The Beginning of the Armadillos

In the very far-off days, on the banks of a great brown river, there lived a Prickly Hedgehog who was fond of eating snails, and a Slow-and-Steady Tortoise who was fond of eating lettuces. They were the best of friends.

But there also lived a Painted Jaguar, who was fond of eating absolutely everything.

Now, the Jaguar's mother had given him some very good advice. 'My son,' she had said, 'when you catch a Hedgehog, drop him into the water and he will uncurl. When you catch a Tortoise, scoop him out of his shell with your paw. So easy!'

One evening, the Painted Jaguar found Hedgehog and Tortoise sitting together under a fallen log. Hedgehog rolled up into a ball. Tortoise pulled his head and feet inside his shell.

'Right,' said the Jaguar. 'Now, which of you is Hedgehog and which is Tortoise? Because, to save my spots, I cannot tell.'

Hedgehog and Tortoise were very clever. They saw at once that the Jaguar was confused. So they made him a great deal more confused.

'Are you sure of what your mummy told you?' asked Hedgehog. 'Perhaps she said that when you meet a Tortoise you should scoop him out with a shell, and when you meet a Hedgehog you should drop him on your paw.'

'Or,' said Tortoise, 'perhaps she said that when you paw a Tortoise you should drop him in a Hedgehog with a scoop.'

The Jaguar's head began to spin. 'I don't think it was any of those,' he said uncertainly. 'But say it again, please.'

They said it again. Only this time it was even more muddled.

'Well,' said the Jaguar at last. 'You there' — pointing at Tortoise — 'you don't have prickles, so you must be Tortoise, and I shall scoop.' He darted his paw at Tortoise, who quickly slid into the river and paddled away.

'Bother,' said the Jaguar, and darted his other paw at Hedgehog.

Hedgehog curled into a prickly ball.

'Ow!' shouted the Jaguar. 'Ow ow OW!'

He ran off to complain to his mother, sucking his paw all the way.

Meanwhile, on the riverbank, Hedgehog and Tortoise met up again.

'I wish I could swim like you,' said Hedgehog. 'It would be very useful.'

'And I wish I could curl up like you,' said Tortoise. 'That too would be useful.'

'Well,' said Hedgehog, 'shall we teach each other?'

So they did. Tortoise held up Hedgehog's chin while he learned to kick. Hedgehog helped Tortoise unlace his back-plates a little, so he could bend just a tiny bit at a time.

They practised all night. And in the morning, the sun rose on two rather changed animals. Hedgehog's prickles had grown smoother, more like small scales. Tortoise's shell had loosened just enough for him to curl into a rough ball.

When the Jaguar next met them, he did not know them at all.

'Excuse me,' he said. 'You look almost like Hedgehog and Tortoise, but not quite. What are you?'

'We are not certain,' they said politely.

The Jaguar ran off to fetch his mother again. His mother came, took one look, and said, 'A hedgehog is a hedgehog, and a tortoise is a tortoise. This is neither. I shall call it an Armadillo, and I shall leave it well alone.'

And that, my dear, is where armadillos come from.