Читать книгу Gobble-Up Stories - Oscar Mandel - Страница 11
ОглавлениеWe harm those we hate; we also hate those we harm; otherwise our conscience would sting us, and who likes to be stung?
The dragon of Helgoland had vowed to exterminate all the unicorns of the realm. History does not record why, but we must hope that he had his reasons. One day, as he was prowling through the woods, he thought he saw a unicorn concealed in the undergrowth. He quickly belched out a jet of flames which burned out an acre of land in front of him. The wave gone, he heard a feeble lament almost under his enormous paw, and, looking down, he saw a litter of tiny badgers, all burnt to death except one, who was still alive enough to despond. “Why did you kill us?” wailed the last of the badgers. “What harm did we do you in our short small lives; why did you strike us down who are innocent?”
“Innocent devils!” bellowed the dragon, “I hate you weasels; all the world knows you’ve been plotting against me with the unicorns!”
“But we are not weasels; we are badgers,” said the little victim.
“Well, I hate badgers too,” grumbled the dragon. “They’re always standing in the way of my fire.” And from that time, he never thought of badgers without spitting a flame in disgust.
