` Or if you prefer stripes , think of Zebra . They find their spots and stripes give them per-feet satisfaction . ' ` Umm , ' said the Leopard . ' I would n't look like Zebra -- not for ever so . ' ` Well , make up your mind , ' said the Ethiopian , ` because I 'd hate to go hunting without you , but I must if you insist on looking like a sun-flower against a tarred fence . ' ` I 'll take spots , then , ' said the Leopard ; ` but do n't make 'em too vulgar-big . I would n't look like Giraffe -- not for ever so . ' ` I 'll make 'em with the tips of my fingers , ' said the Ethiopian . ` There 's plenty of black left on my skin still . Stand over ! ' Then the Ethiopian put his five fingers close together -LRB- there was plenty of black left on his new skin still -RRB- and pressed them all over the Leopard , and wherever the five fingers touched they left five little black marks , all close together . You can see them on any Leopard 's skin you like , Best Beloved . Sometimes the fingers slipped and the marks got a little blurred ; but if you look closely at any Leopard now you will see that there are always five spots -- off five fat black finger-tips . ` Now you are a beauty ! ' said the Ethiopian . ` You can lie out on the bare ground and look like a heap of pebbles . You can lie out on the naked rocks and look like a piece of pudding-stone . You can lie out on a leafy branch and look like sunshine sifting through the leaves ; and you can lie right across the centre of a path and look like nothing in particular . Think of that and purr ! ' ` But if I 'm all this , ' said the Leopard , ` why did n't you go spotty too ? '
` Oh , plain black 's best for a nigger , ' said the XXXXX .
Ethiopian Giraffe Leopard Umm centre fence left pudding-stone right sun-flower