Page 14 - Fables volume 1

How the Hippopotamus Caught a God in Gridlock

sharp series of taps on his back. Corkscrewing his neck he glimpsed a
scrawny white bird perched on his spine.
“Who are you, egret? You’re not my regular bird: your beak feels a
lot sharper. Why are you pecking at me?”
“Cool down, hippo-pippo, my friend. I am old Hakili-kono. Just
passing through these parts,” whistled the bird, hopping about to get a
clawhold on Lumu’s leathery skin. “I was in that tree on the bank over
there and I couldn’t help overhearing part of your conversation just
now with that other hippo.”
“Oh, you mean Borgo, my big brother. He knows everything, but
I’d never let him think that I thought so.”
The scraggly egret cackled. “Well, I certainly don’t think he’s all that
smart. You earthbound creatures have a very distorted and limited
view of what’s possible. We sky-dwellers know much better what can
or cannot be.”
Lumu huffed. “But you can’t argue with logic. My brother said that
the clump of grass on the other side of the river can’t be there and
here at the same time, and I’m sure he’s right. Otherwise—”
“Otherwise, fiddlesticks!” chirped Hakili-kono. “Keep your eyes on
that tall green plant on the far bank you desire: the one with the single
bright purple and orange flower.”
The bird was airborne before Lumu had fully digested the sense of
his words, but curiosity impelled him to follow the egret visually.
Hippo eyesight is not the best, so he squinted and strained to keep
that distant target in focus. In a few moments Hakili-kono had flapped
his way over to the foliage Lumu had been coveting. No sooner had
he alighted on the plants than he was on the wing again, flying back
across the water. But now he gripped something in his beak: a long
green stem with a glowing patch of color on one end.
No! thought Lumu, it can’t be! He looked intently at the other bank,
and what looked like the original flower was still there, waving slowly
on its long green stalk. Lumu’s massive jaw dropped with a splash, and
his small bloodshot eyes bulged with disbelief.
The bird landed on his shoulder, and let the plant fall in front of
Lumu’s face. “There. Remember, you saw only one of these over

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