Speedy the Leopard Changes his Spots
Speedy the leopard, had been very quiet lately. He did not play with his friends. He did not chase the squirrels and rabbits. He even refused his favourite meal of bison stew. Everyone wondered what was wrong. But he just wouldn’t say.
After two days of mooning around, he went to his mother, ‘Mother! Mother!’
‘Yes dear, what is it?’ asked Mrs. Leopard, putting down her duster and wiping her hands on her little red checked apron. She had been very concerned at this uncharacteristic behaviour of her son over the last few days.
‘Mother, why do we have spots?’ asked Speedy. ‘What kind of a question is that, son,’ asked his mother, a little taken aback. ‘All leopards have spots. They shine brightly on our golden skin, and make us look majestic as we run through the grassland. Moreover, they help camouflage us behind the bushes when we stalk our prey.’
‘Oh, I know all that,’ said Speedy, shaking his head impatiently. ‘But why spots? Why not stripes like Tuffy, why not plain gold like Hakuna, the Lion, or even better, why can’t we have new skin every year like the snakes?’
‘Well,’ said Mama, at a complete loss, ‘why don’t you ask your father. There he is, reading the Jungle Times on his rocking chair in the lawn.’ So Speedy went to his father and began tugging at his shirt tails.
‘What is it Speedy, why are you not at the maple garden playing with your friends on such a nice bright morning?’ asked Daddy.
‘Daddy, tell me, why do we have spots?’ asked Speedy.
‘Huh, what was that again?’ said Daddy.
‘Why do leopards have spots? Why don’t we have stripes or golden glowing skin like lions or a bright tail of feathers that we can change every year like the peacock?’ said Speedy.
‘Oh I see. Is that what has been bothering you these last few days, Speedy? Well, it may not be as much fun as you think to be in someone else’s shoes,’ said Daddy.
Speedy said, ‘No Dad, I am sick of my spots and want to look bright and striking like the other animals.’
‘Well, okay! Come, let us go to Chameleon, the Dressmaker, he may know what to do,’ said Daddy. At the shop, they had to wait as Mountain Cave School was putting on their annual concert, and lots of costumes needed to be made. Mr Chameleon was rushing around with his mouth full of pins and a measuring tape in his hand, calling out instructions to his assistants, Sammy and Bushy Squirrel, who were very busy with needle and thread, deftly sewing bright coloured stars and sequins on cape after cape for the grand finale. Finally, the crowd thinned and it was Speedy’s turn.
‘So Speedy, what can I do for you?’ asked Mr Chameleon, ‘Do you also need a costume for the concert?’
‘Oh no, Mr Chameleon, my mother’s already made mine long back. I am going to be the moon with a long silver bodysuit,’ he said proudly.
‘Oh, that’s nice,’ said Chameleon, with an expectant look on his face, waiting to know why they were in his shop if they did not need a costume.
‘Speedy does not like his spots, Mr Chameleon. Can you help him change them into something else,’ said Daddy Leopard in his booming voice, giving the tailor a secret wink.
‘Oh, hmmm,’ said Mr Chameleon, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. ‘Well what would you like instead, Speedy?’ he asked.
‘I love the bright coloured feathers on the peacocks’ tail, sir, and they shed their feathers and get a new one every year. Can I do so too?’ Speedy asked.
‘Well, that sounds a little difficult, but let me see what I can do,’ said Mr Chameleon. He went to the store room at the back of his shop and came back a short while later, with an armful of colourful feathers in red, orange, blue, and yellow. He also held a pot of glue and a long brush. ‘Well, I only have these colours,’ he said doubtfully.
‘Oh, they are fine,’ said Speedy, clapping his hands in glee, happy to see the riot of colours, and looking forward to his makeover.
‘Let me start by first painting over your dark spots,’ said Mr Chameleon, dipping the brush into a big pot of blue dye, he carefully painted Speedy’s beautiful tawny skin a bright turquoise blue. Then, he used the glue to stick on a huge bunch of the feathers tied together to look like a long feathery tail and Speedy was ready to go. Oh what a strange sight he was with a bright blue body and multi‐coloured tail of feathers. Speedy could not wait to try on his new look and immediately rushed off to meet his friends.
On the way, he met a herd of deer calmly chewing grass. One of them raised their heads and sniffed cautiously as Speedy passed by, but when he saw this peculiar coloured creature he knew that the leopard scent he sensed may have wafted with the wind over the mountains. This peculiar creature definitely did not look dangerous, and so he went back to the business of eating. Meanwhile, Speedy was astonished to find that not even the smallest of the fawns seemed worried or scared of him. He was used to whole herds of deer running away at the sight of him and here they were not even the slightest bit concerned.
‘Huh, I will show them,’ he thought to himself, and crouched down, ready to pounce on a small doe standing closest to him. Uh, oh! As soon as he straightened his hind legs for the spring his feathers got stuck on the prickly gorse bush and he came crashing back painfully to the earth.
‘Oooh, my poor back,’ he groaned. ‘What a nuisance these feathers are. How will I ever hunt with them? Oh never mind, just see how pretty they are. I guess it is just a matter of getting used to them,’ he said, and walked off as gracefully as he could, leaving the deer staring at him in astonishment.
When he reached maple garden, all his friends were playing tag. But no one paid any attention to him. ‘Hi,’ he said, tentatively to Tuffy Tiger. ‘Oh, hello!’ said Tuffy dismissively and continued to play.
‘Hey, it’s me, Speedy,’ he shouted desperately, after standing around watching for several minutes. Suddenly, everyone stopped playing and turned to look.
‘Hmmm, ha ha,’ Daisy started tittering quietly, her hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter.
‘Ha Ha,’ laughed Ellie, the elephant, trumpeting loudly with mirth. Soon everyone was rolling on the forest floor holding their tummies and laughing.
‘Speedy, oh, what a good joke,’ said Stripes the Zebra, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.
‘Oh,’ said Speedy in a very small voice, almost close to tears himself. ‘Don’t you like the way I look?’
‘Like?’ shouted everyone in unison, ‘we love it, it the funniest sight we have seen since the circus came to our jungle, and there were the clowns with their painted faces and funny antics.’
‘Oh!,’ said Speedy, ‘yes, that is right. It had been so long, I thought I would make you laugh. Aren’t I smart?’
‘Oh yes,’ said his friends, ‘that is why we love you. Now go and change quickly and come back to play, we will soon need to go home for lunch, and you will miss all the fun.’
‘Sure,’ said Speedy, ‘just give me ten minutes.’ He ran home as fast as he could, and washed of all the colour and glue in the stream that ran behind his cave. He threw the feathers on the ground and came rushing out.
‘Speedy, whatever happened to your new costume?’ asked his mother hiding a smile. ‘Oh that! I decided that leopards are best with their spots,’ said Speedy, as he raced down the hillside scaring away the herd of deer on his way with great satisfaction and ran off to join his friends in play.
Leopards have spots and tigers have stripes,
That’s the way they are meant to be.
Cats have whiskers and bulls have horns,
Each one has its use you will see.
Peacocks dazzle with their feathers,
Monkeys swing from tree to tree,
The deer, they always stay together,
And run faster than you or me.