Produced by John Horner
THE STORY OF LITTLE BLACK SAMBO
and
THE STORY OF LITTLE BLACK MINGO
By Helen Bannerman
PREFACE.
There is very little to say about the story of LITTLE BLACK SAMBO. Onceupon a time there was an English lady in India, where black childrenabound and tigers are everyday affairs, who had two little girls. Toamuse these little girls she used now and then to invent stories,for which, being extremely talented, she also drew and coloured thepictures. Among these stories LITTLE BLACK SAMBO, which was made up ona long railway journey, was the favourite; and it has been put into aDUMPY BOOK, and the pictures copies as exactly as possible, in the hopethat you will like it as much as the two little girls did.
THE STORY OF LITTLE BLACK SAMBO.
Once upon a time there was a little black boy, and his name was LittleBlack Sambo.
And his mother was called Black Mumbo.
And his father was called Black Jumbo.
And Black Mumbo made him a beautiful little Red Coat, and a pair ofbeautiful little blue trousers.
And Black Jumbo went to the Bazaar, and bought him a beautiful GreenUmbrella, and a lovely little Pair of Purple Shoes with Crimson Solesand Crimson Linings.
And then wasn't Little Black Sambo grand?
So he put on all his Fine Clothes, and went out for a walk in theJungle. And by and by he met a Tiger. And the Tiger said to him, "LittleBlack Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh!Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful littleRed Coat." So the Tiger said, "Very well, I won't eat you this time, butyou must give me your beautiful little Red Coat." So the Tiger got poorLittle Black Sambo's beautiful little Red Coat, and went away saying,"Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."
And Little Black Sambo went on, and by and by he met another Tiger,and it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" AndLittle Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, andI'll give you my beautiful little Blue Trousers." So the Tiger said,"Very well, I won't eat you this time, but you must give me yourbeautiful little Blue Trousers." So the Tiger got poor Little BlackSambo's beautiful little Blue Trousers, and went away saying, "Now I'mthe grandest Tiger in the Jungle."
And Little Black Sambo went on, and by and by he met another Tiger,and it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" AndLittle Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, andI'll give you my beautiful little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles andCrimson Linings."
But the Tiger said, "What use would your shoes be to me? I've got fourfeet, and you've got only two; you haven't got enough shoes for me."
But Little Black Sambo said, "You could wear them on your ears."
"So I could," said the Tiger: "that's a very good idea. Give them to me,and I won't eat you this time."
So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little Purple Shoeswith Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings, and went away saying, "Now I'mthe grandest Tiger in the Jungle."
And by and by Little Black Sambo met another Tiger, and it said to him,"Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Black Sambosaid, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you mybeautiful Green Umbrella." But the Tiger said, "How can I carry anumbrella, when I need all my paws for walking with?"
"You could tie a knot on your tail and carry it that way," said LittleBlack Sambo. "So I could," said the Tiger. "Give it to me, and I won'teat you this time." So he got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful GreenUmbrella, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in theJungle."
And poor Little Black Sambo went away crying, because the cruel Tigershad taken all his fine clothes.
Presently he heard a horrible noise that sounded like "Gr-r-r-r-rrrrrr,"and it got louder and louder. "Oh! dear!" said Little Black Sambo,"there are all the Tigers coming back to eat me up! What shall I do?"So he ran quickly to a palm-tree, and peeped round it to see what thematter was.
And there he saw all the Tigers fighting, and disputing which of themwas the grandest. And at last they all got so angry that they jumpedup and took off all the fine clothes, and began to tear each other withtheir claws, and bite each other with their great big white teeth.
And they came, rolling and tumbling right to the foot of the very treewhere Little Black Sambo was hiding, but he jumped quickly in behind theumbrella. And the Tigers all caught hold of each other's tails, as theywrangled and scrambled, and so they found themselves in a ring round thetree.
Then, when the Tigers were very wee and very far away, Little BlackSambo jumped up, and called out, "Oh! Tigers! why have you taken off allyour nice clothes? Don't you want them any more?" But the Tigers onlyanswered, "Gr-r-rrrr!"
Then Little Black Sambo said, "If you want them, say so, or I'll takethem away." But the Tigers would not let go of each other's tails, andso they could only say "Gr-r-r-rrrrrr!"
So Little Black Sambo put on all his fine clothes again and walked off.
And the Tigers were very, very angry, but still they would not let goof each other's tails. And they were so angry, that they ran round thetree, trying to eat each other up, and they ran faster and faster, tillthey were whirling round so fast that you couldn't see their legs atall.
And they still ran faster and faster and faster, till they all justmelted away, and there was nothing left but a great big pool of meltedbutter (or "ghi," as it is called in India) round the foot of the tree.
Now Black Jumbo was just coming home from his work, with a great bigbrass pot in his arms, and when he saw what was left of all the Tigershe said, "Oh! what lovely melted butter! I'll take that home to BlackMumbo for her to cook with."
So he put it all into the great big brass pot, and took it home to BlackMumbo to cook with.
When Black Mumbo saw the melted butter, wasn't she pleased! "Now," saidshe, "we'll all have pancakes for supper!"
So she got flour and eggs and milk and sugar and butter, and she made ahuge big plate of most lovely pancakes. And she fried them in the meltedbutter which the Tigers had made, and they were just as yellow and brownas little Tigers.
And then they all sat down to supper. And Black Mumbo ate Twenty-sevenpancakes, and Black Jumbo ate Fifty-five but Little Black Sambo ate aHundred and Sixty-nine, because he was so hungry.
THE STORY OF LITTLE BLACK MINGO
By Helen Bannerman