How the Hippopotome Earned His Grace by Casey D.

In the early days of the earth, the hippopotamus was a creature of the land. They lived, ate, and gave birth on land. They never had the interest or the courage - to put one foot into water. But this changed when long ago, in the great land of the Congo, there lived a certain mother and father hippopotamus who had just given birth to a very small (in hippopotamus terms), but very gregarious baby Hippopotome. Both his mother and his father thought their son to be the most handsome hippo in all the land. He had gorgeous brown eyes, smooth dark brown skin, a lovely rotund shape, and a cute little tail that would swing back and forth whenever he would become happy or excited. Despite the overwhelming love of his parents, the little Hippopotome was eager to win the hearts of all the other jungle creatures. One bright sunny morning, after making sure to give his mother a big hippo hug and muzzle nuzzle, he courageously set out to fulfill his overwhelming need for friendship.

As he was walking along the dry soil of the forest floor, he was suddenly surprised by a jumpy little monkey that was swinging around in the trees. The little Hippopotome’s short tail quickly began flipping back and forth, as he was overjoyed to see an animal with whom he could become friends.

The enthusiastic little hippo said, “Mbote Mingi Na Yo, Mr. Monkey (which means 'a big hello to you from me' in Lingala, the language of the area). I am Hippopotome and I was wondering if you would be my friend!”

The rude monkey quickly responded, “Whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo do you think you are? Why would I, a beautiful macaque, want to be friends with such an ugly animal? I can swing gracefully through the trees, with my hands – and feet... and tail! I am the most graceful animal in the jungle! And you, what can you do? NOTHING! You are not graceful at all!” With a mocking laugh, the monkey quickly grabbed the nearest vine and swung out of sight. The encounter hurt little Hippopotome’s feelings deeply.

The downtrodden little Hippopotome continued to waddle down the path in order to find another possible friend. Soon, he came upon a striking cheetah that was resting under the shade of a large Baobob tree.

The excited little Hippopotome instantly got the attention of the beautiful animal and said, “Mbote Mingi Na Yo, Mr. Cheetah. I am Hippopotome. And I was wondering if you would like to be my friend?”

The cheetah, too preoccupied with his rest, lazily replied, “You must know that I am the most g-g-g-r-r-raceful creature in the jungle. I’m so graceful; I’m p-p-p-r-r-rfect! An amazing creature like me, with r-r-remarkable spots and unbelievable speed, be f-r-r-riends with a clumsy animal, like you? HA! Don’t make me laugh!” The audacious and impolite cheetah soon began to doze back off into sleep.

Once again, with hurt feelings and a little tear in his eye, the discouraged little hippo stared blankly at the cheetah for a minute or two before he continued on his way. While shuffling down the small dirt path, he began to think to himself, “What could be wrong with me? Why would these animals not want to become friends with me? Am I being rude? Is there something in my tusks?” Despite the stinging words he had heard that day, the little animal was too determined to think much of them, and so he continued on his way down the path to find himself a friend.

The little Hippopotome soon became tired and decided to take a break under the shade of a nearby bamboo grove. While resting, he looked up to see a tiny fruit bat hanging upside down. He was delighted to find another possible friend and stood up in order to shake the plant and get the attention of the small bat.

“Mbote Mingi Na Yo, Mr. Bat. I am Hippopotome. Would you like to be friends with me? I promise, I am a very nice and polite animal and I will let you ride on my back anytime you want! Please!?!!” begged the desperate little hippo.

Very annoyed that the little hippo caused him to awake, the tiny bat screeched, “Why must you wake me up?!? You must know that a graceful animal, such as I, would never become friends with such a fat, clumsy animal as yourself! I can glide gracefully through the air with ease, and change directions as quick as a wink! I think I must be the most graceful animal in the whole jungle! And you? You are stuck on the land, tripping over your own legs! I would never become friends with you!” The small creature fluttered off, in search of another shoot from which to hang.

The miserable little hippo was very upset that none of the creatures of the forest wanted to become friends with him. He was finally able to lift his spirits somewhat by coming to the conclusion that something else had made the bat so sour... perhaps he was hungry because he hadn’t gotten any sweet mangos that usually served as his meal. The little hippopotome knew that no one in a grumpy mood, even a tiny fruit bat, would be in the mood to make any new friends, so he continued on his way. Despite his determination, the little hippo was beginning to doubt that he could make a friend before he got home that evening.

He continued down the path which soon turned into a large, open field where he spotted a herd of elephants. With great anticipation, the little hippo trotted along the grassy field heading towards the large herd. Once he arrived, he looked around the huge group in search of the kindest looking elephant. He finally came along a medium-sized female with gigantic ears and a long trunk.

He excitedly hopped up and down in front of the creature to get its attention and impatiently yelled, “Mbote Mingi Na Yo, Ms. Elephant. I’m Hippopotome. Will you be my friend?”

The elephant responded, “Arhrunnnh! You know, you don’t have to yell. I am obviously not deaf. Have you noticed my majestic, gorgeous ears and graceful trunk? Many think I am the most graceful creature in the entire jungle... and I agree! And no, no one of this proportion would want to be friends with such a squat, plodding creature as you! You are so clumsy! Not graceful at all, like I am! Osillisi ('Are you finished?' in Lingala)? Now shoo, I don’t want to be seen with such a hideous animal!”

The depressed little Hippopotome ran back into the vast jungle and collapsed in a tearful heap underneath a huge tree. The little hippo thought to himself, “I am never going to make any friends! Everyone hates me! I’m not graceful ... I can’t fly like a bat, or run like a cheetah or swing in the trees like a monkey! What am I going to do?!?”

As he was sobbing, he looked up to find a tiny bush baby, an animal something like a lemur, hidden in the tree up above. He looked extremely thirsty and in need of something to drink. Despite his misery, the baby hippo asked, “Mbote Mingi Na Yo, Mr. Bush Baby. I am Hippopotome. I noticed that you look extremely thirsty, would you like to know where to get something to drink?”

The bush baby replied, with an extremely raspy voice, “Yes, thank you so very much. I would have surely died of thirst if you had not shown up!” So, the little hippo eagerly showed that tiny bush baby a large pool that he noticed on his way down the dirt path. After several long slurps of water, the bush baby began to speak to the hippo. “Mr. Hippopotome, thank you so much for your compassion. While sitting up in the large tree, I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed extremely distressed. It hurt me to see such a caring animal in such a mood. Tell me, what has made you so miserable?”

The hippo replied, “I have gone through the jungle since early morning trying to find anyone who would be my friend. I have asked many animals if they would be and every single one of them replied no, and said, in one form or another, that it is because I have no grace. Now I realize that I will never have friends! I don’t know what to do!”

The bush baby hesitantly said, “Now, now, Mr. Hippopotome, it is clear that a kind creature, like you, is filled with grace, you just have to find a way to reveal it. I have never told this to anyone, and you must promise not to tell a soul, not one creature in this whole jungle, of what I am going to tell you right now. I am not a bush baby at all, but a fetisheur... a magic man - in disguise." Little Hippopotome was so astonished that his jaw fell to the ground. "I have magical powers and with them I can grant most anything that you desire. Because of your kindness, I will dispel your misery, and I will help you acquire gracefulness with my magical powers." His look of astonishment quickly gave way to a huge smile of delight. "If you would like, I can take all of the grace that all the other creatures of the jungle have and give it all to you. Would you like me to do this?”

Although the little hippo was tempted by his offer, he knew it would be wrong to deprive the rest of the jungle creatures of their grace, so he replied, “I want to be graceful so badly, but that would be unfair and very mean. I couldn’t do that.”

So the magical bush baby smiled at the little Hippopotome’s kind heart, and took a minute to ponder other ways to find a helping hippopotome his grace--and, finally, had an idea. He told the hippo that grace could be found on the other side of the river, and that in order to find it, he must swim across to the other side.

The little Hippopotome grew very worried, and confided to the creature, “I am sorry Mr. Bush Baby, but I am very scared of the water. I am too afraid to swim across that great river. No hippopotamuses have ever gotten into the river.”

The little bush baby answered by saying, “Little Hippopotome! Have faith and confidence! If you really want grace and want friends, than you must swim – you will find what it is you seek so intensely. As soon as you get in the water, you will see why.”

The two animals said their goodbyes, because it was getting dark and they both needed to get home. On his way home, after much thought and worry, the little Hippopotome decided that he would have to overcome his fear and swim across the river if he really wanted friends. So the next day, he woke up very early and made his way over to the banks of the river. He paced worriedly for hours before he built up the courage to set foot in the water, but he finally got all the way in. As he waded into the water, he felt his enormous weight lighten and his movements become almost effortless. In the meantime, all of the rest of the jungle animals noticed this odd behavior and watched - a hippo was getting into the river!

“What could h-h-he be thinking? Everyone knowz-z-z-z that hippoz-z-z can’t s-s-swim! He will s-s-s-h-h-h-urely drown!” hissed a nearby Burmese Python.

A large crowd of animals gathered around the bank to watch Hippopotome. As the little hippo began to swim across the wide river, they were amazed at how graceful he was in the water!

“Squa-a-a-k-k-k! A hippo... graceful?!? My eyes are deceiving me!” screeched a close by, colorful toucan.

Little Hippopotome soon began to feel as graceful as he was. He felt as light as a feather as he tiptoed across the floor of the river, and he began turning and dancing in the water as gracefully as a ballerina. The stout little animal, so awkward on land, was transformed into a self-confident and graceful star of the river. The animals were shocked at the little hippo’s feat. He had more grace that all of them put together!
“He is more graceful than any animal in the jungle! How is this possible?” thought a tiny, green gecko.

When he got back to the river bank, he was surprised to find all of the rest of the jungle animals congratulating him and applauding his grace. One at a time, every one of the animals that had denied their friendship to the little Hippopotome earlier, approached him, apologized for their rudeness and explained that they would never act in the same manner again. The kind hippo accepted their apologies, and, after doing so, they all became friends. The little Hippopotome was overjoyed to find how many companions he had made in such a short period of time. As the animals slowly headed home for the night, little Hippopotome pondered the events of the day, and was overcome, not only with happiness, but self-confidence as well. From high in a nearby tree, the bush baby smiled.

From this event onward, all of the hippopotamuses of the great land of the Congo realized how comfortable and graceful they could be while in the water and how easy it was to swim and dance in the river. And that is why, from that day on, the hippopotamus - and all hippopotamuses that followed - became water-dwellers.