It's a fine story. Here it is, with the names changed to protect tender sensibilities. Is it racist?
The Story of Little Harold
Once upon a time there was a little boy, and his name was Little Harold.
And his mother was called Susan.
And his father was called Rob.
And Susan made him a beautiful little Red Coat, and a pair of beautiful little Blue Trousers.
And Rob went to the bazaar, and bought him a beautiful Green Umbrella, and a lovely little Pair of Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings.
And then wasn't Little Harold grand?
So he put on all his Fine Clothes, and went out for a walk in the Jungle. And by and by he met a Tiger. And the Tiger said to him, "Little Harold, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Harold said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me
up, and I'll give you my beautiful little Red Coat." So the Tiger said, "Very well, I won't eat you this time, but you must give me your beautiful little Red Coat." So the Tiger got poor Little Harold's beautiful little Red Coat, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."
And Little Harold went on, and by and by he met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Harold, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Harold said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'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 your beautiful little Blue Trousers." So the Tiger got poor Little Harold's beautiful little Blue Trousers, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."
And Little Harold went on, and by and by he met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Harold, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Harold said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings."
But the Tiger said, "What use would your shoes be to me? I've got four feet, and you've got only two; you haven't got enough shoes for me."
But Little Harold 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 Harold's beautiful little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."
And by and by Little Harold met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Harold, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Harold said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat
me up, and I'll give you my beautiful Green Umbrella." But the Tiger said, "How can I carry an umbrella, when I need all my paws for walking with?"
"You could tie a knot on your tail and carry it that way," said Little Harold. "So I could," said the Tiger." Give it to me, and I won't eat you this time." So he got poor Little Harold's beautiful Green Umbrella, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."
And poor Little Harold went away crying, because the cruel Tigers had 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 Harold, "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 the matter was.
And there he saw all the Tigers fighting, and disputing which of them was the grandest. And at last they all got so angry that they jumped up and took off all the fine clothes, and began to tear each other with their claws, and bite each other with their great big white teeth.
And they came, rolling and tumbling right to the foot of the very tree where Little Harold was hiding, but he jumped quickly in behind the umbrella. And the Tigers all caught hold of each other's tails, as they wrangled and scrambled,
and so they found themselves in a ring round the tree.
Then, when the Tigers were very wee and very far away, Little Harold jumped up, and called out, "Oh! Tigers! why have you taken off all your nice clothes? Don't you want them any more?" But the Tigers only answered, "Gr-r-rrrr!"
Then Little Harold said, "If you want them, say so, or I'll take them away." But the Tigers would not let go of each other's tails, and so they could only say "Gr-r-r-rrrrrr!"
So Little Harold put on all his fine clothes again and walked off.
And the Tigers were very, very angry, but still they would not let go of each other's tails. And they were so angry, that they ran round the tree, trying to eat each other up, and they ran faster and faster, till they were whirling round so fast that you couldn't see their legs at all.
And they still ran faster and faster and faster, till they all just melted away, and there was nothing left but a great big pool of melted butter (or "ghi," as it is called in India) round the foot of the tree.
Now Rob was just coming home from his work, with a great big brass pot in his arms, and when he saw what was left of all the Tigers he said, "Oh! what lovely melted butter! I'll take that home to Susan for her to cook with."
So he put it all into the great big brass pot, and took it home to Susan to cook with.
When Susan saw the melted butter, wasn't she pleased! "Now," said she, "we'll all have pancakes for supper!"
So she got flour and eggs and milk and sugar and butter, and she made a huge big plate of most lovely pancakes. And she fried them in the melted butter which the Tigers had made, and they were just as yellow and brown as little Tigers.
And then they all sat down to supper. And Susan ate Twenty-seven pancakes, and Rob ate Fifty-five but Little Harold ate a Hundred and Sixty-nine, because he was so hungry.
***
When I was little, I always wondered how Rob was able to collect the melted butter without getting a lot of dirt into it.
