The great drought decimated the animals,
forcing them to survive on only a few drops of water
found here and there,
but one fateful day
a sudden storm
created a huge puddle,
which has become a fountain of life.
An ant is the first to find the fountain
but it has no time to drink
because a monkey orders it to leave.
“Go away.
This fountain is mine because I’m the strongest.”
And forces it to run away.
The monkey gets ready to drink
when a dog arrives.
“Go away.
This fountain is mine because I’m the strongest.”
The monkey quickly disappears
but the dog doesn’t manage to get anything to drink either
because a wolf approaches.
“Go away.
This fountain is mine because I’m the strongest.”
The dog flees
but before the wolf can drink,
a lion interrupts it.
“Go away.
This fountain is mine because I’m the strongest.”
So the wolf flees, too
and when the lion is about to drink,
a rhinoceros shouts:
“Go away.
This fountain is mine because I’m the strongest.”
Before the rhinoceros can taste the water,
an elephant arrives.
“Go away.
This fountain is mine because I’m the strongest.”
The rhinoceros vanishes
and when the elephant
draws its trunk near to the surface of the water,
the ant who first discovered the fountain stops it.
“Go away.
This fountain is mine because I’m the strongest.”
Elephants
don’t like ants
and so the elephant runs away.
When the ant,
even thirstier than before,
is just about to take a sip,
the monkey suddenly appears
and the story starts all over again
with the same animals,
none of which manages to drink any water
and this goes on
for days and days
until every last one of them
dies of thirst.