Once upon a time, many birds lived in a dense forest These birds were either black, white, or black and white in colour
In the same forest lived a great, big snake. The snake had yellow skin with black patches all over. One morning, the hungry snake saw some red flowers. Snap, snap, snap. He went and ate them all.
As he glided on, the snake accidentally caught sight of his tail. He turned his head to have a better look. Along his body, were patches oun of red. "Strange," said the snake to himself. "but these make me look good."As he glided on, the snake accidentally caught sight of his tail. He turned his head to have a better look. Along his body, were patches of red "Strange," said the snake to himself, "but these make me look good"
him
roo Later, the snake saw some blue flowers. ㄱㅇㅇ Crunch, crunch, crunch. He went and ate them all. Then he again turned his head to look at his body. Bright blue patches were beginning to appear. The snake was delighted. He slithered along every flower bush in the forest and snapped up every flower he found.
By the end of the day, his skin had patches of red, blue, yellow, orange and purple on it. "I'm the most beautiful snake in the world," he hissed, coiling around so that he could teel proud of his whole body
The birds were very upset with the snake. They gathered around the snake, screechi whistling and chirping. "Look what you've done," they said, "you've eaten all flowers and spoilt the forest It's only green now"
The snake realised that the birds were right and that he had been selfish. He very ashamed of himself He crept away to a dark corner in the forest. There he shook and shook until his skin began to split Slowly, he moved out of his multi-coloured skin and glided away in a shiny green one The birds soon found that skin. They tore it up with their beaks, and draped pieces of it over their bodies and wings. Soon, their feathers turned red, blue, yellow, orange and purple. Each bird had a piece. The kingfisher was bright blue. The oriole was bright yellow. The macaw was orange. red, yellow, blue and green. Even the tiny hummingbirds had scraps of red for their throats and yellow for their beaks.When they had used up all the pieces of the snake skin, the birds had brigh beautiful feathers, except for some, like the magpie and the crow who did not like brigh feathers
These birds are still like that, as anyone who goes through the forests of South America will tell you.