3 How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin

CHAPTER 3 How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin Once upon a time there lived a magician called the Parsee. He lived on an island all by himself on the shores of the Red Sea. He had nothing but his sun hat, his knife, and a cooking stove. One day he took flour, water, currants, plums, and sugar. He mixed them all together and baked them on his stove. He made a splendid cake that was two feet across and three feet thick. "What is that delicious smell?" wondered

the Rhinoceros, who followed his nose all the way down to the beach. In those days the Rhinoceros had a horn on his nose, two piggy eyes, and a skin-coat of which he was most proud. His skin-coat fit tight on his body. There was not a wrinkle to be found on the Rhinoceros's skin. Not only was the Rhinoceros a very proud beast, but he was also very rude. When he followed his nose to the Parsee's camp, he saw the splendid cake. "I must have that cake!" the Rhinoceros decided. Just as the Parsee was about to take a bite of his splendid cake, the Rhinoceros made a run to grab it. The Parsee scrambled up a palm tree, quick as a wink, to avoid being trampled. The Rhinoceros knocked over the Parsee's precious stove. The splendid cake rolled into the sand. At once, the Rhinoceros

speared it with his horn. Then he ran off, gobbling the cake as he ran, waving his tail at the poor, hungry Parsee. When the Parsee climbed down from the palm tree, he was very angry with the Rhinoceros. He chanted to himself, Them that takes the cakes Which the Parsee man bakes Makes dreadful mistakes. Several weeks later, there was a terrible heat wave on the island. The Parsee and all the animals took off all their clothes to stay cool. The Parsee took off his magnificent hat. And the Rhinoceros took off his very tight skin. Very carefully, so he would not wrinkle it a bit, the Rhinoceros unbuttoned the three buttons that held his skin together. Very, very carefully, he neatly folded his skin and laid it down beside the water. Then the Rhinoceros waddled into the water and blew

bubbles through his nose. He paid no attention to the Parsee. Not even to apologize for ruining his stove. Not even to thank him for the splendid cake he had taken from him. While the Rhinoceros cooled himself in the water, the Parsee went to work. He went back to his camp and filled his splendid hat with crumbs and currants. He crept over to the Rhinoceros's neatly folded skin. Next he scrubbed and rubbed that skin with old, dry, stale, tickly cakecrumbs and lots of burnt currants (the Parsee always ate cake and had lots of leftover crumbs). Then the Parsee scampered up the palm tree to wait for the Rhinoceros to put on his skin. As soon as the Rhinoceros buttoned up his skin, he began to itch. His skin tickled and bothered and crawled. First he tried to

scratch, but that just made it worse. Then he lay down on the sand and rolled and rolled, but that made it even worse than before. Next, he ran to the palm tree and rubbed and rubbed and rubbed his skin against it as hard as he could. He rubbed his three buttons right off! He rubbed so hard that his skin stretched into great big folds on his shoulders, stomach, and legs. But this did him no good. No matter how much he scratched, rolled, and rubbed, the cakecrumbs made him itchier than before. He went home angry, itchy, and very, very wrinkled. That is why the Rhinoceros has a very bad temper, and why he has such great wrinkles and folds in his skin!