if he called
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: to the dragon to come across the river, the gorilla
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: would surely hear him, so he thought about climbing the
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: pole and going across on the rope. The pole was
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: very high, and even if he could get to the
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: top without being seen, he'd have to go all the
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: way across hand over hand. The river would very muddy,
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: and all sorts of unfriendly things might live in it,
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: but my father could think of no other way to
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: get across. He was about to start up the pole when,
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: despite all the noise the monkeys were making, he heard
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: a loud splash behind him. He looked all around in
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: the water, but it was dusk now and he couldn't
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: see anything there. It's me, crocodile, said a voice to
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: the left. The water is lovely, and I have such
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: a craving for something sweet. Won't you come in for
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: a swim. A pale moon came out from behind the clouds,
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: and my father could see where the voice was coming from.
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: The crocodile's head was just peeping out of the water.
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: Oh no, thank you, said my father. I never swim
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: after sundown, but I do have something sweet to offer you.
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: Perhaps you'd like a lollipop, and perhaps you have friends
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: who would like lollipops too. Lollipops, said the crocodile. Why
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: that is a treat? How about it? Boys, a whole corps.
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: The voices shouted, harah, lollipops, and my father counted as
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: many as seventeen crocodiles with their heads just peeping out
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: at the water. That's fine, said my father, as he
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: got out the two dozen pink lollipops and the rubber bands.
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: I'll stick one here in the bank. Lollipops last longer
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: if you keep them out at the water. You know,
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: now one of you can have this one. The crocodile
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: who had first spoken swam up and tasted it. Delicious,
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: mighty delicious, he said. Now, if you don't mind, said
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: my father, I'll just walk along your back and fasten
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: another lollipop to the tip of your tail with a
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: rubber band. You don't mind, do you, Oh no, not
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: in the least, said the crocodile. Can you get your
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: tail out of the water just a bit, asked my father. Yes,
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: of course, said the crocodile, and he lifted up his tail.
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: Then my father ran along his back and fastened another
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: lollipop with a rubber band. Who's next, said my father,
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: and the second crocodile swam up and began sucking on
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: that lollipop. Now, you gentlemen can save a lot of
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: time if you just line up across the river and
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: I'll be along to give you each a lollipop. So
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: the crocodiles lined up right across the river with their
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: tails in the air, waiting for my father to fasten
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: on the rest of the lollipops. The tail of the
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: seventeenth crocodile just reached the other bank. End of chapter nine,
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: Chapter ten of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Style's ganet.
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: This LibriVox according is in the public domain read by
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: shrimp Fish. My father finds the dragon. When my father
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: was crossing the back of the fifteenth crocodile with two
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: more lollipops to go, the noise of the monkeys suddenly stopped,
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: and he could hear a much bigger noise, getting louder
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: every second. Then he could hear seven furious tigers and
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: one raging rhinoceros, and two seething lions and one ranting gorilla,
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: along with countless screeching monkeys, led by two extremely irate
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: wild boars, old yelling it's a trick, it's a trick.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: There's an invasion, and it must be after our dragon.
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: Kill it, kill it. The whole crowd stampeded down to
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: the bank. As my father was fixing the seventeenth lollipop
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: for the last crocodile, he heard a wild boar scream,
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: Look it came this way, it's over there. Now see,
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: the crocodiles made a bridge for it, and just as
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: my father leaped onto the other bank, one of the
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: wild boars jumped onto the back at the first crocodile.
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: My father didn't have a moment to spare by now
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: the dragon realized that my father was coming to rescue him.
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: He ran out of the bushes and jumped up and down,
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: yelling here he am im right here, can you see me? Hurry?
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: The boar is coming over on the crocodiles too. They're
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: all coming over. Oh please, hurry, hurry. The noise was
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: simply terrific. My father ran up to the dragon and
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: took out his very sharp jackknife. Steady, old boy, steady,
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: we'll make it. Just stand still, he told the dragon
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: as he began to saw through the big rope. By
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: this time, both boars, all seven tigers, the two lions,
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: the rhinoceros, and the gorilla, along with the countless screeching monkeys,
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: were all on their way across the crocodiles, and there
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: was still a lot of rope to cut through. Oh hurry,
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: the dragon kept saying, and my father told him again
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: to stand still. If I don't think I can make it,
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: said my father, We'll fly over to the other side
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: of the river and I could finish cutting the rope there.
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: Suddenly the screaming grew louder and madder, and my father
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: thought the animals must have crossed the river. He looked
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: around and saw something which surprised and delighted him, partly
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: because he had finished his lollipop, and partly because, as
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: I told you before, crocodiles are very moody and not
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: the least bit dependable, and are always looking for something
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: to eat. The first crocodile had turned away from the
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: bank and started swimming down the river. The second crocodile
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: hadn't finished yet, so he followed right after the first,
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: still sucking his lollipop. All the rest did the same thing,
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: one right after the other, until they were all swimming
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: away in a line. The two wild boars, the seven tigers,
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: the rhinoceros, the two lions, the gorilla, along with the
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: countless screeching monkeys, were all riding down the middle of
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: the river on the train of crocodiles, sucking pink lollipops
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: and all yelling and screaming and getting their feet wet.
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: My father and the dragon laughed themselves weak because it
• 45:50
  Speaker 2: was such a silly sight. As soon as they had recovered,
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: my father finished cutting the rope, and the dragon raced
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: around in circles and tried to turn a somersault. He
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: was the most excited baby dragon that ever lived. My
• 46:03
  Speaker 2: father was in a hurry to fly away, and when
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: the dragon finally calmed down a bit, my father climbed
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: up onto his back, all aboard, said the dragon, where
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: shall we go? We'll spend the night on the beach,
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: and tomorrow we'll start on the long journey home. So
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: it's off to the shores of Tangerina, shouted my father,
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: as the dragon soared above the dark jungle and the
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: muddy river, and all the animals bellowing at them, and
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: all the crocodiles licking pink lollipops and grinning wide grins.
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: After all, what did the crocodiles care about away to
• 46:36
  Speaker 2: cross the river, And what a fine feast they were
• 46:39
  Speaker 2: carrying on their backs. As my father and the dragon
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: passed over the ocean rocks, they heard a tiny excited
• 46:46
  Speaker 2: voice scream bum cack, bum cack. We dream our nagon,
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, we need our dragon. But my father and
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: the Dragon knew that nothing in the world would ever
• 46:58
  Speaker 2: make them go back to While Island. End of chapter ten.
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: End of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Style's Gannett