Читать книгу Chunky, the Happy Hippo: His Many Adventures онлайн

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Chunky lived with Mr. and Mrs. Hippo, who were his father and mother, in a sort of big nest among the reeds and bushes on the bank of the river. Near them were other hippos, some large and some small, but Chunky liked best to be with his own folks.

Besides his father and mother, there was Mumpy, his sister, and Bumpy, his brother. Funny names, aren’t they? And I’ll tell you how the little hippos happened to get them.

One day, when Chunky didn’t have any name, nor his brother or sister either, a great, big, fat hippo mother came over to see Mrs. Hippo. The visitor, whose name was Mrs. Dippo, as we might say, because she liked to dip herself under the water so much—this Mrs. Dippo said, talking hippopotamus talk of course:

“My, what nice children you have, Mrs. Hippo.”

“Yes, they are rather nice,” said Mrs. Hippo, as she looked at the three of them asleep in the soft, warm mud near the edge of the river. You may think it queer for the little hippo babies to sleep in the mud. But they liked it. The more mud they had on them the better it kept off the mosquitoes and other biting bugs.