THE STORY OF LITTLE BLACK SAMBO

: The Story Of Little Black Sambo

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There is very little to say about the story of LITTLE BLACK

SAMBO. Once upon a time there was an English lady in India,

where black children abound and tigers are everyday affairs,

who had two little girls. To amuse these little girls she

used now and then to invent stories, for which, being

extremely talented, she also drew and coloured the pictures.

Among these stories LITTLE BLACK SAMBO, which was made up on a

long railway journey, was the favourite; and it has been put

into a DUMPY BOOK, and the pictures copies as exactly as

possible, in the hope that you will like it as much as the two

little girls did.









Once upon a time there was a little black boy, and his name

was Little Black 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 of beautiful little blue trousers.



And Black Jumbo 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 Black Sambo 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 Black 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 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 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!" And Little Black Sambo 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 Black Sambo's

beautiful little Blue Trousers, 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!" And Little Black Sambo 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 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 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 Black Sambo met another Tiger, and it

said to him, "Little Black 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 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 Black Sambo. "So I could," said the Tiger."

Give it to me, and I won't eat you this time." So he got poor

Little Black Sambo's beautiful Green Umbrella, and went away

saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."



And poor Little Black Sambo 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 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 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 Black Sambo 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

Black Sambo 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 Black Sambo 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 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 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 Black Jumbo 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 Black Mumbo for her to cook with."



So he put it all into the great big brass pot, and took it

home to Black Mumbo to cook with.



When Black Mumbo 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 Black Mumbo ate

Twenty-seven pancakes, and Black Jumbo ate Fifty-five but

Little Black Sambo ate a Hundred and Sixty-nine, because he

was so hungry.