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The Strange Animal Ranganayaki Srinivas Strange
Animal: Oh, who am I?
I can’t remember my name.
Oh, Can’t somebody tell me who I am?
ANYBODY THERE? Lion:
(roars) Who are you/ SA:
I don’t know. Lion:
Nonsense. What is your name? SA:
I don’t remember. Lion:
Who’s there? Call my ministers. Tiger:
Maharaj, here are your ministers. Lion:
This is an emergency meeting. We
have here a strange animal. H e does not know his name.
He doesn’t know who he is. SA:
Please, please, Maharaj. Find out who I am.
I am confused. I am scared.
I don’t remember anything. Lion:
Be quiet, strange animal. Let’s
discuss this matter. Gajaraj, you are the head of our elephant army.
What is your opinion? Who is he? Gajaraj:
Maharaj, I think he is an elephant.
Look at his legs there are surely elephant legs. We can include him in
our army. Lion:
Ashwapala, you control our horses. What do you think about him? Is he an
elephant? Ashwapala:
No, Maharaj. Look at his body. He looks very much like a horse.
And he has some stripes too. He
looks like a zebra to me. Tiger:
No, the stripes are that of a tiger.
I think he is a tiger. Lion:
Is there anybody else who wants to say something/ Any other ideas? Monkey:
Maharaj, I am the chief of monkeys. I have thousands of monkeys working
under me. I know a monkey’s tail
when I see one. His tail….Maharaj…look
at his tail. He is a monkey.
He just cannot be anything else. I’m sure he is a monkey. Lioness:
As the Maharani of all the animals of the forest, I the lioness, want to
say something. Lion:
Go ahead Rani, what is your opinion? Lioness:
Maharaj, I think he is a lion. Look
at his face. It is just like yours. The
beard on his face, his mane is very beautiful.
He is a very handsome lion. Lion:
What? There can’t be another one like me.
I can’t call him a lion. Gajaraj, you include him in your elephant
force. Gajaraj:
But Maharaj, I don’t want him. He is a lion from the front and a monkey
from the back. Send him to Ashwapala. Ashwapala:
But Maharaj, only his body looks like a horse.
His stripes are also not like a zebra.
The tiger may like to have him. Tiger:
No, Maharaj, now I don’t think the stripes are like mine.
I just can’t have him in my section. SA:
Oh, who am I? Who am I? I am not a lion. I am not an elephant.
I am not a tiger and I am not a monkey.
Who can tell me who I am? Lion:
Run away stranger or I’ll kill you. SA:
But…but…Maharaj… Lion:
Get lost, strange animal. Nobody knows you and you don’t know yourself.
Get lost or I’ll kill you. ALL:
Long live the King !
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H M Patel Institute of English Training & Research, Vallabh Vidyanagar - 388120, Gujarat, India Phone : 091-2692-230193, 091-2692-230079 |
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