I am going to the great grey-green , greasy Limpopo River , all set about with fever-trees , to find out what the Crocodile has for dinner . ' And they all spanked him once more for luck , though he asked them most politely to stop . Then he went away , a little warm , but not at all astonished , eating melons , and throwing the rind about , because he could not pick it up . He went from Graham 's Town to Kimberley , and from Kimberley to Khama 's Country , and from Khama 's Country he went east by north , eating melons all the time , till at last he came to the banks of the great grey-green , greasy Limpopo River , all set about with fever-trees , precisely as Kolokolo Bird had said . Now you must know and understand , O Best Beloved , that till that very week , and day , and hour , and minute , this ` satiable Elephant 's Child had never seen a Crocodile , and did not know what one was like . It was all his ` satiable curtiosity . The first thing that he found was a Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake curled round a rock . '' Scuse me , ' said the Elephant 's Child most politely , ` but have you seen such a thing as a Crocodile in these promiscuous parts ? ' ` Have I seen a Crocodile ? ' said the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake , in a voice of dretful scorn . ` What will you ask me next ? ' '' Scuse me , ' said the Elephant 's Child , ` but could you kindly tell me what he has for dinner ? ' Then the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake uncoiled himself very quickly from the rock , and spanked the Elephant 's Child with his scalesome , flailsome tail . ` That is odd , ' said the Elephant 's Child , ` because my father and my mother , and my uncle and my aunt , not to mention my other aunt , the Hippopotamus , and my other uncle , the Baboon , have all spanked me for my ` satiable curtiosity -- and I suppose this is the same thing . So he said good-bye very politely to the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake , and helped to coil him up on the rock again , and went on , a little warm , but not at all astonished , eating melons , and throwing the rind about , because he could not pick it up , till he trod on what he thought was a log of wood at the very edge of the great grey-green , greasy Limpopo River , all set about with fever-trees . But it was really the Crocodile , O Best Beloved , and the Crocodile winked one eye -- like this ! '' Scuse me , ' said the Elephant 's Child most politely , ` but do you happen to have seen a Crocodile in these promiscuous parts ? ' Then the Crocodile winked the other eye , and lifted half his tail out of the mud ; and the Elephant 's Child stepped back most politely , because he did not wish to be spanked again . ` Come hither , Little One , ' said the Crocodile . ` Why do you ask such things ? ' ''
Scuse me , ' said the Elephant 's Child most politely , ` but my father has spanked me , my mother has spanked me , not to mention my tall aunt , the Ostrich , and my tall uncle , the Giraffe , who can kick ever so hard , as well as my broad aunt , the Hippopotamus , and my hairy uncle , the XXXXX , and including the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake , with the scalesome , flailsome tail , just up the bank , who spanks harder than any of them ; and so , if it 's quite all the same to you , I do n't want to be spanked any more . '
Baboon Bird Khama curtiosity day fever-trees grey-green melons minute week