English Original
"My second decree is that every day you must bring me an animal for my supper. A king can't do his own hunting."
The animals nodded gloomily.
"And my third decree is, if you don't do as I say, I'll eat the lot of you!"
The animals now turned to one another in horror. They had thought a king would be wise and protect them. But Kali only wanted to bully and eat them. As darkness fell, the unhappy animals slunk away into the bush.
But at dawn they were back at the waterhole, hurrying to build Kali's palace. There was much to do and little time.
All through the heat of the day the animals lugged and labored. Elephants lifted tree trunks for the pillars, crocodiles brought mud for the walls, giraffes collected grasses that weaver birds wove for the roof. None dared stop for a moment. Only Hare did nothing. He hid inside a tussock of oat grass and watched as the fine thatched house rose up beside the water-hole.
The sun was just beginning to set as the weaver birds tied off the last knots in the soaring thatched roof. No sooner had they finished than Kali appeared. He prowled up and down his new kingdom swishing his tail while his subjects watched uneasily.
"This is what I call a palace," he roared at last.
The animals gave a sigh of relief. But all too soon, for in the next breath the lion snarled, "But where's my supper? My belly's rumbling. Bring me a juicy warthog."
As soon as he heard this, Hare sneaked off home to his hollow in the baobab tree. "Didn't I tell them?" he said to himself. "Didn't I say that making Kali king would mean big trouble? And would anyone listen?"
And so it was that every day afterwards one of the animals was chosen to be Kali's supper. One day it was an impala. Another it was a zebra. Next it was a gazelle.
One day though it was Hare's turn. Tembo caught him unawares as he was grazing on the plains. The great elephant seized him in his trunk and carried him kicking and screaming to Kali's palace.
"It's not fair!" shrieked Hare. "I didn't even vote for Kali. I told you it was a bad idea to have a king."
中文翻译
“我的第二道法令是，你们每天必须给我带来一只动物当晚餐。国王可不能自己打猎。”
动物们沮丧地点了点头。
“我的第三道法令是，如果你们不照我说的做，我就把你们全吃掉！”
动物们此刻惊恐地互相看着。他们本以为国王会是英明且保护他们的。但卡利只想欺压并吃掉他们。夜幕降临，这些不快乐的动物们悄悄溜进了灌木丛。
但黎明时分，他们又回到了水坑边，匆忙地为卡利建造宫殿。要做的事情很多，时间却很少。
整整一天，动物们在酷热中费力搬运和辛苦劳作。大象抬起树干做柱子，鳄鱼运来泥巴筑墙，长颈鹿收集草料，由织巢鸟编织成屋顶。没有谁敢停下来片刻。只有野兔什么都没做。他躲在一丛燕麦草里，看着那栋精美的茅草屋在水坑边拔地而起。
当织巢鸟在耸立的茅草屋顶上系好最后一个结时，太阳刚刚开始西沉。他们刚完工，卡利就出现了。他在自己的新王国里来回踱步，甩着尾巴，臣民们不安地看着他。
“这才是我说的宫殿，”他终于吼道。
动物们松了一口气。但这口气松得太早了，因为狮子紧接着就咆哮道：“但我的晚餐呢？我的肚子在咕咕叫了。给我带一只肥美的疣猪来。”
野兔一听到这话，就偷偷溜回他在猴面包树里的家了。“我不是告诉过他们吗？”他自言自语道。“我不是说过让卡利当国王会带来大麻烦吗？可有人听吗？”
于是，从那以后，每天都会有一只动物被选为卡利的晚餐。一天是黑斑羚，另一天是斑马，接下来是瞪羚。
然而有一天，轮到野兔了。坦博在他于平原上吃草时出其不意地抓住了他。这头大象用鼻子抓住他，把他又踢又叫地带到了卡利的宫殿。
“这不公平！”野兔尖声叫道。“我甚至都没投票选卡利。我告诉过你们，有个国王是个坏主意。”