THE OGRE IN HOP-O’-MY-THUMB
“MMMMMM
. . . I SMELL CHILDREN’S FLESH!”
Do you recognize this scary voice? It belongs to the ogre from the fairy tale Hop-o’-My-Thumb! Huge, mean, and greedy, HE’S CONSTANTLY HUNGRY FOR FRIGHTENED, HELPLESS CHILDREN ! He can smell them from a mile away, just like a wolf in the forest sniffing out its prey. One day, after returning home very hungry, he caught a whiff of some children hiding nearby.
Indeed, the ogre’s wife was providing shelter to a boy named Poucet, who was as small as a thumb, and his six brothers. The boys had gotten lost in the woods and had come to the ogre’s house seeking help. The ogre was pleased to find that children were hiding out in his house, as they were his favorite meal.
BUT POUCET KNEW HOW TO STICK UP FOR HIMSELF !
Even though the ogre was big and Poucet was very small, Poucet didn’t panic. He realized that all the ogre’s power came from his magic boots. If he could separate the ogre from his boots, he could save his brothers (and himself!) from being eaten.
In short, THE OGRE WAS BIG AND MEAN, BUT POUCET WAS CALM AND CLEVER!
SHERE KHAN
RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU’RE AFRAID OF TIGERS!
That should be everyone, of course! Especially if that tiger is called Shere Khan. In the story the Jungle Book, Shere Khan is the archnemesis of Mowgli, the little boy who grows up in the jungle.
Shere Khan is strong, ferocious, and smart, but, like everyone, he has his weaknesses. He is scared of human beings and fire, and he believes that all humans are his enemies. Once, when little Mowgli was all alone in the jungle, Shere Khan tried to catch him.
Luckily, a pack of wolves came to Mowgli’s rescue. They decided to take him in and raise him as one of their own. Enraged, Shere Khan tried many more times to kidnap the boy, but he didn’t succeeded. That is, until one day when Mowgli happened to be away from his animal friends. How could he face down such a ferocious beast alone? He remembered he was a human and that he could use his wits to outsmart his enemy. Quickly he lit a fire, which scared away Shere Khan.
BECAUSE HE WAS DIFFERENT, MOWGLI DEFEATED HIS ENEMY AND HELPED BRING PEACE TO THE JUNGLE.
THE FOX AND THE CAT FROM PINOCCHIO
THE FOX AND THE CAT ARE A PAIR OF INCORRIGIBLE SWINDLERS
FROM THE BOOK THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO
The cat pretends to be blind. The fox fakes having a limp. But really the two are in perfect health. They sit around all day looking for people to trick into giving them money.
When they saw Pinocchio walking by with a few shiny coins in his hand, (money that his father, Geppetto, had given him to buy schoolbooks), the pair pretended to be friendly and convinced Pinocchio to come with them to the town of Catchfools. There, they tricked Pinocchio into burying his coins in the ground. “Plant your coins here, and tomorrow you’ll have a tree full of money!” they told him.
Pinocchio couldn’t believe his wooden ears: the tree would make him rich! He decided to trust his new friends, burying his coins in a field they told him was called the “Field of Miracles.” When he came back the next day, he discovered that his coins were missing! By then his money was far away, in the greedy paws of the fox and the cat, who had really taken advantage of him!
