Photograph: Tilly Meijer
Once upon a
time, the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of
"a new world." So they organized a school.
They adopted an
activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To
make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the
subjects.
The duck was
excellent in swimming, in fact better than his instructor, but he made only
passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in
running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice
running. This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he was only
average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school, so nobody worried
about that except the duck.
The rabbit
started at the top of the class in running, but had a nervous breakdown because
of so much make-up work in swimming.
The squirrel was
excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where
his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the treetop down.
He also developed a "charlie horse" from overexertion and then got a
C in climbing and a "D" in running.
The eagle was a
problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class he beat all
the others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get
there.
At the end of
the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceedingly well, and also run, climb
and fly a little, had the highest average and was valedictorian.
The prairie dogs
stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the administration would
not add digging and burrowing to the curriculum. They apprenticed their
children to a badger and later joined the groundhogs and gophers to start a
successful private school.
George H. Reavis
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