RABBIT AND CROCODILE

Once there was a little rabbit. He was small but he was very clever. He lived on an island n the middle of a river. He was the only rabbit on the island. One day he wanted to across the river, but he could not find a bridge anywhere.

“What can I do?” he said to himself. “There isn’t any bridge. How can I across?”

Just then he saw a big crocodile by the river.

“Ah,” he thought. “Now I know what I can do, “He went up to the crocodile.

“Good morning, Mr. Crocodile, “He said.

“Good morning,” replied the crocodile,

Then the rabbit asked, “How many crocodiles are there in this river? Do you know?”

“No, I don’t know,” the crocodile answered.

“You don’t know?” the rabbit said. “I know exactly how many rabbits there are on this island. Why don’t you know how many crocodiles there are in this river?”

‘I’ve never counted them,” answered the crocodile. “My grandfather never counted them; and my father never counted them; and I have never counted them,”

“Why don’t you count them?” asked the rabbit.

The crocodile answered sadly, “Because I can’t count,”

Then the rabbit asked, “Do you want to know how many there are?”

“Yes, I do,” answered the crocodile, “Can you help me?”

“Yes, I can,” the rabbit replied,” but call all the crocodiles together first,”

So big crocodile called the crocodiles, and they all came to him. There were big ones and little ones, large ones and small ones, old ones and young ones, long ones and short ones. They all came together.

Then the big crocodile said to the rabbit.

“Now, Mr. Rabbit, here we are. Please cont us,”

“All right,” said the rabbit, “but first make a line. Then I can count you,”

When they were ready, the rabbit cried, “Here I go!” and he jumped from one crocodile to another. He counted while he went across.

“One-two-three-four-five…..twenty five-twenty-six-twenty-seven-twenty-eight and ……”He jumped into the last crocodile and called out,” twenty-nine!”

Then the little rabbit jumped into the other side of the river, turned around and sad, “There are exactly twenty-nine crocodiles in this river. Now you know how many there are.”

The big crocodile was very pleased. He said, “Thank you, Mr. Rabbit, for counting us. Know we know exactly how many crocodiles there are in this river.”

The other crocodiles were pleased, too. “Now we know,” they all said happily.

Then the big crocodile said to the little rabbit, “And mow, Mr. Rabbit, please tell us how many rabbits there are on the island,”

The rabbit said, “There aren’t any rabbits on the island. When I was on the island, there was one. I was the only on the island, so there was exactly one-Me.”

When the crocodiles heard this they all laughed, and the big crocodile said, “You’re very small, Mr. Rabbit, and you’re very clever. But thank you for counting us.”

The little rabbit laughed, too. He said, “And you are very kind. Thank you for making a bridge for me. You made a beautiful bridge. Thank you very much, now, doesn’t forget. There are exactly twenty-nine crocodiles in this river,” and little rabbit run away.

Taken from: SIMPATI SMA