








                                LITTLE
                                BLACK
                                SAMBO


                                 BY
                           HELEN BANNERMAN


                             ILLUSTRATED
                                 BY
                       FLORENCE WHITE WILLIAMS



                                 THE
                     SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
                   CHICAGO . AKRON, OHIO . NEW YORK
                          PRINTED IN U.S.A.




[Illustration:]

LITTLE BLACK
SAMBO

[Illustration:]


Once upon a time there was a little black boy, and his name was Little
Black Sambo.

[Illustration:]

And his mother was called Black Mumbo.

[Illustration:]

And his father was called Black Jumbo.

[Illustration:]

And Black Mumbo made him a beautiful little Red Coat, and a pair of
beautiful little Blue Trousers.

[Illustration:]

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?

[Illustration:]

So he put on all his Fine Clothes and went out for a walk in the
Jungle.

[Illustration:]

And by and by he met a Tiger. And the Tiger said to him, "Little
Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"

[Illustration:]

And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please, Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up,
and I'll give you my beautiful little Red Coat."

[Illustration:]

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."

[Illustration:]

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!"

[Illustration:]

And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please, Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up,
and I'll give you my beautiful little Blue Trousers."

[Illustration:]

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."

[Illustration:]

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."

[Illustration:]

[Illustration:]

But the Tiger said, "What use would your shoes be to me? I've got four
feet and you've got only two."

[Illustration:]

"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."

[Illustration:]

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!"

[Illustration:]

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?"

[Illustration:]

"You could tie a knot on your tail, and carry it that way," said
Little Black Sambo.

[Illustration:]

"So I could," said the Tiger. "Give it to me and I won't eat you this
time."

[Illustration:]

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.

[Illustration:]

Presently he heard a horrible noise that sounded like
"Gr-r-r-r-rrrrrrr," 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,

[Illustration:]

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.

[Illustration:]

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 others'
tails.

[Illustration:]

As they wrangled and scrambled, and so they found themselves in a ring
around 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?"

[Illustration:]

But the Tigers only answered "Gr-r-r-rrrrr!"

[Illustration:]

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 others' tails, and
so they could only say "Gr-r-r-rrrrrr!"

[Illustration:]

And the Tigers were very, very angry, but still they would not let go
of each others' 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.

[Illustration:]

And they still ran faster and faster and faster, till they all just
melted away, and then 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!"

[Illustration:]

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.

[Illustration:]




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