How the Whale Became by Ted Hughes

amazed.
    ‘Now,’ thought Donkey, ‘now to reveal my true self. Now to reveal what I have made myself after all these years of hard practice.’
    And he gave a great leap and roared.
    ‘See!’ he cried. ‘This is the way!’
    And again he leapt and roared, leapt and roared. He became so taken up with his lioning that he completely forgot about Lion.
    Now it was years since Donkey had actually tried to leap or roar. He was far too stiff with his years of hard work to leap, and his voice had become stiff as his muscles.
    So, though it seemed to him he was doing a wonderful lion, he was really only kicking out his heels stiffly, and sending up a harsh bray.
    But he was delighted with himself. He went on, leaping and roaring, as he thought, leaping and roaring , so that his harness clattered, the long pole bounced and banged, and Lion screwed up his eyes in the dust from the kicking-out feet.
    At last Lion could stand it no longer. He raised his paw, and with one blow knocked donkey clean into the well. He then jumped back over the fence and returned to his wife, who was waiting on the skyline.
    Poor Donkey! When Man hauled him out of the well he was in a sorry state. But he was a wiser Donkey. That night he ate his oats and lay down with a new feeling. No more Lionocerangoutangadinf for him. no more pretending to be every creature.
    ‘It’s best to face the truth,’ he said to himself, ‘and the truth is I’m neither a lion nor an eagle. I am a well-fed, comfortable, hard-working Donkey.’
    He could hear the lions roaring hungrily out on the plains, and he thought of the antelopes running hither and thither looking for a safe corner and a place out of the wind. He pushed his head under the warm straw, and smiled into the darkness, and fell into a deep sleep.

How the Hare Became
    Now Hare was a real dandy. He was about the vainest creature on the whole earth.
    Every morning he spent one hour smartening his fur, another hour smoothing his whiskers, and another cleaning his paws. Then the rest of the day he strutted up and down, admiring his shadow, and saying:
    ‘How handsome I am! How amazingly handsome! Surely some great princess will want to marry me soon.’
    The other creatures grew so tired of his vain ways that they decided to teach him a lesson. Now they knew that he would believe any story so long as it made him think he was handsome. So this is what they did:
    *
    One morning Gazelle went up to Hare and said:
    ‘Good morning, Hare. How handsome you look. No wonder we’ve been hearing such stories about you.’
    ‘Stories?’ asked Hare. ‘What stories?’

    ‘Haven’t you heard the news?’ cried Gazelle. ‘It’s about you.’
    ‘News? News? What news?’ cried Hare, jumping up and down in excitement.
    ‘Why, the moon wants to marry you,’ said Gazelle. ‘The beautiful moon, the queen of the night sky. She wants to marry you because she says you’re the handsomest creature in the whole world. Oh yes. You should just have heard a few of the things she was saying about you last night.’
    ‘Such as?’ cried Hare. ‘Such as?’ He could hardly’ wait to hear what fine things moon had said about him.
    ‘Never mind now,’ said Gazelle. ‘But she’ll be walking up that hill tonight, and if you want to marry her you’re to be there to meet her. Lucky man!’
    Gazelle pointed to a hill on the Eastern skyline. It was not yet midday, but Hare was up on top of that hill in one flash, looking down eagerly on the other side. There was no sign of a palace anywhere where the moon might live. He could see nothing but plains rolling up to the farther skyline. He sat down to wait, getting up every few minutes to take another look round. He certainly was excited.
    At last the sky grew dark and a few stars lit up. Hare began to strut about so that the moon should see what a fine figure of a creature was waiting for her. He looked first down one side of the hill, then down the other. But she was still