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Once
upon a time a caterpillar crawled inside a hare's house when the hare
was away, and set about making himself comfortable. When the hare returned
home, he noticed new marks on the ground going into the cave. He called,
"Who's in my house?"
The
caterpillar boomed out in a loud voice, "It is I! Yes, I who crushes
rhinos to the earth and tramples elephants into dust!"
The
hare hopped about, crying, "What can a small animal like me do with
a creature who crushes rhinos and tramples elephants?"
He soon met a jackal, and asked the jackal to talk to the terrible creature
who had taken possession of his home and to convince him to leave. The
jackal agreed, and when they reached the place, he barked loudly and
said, "Who is in the house of my friend the hare?"
[Child's name] watches as Hare tries to get help.
The
caterpillar replied in a voice that rocked the earth, "It is I! Yes,
I who crushes rhinos to the earth, and tramples elephants into dust!"
On hearing this the jackal thought, "Certainly I can do nothing against
such a creature," and he quickly left.
The
hare then fetched a leopard, and he begged the leopard to help him.
The leopard assured the hare it would be no trouble at all. On reaching
the spot, the leopard bared his claws and growled, "Who is in the
house of my friend the hare?" The caterpillar replied in the same
manner as he had done before. The leopard was alarmed and thought,
"If he crushes rhinos and elephants, I don't even want to think about
what he could do to me!"

[Child's name]
the Frog sees the Rhino thunder away in fright.
Next
the hare sought out the rhinoceros. "No doubt, I am the most fearsome
of beasts," grunted the rhino. The rhino marched to the hare's cave,
where he snorted and pawed the ground with his massive feet. But when
the rhino asked who was inside and heard the caterpillar's booming
reply, he thought, "What, he says he can crush me to the earth?" And
the rhino thundered away, crashing through the forest.
Growing
frantic, the hare tried the elephant, and asked him to come to his
assistance. But like the others, on hearing what the caterpillar had
to say, the elephant knew that he had no wish to be trampled underfoot
like dust, and stomped off.
In
despair by this point, the hare asked [Child's name]
the Frog to please make the creature who had frightened
all the other animals leave his house. [Child's name]
the Frog went to the cave door and asked who was inside,
and received the same reply as had been given to the others. Then
[Child's name] the Frog went nearer and
shouted, "I, who am the strongest of all, have come at last. I am
the one who crushes those who crush the rhinos! I am the one who tramples
underfoot those who trample the elephants!"
When
the caterpillar inside the hare's cave heard this, he trembled. He
sensed the shadow of [Child's name] the
Frog coming nearer and thought, "After all, I am only a caterpillar!"
And the caterpillar inched out of the hare's den along its edge, trying
not to be noticed.
The
animals who had collected around the hare's house seized the caterpillar
and dragged him out. "What, you?" they all cried in disbelief.
"I
would never dream of staying in that cave!" said the caterpillar with
his nose in the air. "An echo like that is far too crude for a refined
creature like myself!" As he sniffed away, all the other animals laughed
at the trouble he had given them.
All
of the animals laugh at Caterpillar's trick, including [Child's name]
the Frog.
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