One day the Tasmanian Devil was walking through his Tasmanian jungle. I say walking but of course you know that the devil would never walk: he would always run and spin and dart and whiz. The permanent illusion of furious action acted, he believed, to ward off predators and it seemed that he was right. No other creature in the jungle would ever want to approach the devil for fear they be left trailing in his wake.
But every now and again the devil would stop (even the wind stops blowing sometimes) and when he would stop his attention would usually be attracted to the biggest and most appetising piece of food around him. The devil spent so much time spinning around he often forgot to eat so, when he did stop, he would always discover he had a huge appetite. Usually this meant devouring a small squirrel or mouse and the odd snake in the grass before once more madly spinning off on his way, usually with indigestion.
This particular day, the devil had stopped (because he thought no-one was looking) and instead of looking for a small harmless mammal to eat his attention was drawn up in the trees to a huge, shiny, green fruit. It had a smell that drove him wild with hunger and he thought it was the most wonderful thing he’d ever seen.
Now, as you know, the devil’s natural habitat is the jungle floor and he isn’t suited to life up in the trees: he isn’t a very good climber. Nevertheless, this particular day the devil, hypnotised by the high exotic fruit, tried to climb the tree to crawl along the branch to get it and make it his.
He hadn’t got half way when he looked up to see a big furry blob blocking his way. It was the Sloth. He’d heard about sloths but didn’t know much about them. He thought that he could scare it to move out the way. He growled and showed his teeth and made aggressive gestures with his paws. Unfortunately this made him lose his grip and he fell off the tree and landed on the floor with a huge bump. When he looked up he saw the sloth smiling down at him.
“Sorry!” said the Sloth. “Sorry!” she said again. “Sorry!” she said for a third time. “Can I help you?”
“What?” shouted the devil “I don’t need help!”
“Do you want the fruit?” she asked.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” shouted the devil jumping up and down. “It’s mine!”
The Sloth thought slowly and after a while said “I’ll get it for you. Just give me a minute or two.”
The devil had no patience and his pride made sure that he wasn’t going to accept help from a lazy old sloth. He quickly got himself together and frantically began climbing the tree again to eat the sloth and the shiny fruit. But he had forgotten that devils don’t climb up trees too well and before he got too far up he fell back down again. Not put off by his initial failure he tried again, and again he fell down to earth with a bump. He carried on trying until it was night.
As darkness fell and no one could no longer see him the devil gave up and span off into the night.
The devil forgot quickly about the shiny fruit. He soon went back to spinning furiously around the jungle and eating the small mammals that lived there. One day some time later however he was spinning his way through the same part of the jungle as before and happened to stop under the tree with the shiny fruit. His tongue fell out and he began to drool. Even though he was a carnivore there was something about the shiny luscious fruit that drove him wild with desire. Forgetting once again about his inability to climb trees he launched himself madly up the trunk of the tree and this time managed to get up as far as the branch that held the fruit. As he moved along the branch, he bumped into the sloth again: she had moved onto the branch in the time since they had last met. Down fell the devil again and landed with a huge crash on the floor.
“Sorry!” said the sloth. “Sorry!” she said again. “Sorry!” she said for a third time. “Can I help you?”
“What?” shouted the devil “I don’t need help!”
“Do you want the fruit?” she asked
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” shouted the devil jumping up and down. “It’s mine!”
“I’ll get it for you” said the sloth “Just give me a minute or two”.
The devil of course still had no patience (but who could blame him – the sloth was so slow!) and his pride made sure that he wasn’t going to accept help from the sloth. He quickly got himself together and frantically began climbing the tree again to eat the sloth and get to the shiny fruit. But he had forgotten again that devils don’t climb up trees too well and before he got too far up he fell back down again. Not put off by his initial failure he tried again, and again he fell down to earth with a bump. He carried on trying until it was night.
As darkness fell, no one could see the devil so he gave up and span off into the night.
Once again the devil forgot quickly about the shiny fruit. He again went back to spinning furiously around the jungle and eating the small mammals that lived. One day some time later however he was spinning his way through the same part of the jungle as before and happened to stop under the tree with the shiny fruit for a third time. His tongue fell out and he began to drool: the shiny fruit looked better then ever. Yet again he was wild with desire. Forgetting yet again about his inability to climb trees he launched himself madly up the trunk of the tree and this time managed to get up as far as the branch that held the fruit and half way along the branch. He could smell the sweet perfume of the fruit. As he sped along the branch he wasn’t looking where he was going and bumped straight into the sloth. She had moved along the branch in the time since they had last met and was inches away form the fruit. Down fell the devil again and landed with a huge crash on the floor.
“Sorry!” said the Sloth. “Sorry!” she said again. “Sorry!” she said for a third time. “Can I help?”
“What?” shouted the devil “I don’t need help!”
“Do you want the fruit?” she asked
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” shouted the devil jumping up and down. “It’s mine!”
“I’ll get it for you” said the sloth “Just give me a minute or two”.
The devil of course was furious. His pride was hurt and he wasn’t going to accept help from the sloth. He quickly got himself together and frantically began climbing the tree again to eat the sloth and get to the shiny fruit. But he had forgotten again that devils don’t climb up trees too well and before he got too far up he fell back down again. Not put off by repeated failures he tried again, and again he fell down to earth with a bump.
The devil carried on trying until a passing bird landed on a nearby tree. The bird began watching the bizarre scene below him. He watched the sloth saying that she was going to get the fruit but then he watched her remain motionless on the branch apologising for being there each time the devil got within a few feet of her. Each time the devil got close to getting the fruit he would move too quickly and lose his balance and fall off. The bird laughed at them both so much he nearly fell off his own perch. After a while, when he thought he may die of laughing he clamed himself and shouted down to the pair of them.
“Hey! You! The sloth and the devil! What are you doing?”
The sloth didn’t move but appeared to be listening. The devil stopped in frantic mid-dance and turned his head skywards. The bird asked the question again.
“What ARE you doing?” he asked
“I want the fruit,” said the devil.
“I’m getting it for him” said the sloth.
“How long have you been trying to get it?” asked the bird
“Not long” said the sloth
“Ages and ages” said the devil
“It’s completely rotten,” said the bird. “Look!”
At that, the devil and the sloth looked at the big juicy fruit. It was indeed rotten. Just as they realised this the fruit fell from the tree and landed with a huge splat on the jungle floor. It was so rotten it smashed into a pulpy mess three yards wide.
Soon some small ants came to clear it away.
The devil span off into the jungle.
The sloth did nothing.
The bird flew off high above them.
2019