By and by they found Painted Jaguar , still nursing his paddy-paw that had been hurt the night before . He was so astonished that he fell three times backward over his own painted tail without stopping . ` Good morning ! ' said Stickly-Prickly . ` And how is your dear gracious Mummy this morning ? ' ` She is quite well , thank you , ' said Painted Jaguar ; ` but you must forgive me if I do not at this precise moment recall your name . ' ` That 's unkind of you , ' said Stickly-Prickly , ` seeing that this time yesterday you tried to scoop me out of my shell with your paw . ' ` But you had n't any shell . It was all prickles , ' said Painted Jaguar . ' I know it was . Just look at my paw ! ' ` You told me to drop into the turbid Amazon and be drowned , ' said Slow-Solid . ` Why are you so rude and forgetful to-day ? ' ` Do n't you remember what your mother told you ? ' said Stickly-Prickly , -- ` Ca n't curl , but can swim -- Stickly-Prickly , that 's him ! Curls up , but ca n't swim -- Slow-Solid , that 's him ! ' Then they both curled themselves up and rolled round and round Painted Jaguar till his eyes turned truly cart-wheels in his head . Then he went to fetch his mother . ` Mother , ' he said , ` there are two new animals in the woods to-day , and the one that you said could n't swim , swims , and the one that you said could n't curl up , curls ; and they 've gone shares in their prickles , I think , because both of them are scaly all over , instead of one being smooth and the other very prickly ; and , besides that , they are rolling round and round in circles , and I do n't feel comfy . ' ` Son , son ! '
said Mother XXXXX ever so many times , graciously waving her tail , ' a Hedgehog is a Hedgehog , and ca n't be anything but a Hedgehog ; and a Tortoise is a Tortoise , and can never be anything else . '
Amazon Jaguar Mother Slow-Solid Stickly-Prickly before cart-wheels drowned paddy-paw prickles