Early in the morning, the big-bellied hippo woke up.
He poked his head out the window to look outside:
“What a beautiful day, perfect for a walk!”
The big-bellied hippo went to the riverbank and jumped into the river,
creating huge splashes of water.
“Get out of the way, get out of the way!”
he rudely shouted at the animals blocking his path.
He scared away the ducks.
“What a big-bellied hippo!”
the ducks said angrily.
“What an unreasonable big-bellied hippo!”
the fish said as they swam away.
The big-bellied hippo hadn’t swum far when he saw…
a crocodile riding a bike on the riverbank.
He jumped ashore and shouted, “I want to play too!”
“You should say please,”
the crocodile said kindly.
The big-bellied hippo didn’t pay any attention to the crocodile.
He snatched the bike from the crocodile
and sat on it with a thud.
The bike was crushed flat.
Then he strolled away.
“What a bad guy,”
the crocodile roared,
“he didn’t even say sorry!”
On the road, the big-bellied hippo met a lion.
He glared at the lion and said,
“Little guy, give me your milk to drink.”
“Big guy, even though you’re big, you should still say please.”
the lion said kindly.
But again,
the big-bellied hippo didn’t listen to the little guy in front of him.
He gulped down the lion’s milk.
As soon as he finished, he ran away.
“What a big bully, he drank my milk and didn’t even say thank you.”
the lion said sadly.
“Give me your balloons to play with.”
the big-bellied hippo shouted.
He had met the unlucky baboon.
“You should say please,”
the baboon’s mother taught him.
The big-bellied hippo didn’t pay any attention to the two
poor creatures. He used a stick to pop
the little baboon’s balloons one by one.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
He laughed, “Ha ha! This is fun!”
“Waaah! My balloons!!”
the little baboon cried sadly.
“What a naughty guy,”
the baboon’s mother sighed.
“Get out of the way, let me kick that ball,”
the big-bellied hippo yelled at the little guy in the grass.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t kick it.”
the meerkat warned the big-bellied hippo.
It turned out to be a wasp nest.
“Ouch, ouch, ouch!”
But it was too late! Buzz, buzz—the wasps
were very angry.
“Get these annoying wasps away from me!”
the big-bellied hippo cried as he ran.
He waved his arms, trying to drive the wasps away.
“Help, help, save me!”
“Hey, poor little guy, you should say please to me,”
the elephant said to the crying and shouting big-bellied hippo.
“Please!”
“Please!”
“Please!”
This time, the big-bellied hippo had learned his lesson. He said “please” several times in a row!
The elephant took a deep breath,
and then…
blew all the wasps away.
This time, the big-bellied hippo not only said “please,”
but also said “thank you.”
The big-bellied hippo was stung all over by the wasps, and his body was covered in little bumps.
This rude guy finally bowed his proud head.
The lion, crocodile, baboon, and meerkat all came to see him,
bringing lots of medicine.
The big-bellied hippo was moved by everyone’s kindness.
He finally realized he was wrong.
“Good morning!”
From then on, the big-bellied hippo became a polite hippo!
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
