English Original
Nothing stirred on the African plains. The sun glared down and Hare crept inside the cool hollow of a baobab tree for his afternoon nap.
Suddenly he was wide awake. There was a boom, boom, booming in his ears. And it was getting closer. Hare peeped out from the tree nervously. Across the clearing the bushes snapped and parted, and out loomed a huge gray shape.
"Oh it's you!" said Hare irritably. "How can a fellow sleep with all your racket?"
The rhinoceros squinted down at him short-sightedly.
"Greetings!" he bellowed in his slow way. "Tembo the elephant has sent me to fetch you to the waterhole. He's going to tell us who our new king will be. All the animals have voted."
"Oh fiddlesticks!" cried Hare rudely. "What do I want with a new king? He'll bully us from morning till night and make our lives miserable."
"Don't you want to see who's been chosen?" asked Rhino.
"I know already," snapped Hare. "It will be that sly old lion, Kali. He has bribed all the other animals and promised not to eat their children if only they will vote for him."
Rhino didn't seem to believe Hare, and in the end Hare said, "Oh very well, I'll come. But you'll see I'm right."
The sun was setting as Hare and Rhino reached the water-hole. All the animals had gathered there - giraffes, hippos, antelope, buffalo, warthogs, zebras, aardvarks, hyenas, mongooses, storks and weaver birds. When Tembo the elephant saw that everyone was there, he threw up his trunk and trumpeted. "Animals of the plains, I am proud to tell you that Kali the lion will be our new king. It is a wise choice, my friends."
The animals cheered. But Hare only sighed. "They'll soon see what a horrible mistake they've made."
Out on a rocky ledge above the water-hole strode Kali. He stared down at all his subjects and there was a wicked glint in his eye.
"You've made me your king," he growled, "and so now you'll serve me!" And then he roared until the animals trembled.
"My first decree is that you must build a palace to shade my royal fur from the hot sun," said Kali. "I want it here beside the water-hole and I want it by sunset tomorrow.
"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."
But Tembo wouldn't listen. He was thinking of his own children. They would be safe, but only if he could find other animals for Kali to gobble up.
Outside Kali's palace Hare stood shaking and cringing. He had to think of something fast. "Maybe I can escape by jumping in the water-hole," he said. But when he looked down and saw his own reflection shivering on the pool's surface, he stopped in his tracks. Already Kali had spotted him.
"Come inside, Hare!" roared the lion. "I can't wait to eat the only one who didn't vote for me."
But Hare didn't move. He felt braver now and he called back, "But Majesty," he wheedled. "I am very confused. I can see two kings. Please tell me, which of you is to eat me?"
"TWO KINGS!" snapped Kali angrily. "What do you mean two kings?" In one bound he was breathing down on Hare.
"Well, there's you Majesty," stammered Hare, "and there's that other one down there." Hare pointed down into the water-hole.
Kali looked and Kali saw. What - another lion?
"I'll have no rivals!" cried the cruel one, and at once he leaped on the other lion. Down into the pool sank Kali as he tried to grab his enemy. Soon the waters closed over him, and he was gone.
"You've killed our king," said Tembo the elephant in amazement.
"No I didn't," said Hare. "Anyone could see that he jumped into the water-hole all by himself. Besides, you didn't think I was going to stand here and be eaten, did you? That would be as foolish as choosing a bully for a king!" And with that he ran away, before anyone else could think of eating him.
"Whew! That was a close shave," said Hare from the safety of his baobab tree. "But I'll bet those silly animals will send old rhino round to ask me to be the king. Some people never learn."
And so it happened. Just as Hare was dropping off to sleep, there was a boom, boom, booming across the plains. "Oh no!" he sighed. "Why am I always right?" He flattened his ears, closed his eyes tighter and pretended to snore. "Anyone can see I'm much too busy to be king. Much, much too busy..."
中文翻译
非洲平原上寂静无声。烈日当空，野兔溜进凉爽的猴面包树洞里，准备午睡。
突然，他完全清醒了。耳边传来“咚、咚、咚”的巨响，而且越来越近。野兔紧张地从树后窥视。空地对面，灌木丛噼啪作响，向两边分开，一个巨大的灰色身影赫然出现。
“哦，是你啊！”野兔烦躁地说，“你弄出这么大动静，别人怎么睡觉？”
犀牛眯着近视眼向下看着他。
“你好啊！”他慢吞吞地吼道，“大象坦博派我来叫你去水坑。他要宣布我们的新王是谁。所有的动物都投票了。”
“胡说八道！”野兔粗鲁地喊道，“我要新王干什么？他会从早到晚欺负我们，让我们的生活苦不堪言。”
“你不想看看谁被选上了吗？”犀牛问。
“我早就知道了，”野兔厉声说，“肯定是那个狡猾的老狮子卡利。他贿赂了所有其他动物，承诺只要他们投他的票，他就不吃他们的孩子。”
犀牛似乎不相信野兔的话，最后野兔说：“哦，好吧，我去。但你会看到我是对的。”
当野兔和犀牛到达水坑时，太阳正在西沉。所有的动物都聚集在那里——长颈鹿、河马、羚羊、水牛、疣猪、斑马、土豚、鬣狗、猫鼬、鹳和织巢鸟。大象坦博看到大家都在，便扬起鼻子，发出喇叭般的吼声：“平原上的动物们，我很自豪地告诉你们，狮子卡利将成为我们的新王。这是个明智的选择，朋友们。”
动物们欢呼起来。但野兔只是叹了口气。“他们很快就会明白自己犯了一个多么可怕的错误。”
卡利大步走到水坑上方一块岩石上。他俯视着所有的臣民，眼中闪过一丝邪恶的光芒。
“你们让我当了你们的王，”他咆哮道，“所以现在你们要服侍我！”接着他怒吼起来，直到动物们瑟瑟发抖。
“我的第一道命令是，你们必须建造一座宫殿，为我尊贵的皮毛遮挡烈日，”卡利说，“我要它建在水坑旁边，明天日落前必须完工。”
“我的第二道命令是，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。”
动物们沮丧地点点头。
“我的第三道命令是，如果你们不照我说的做，我就把你们全吃掉！”
动物们惊恐地互相看着。他们本以为国王会英明地保护他们。但卡利只想欺负和吃掉他们。夜幕降临，这些不快乐的动物悄悄溜进了灌木丛。
但黎明时分，他们又回到了水坑边，匆忙建造卡利的宫殿。要做的事很多，时间却很少。
整整一天，动物们在酷热中辛苦劳作。大象抬起树干做柱子，鳄鱼运来泥巴砌墙，长颈鹿收集草料，由织巢鸟编织成屋顶。谁也不敢停下一刻。只有野兔什么也没做。他躲在一丛燕麦草里，看着精美的茅草屋在水坑边拔地而起。
太阳刚开始西沉，织巢鸟在高耸的茅草屋顶上打好了最后一个结。他们刚完工，卡利就出现了。他在自己的新王国里踱来踱去，甩着尾巴，臣民们不安地看着。
“这才叫宫殿，”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？我的肚子咕咕叫了。给我带一只肥美的疣猪来。”
一听到这话，野兔就溜回了猴面包树洞里的家。“我不是告诉过他们吗？”他自言自语道，“我不是说过让卡利当王会有大麻烦吗？可有人听吗？”
从此以后，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，接下来是小羚羊。
终于有一天，轮到野兔了。当他在平原上吃草时，坦博出其不意地抓住了他。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！”野兔尖叫道，“我甚至没投卡利的票。我告诉过你们有个国王是个坏主意。”
但坦博不听。他想着自己的孩子。只有他能找到其他动物给卡利狼吞虎咽，他的孩子才会安全。
在卡利的宫殿外，野兔站着发抖，卑躬屈膝。他必须快点想出办法。“也许我可以跳进水坑逃跑，”他说。但当他低头看到自己在池水表面颤抖的倒影时，他停下了脚步。卡利已经发现了他。
“进来，野兔！”狮子吼道，“我等不及要吃掉唯一没投我票的家伙了。”
但野兔没有动。他现在感觉勇敢了一些，他回应道：“但是，陛下，”他谄媚地说，“我非常困惑。我能看到两个国王。请告诉我，你们俩谁要吃我？”
“两个国王！”卡利愤怒地厉声说道，“你什么意思，两个国王？”他一下子跳到野兔面前，气息喷在野兔身上。
“嗯，有您，陛下，”野兔结结巴巴地说，“还有下面那一位。”野兔指向水坑下面。
卡利一看，卡利看到了。什么——另一只狮子？
“我绝不容忍对手！”残忍的狮子喊道，立刻扑向另一只狮子。卡利试图抓住他的敌人，沉入了水坑。很快，水淹没了他，他消失了。
“你杀了我们的国王，”大象坦博惊讶地说。
“不，我没有，”野兔说，“谁都看得出他是自己跳进水坑的。再说了，你们不会以为我会站在这里被吃掉吧？那和选一个恶霸当国王一样愚蠢！”说完，他就跑掉了，免得其他动物想吃他。
“呼！真是死里逃生，”野兔在安全的猴面包树洞里说，“但我敢打赌，那些愚蠢的动物又会派老犀牛来请我当国王。有些人永远学不乖。”
果然如此。就在野兔快要睡着的时候，平原上又传来了“咚、咚、咚”的巨响。“哦，不！”他叹了口气，“为什么我总是对的？”他压平耳朵，闭紧眼睛，假装打鼾。“谁都看得出我太忙了，没空当国王。真的，真的太忙了……”