"That violin belongs to
the buzzard. He must have forgotten to take it home. I'll carry it
back for him," he said.

The falcon flew towards earth with the violin. The toad shook about
terribly inside of the violin. He got very tired. The falcon got
tired, too.

"I'm not going to carry this heavy old violin of the buzzard's another
minute," said the falcon. "I was foolish to offer to carry it in the
first place. The buzzard is no friend of mine."

He let the violin fall. Down, down toward earth it fell.

"O, little stones, O, little stones, get out of my way," called the
toad as he fell. The little stones had deaf ears. They did not get
out of the way.

When the toad crawled out of the wrecked violin he was so covered with
bruises that he could hardly hop home.

The buzzard never knew what became of his violin or why the toad had
lost his good looks. To this very day the toad shows his bruises. And
he is entirely cured of being a gad about.

IV

How the Tiger Got His Stripes

Once upon a time, ages and ages ago, so long ago that the tiger had no
stripes upon his back and the rabbit still had his tail, there was a
tiger who had a farm. The farm was very much overgrown with underbrush
and the owner sought a workman to clear the ground for him to plant.

The tiger called all the beasts together and said to them when they
had assembled, "I need a good workman at once to clear my farm of the
underbrush. To the one of you who will do this work I offer an ox in
payment."

The monkey was the first one to step forward and apply for the
position. The tiger tried him for a little while but he was not a good
workman at all. He did not work steadily enough to accomplish
anything. The tiger discharged him very soon and he did not pay him.

Then the tiger hired the goat to do the work. The goat worked
faithfully enough but he did not have the brains to do the work well.
He would clear a little of the farm in one place and then he would go
away and work on another part of it. He never finished anything
neatly. The tiger discharged him very soon without paying him.

Next the tiger tried the armadillo. The armadillo was very strong and
he did the work well. The trouble with him was that he had such an
appetite. There were a great many ants about the place and the
armadillo could never pass by a sweet tender juicy ant without
stopping to eat it. It was lunch time all day long with him. The tiger
discharged him an