Timothy wanted a big dog, somebody who would scare away all the other dogs, big enough so he could ride on top of him if he got tired of walking. One day they went off to the dog pound-Edith, Timothy and their grandfather- to see if they could pick out just the right dog. No, I think it was a Monday, as a matter of fact. There was only one obvious solution to this problem, their grandfather decided.” So, Edith was too sensitive and Timothy was irresponsible. If a bear came after you, you could just wrestle him to the ground.” I know if somebody teased you, you wouldn’t pay any attention to them. Now, I don’t have to worry about that with you. He wished there was something he could do to toughen her up. If he wasn’t around anymore, who would go to their birthday parties? Who would be there to applaud when they graduated? Who would comfort them if somebody was mean to them? He worried about Edith especially. That’s the kind of thing you worry about when you’re very, very old, like this grandfather was. He worried about what would happen to his grandchildren if something happened to him. And he was the kind of grandfather that worried a lot. “And there was a grandfather in this family. She seemed to be watching one of the sailboats, which had capsized just when it was about to capture a duck. The hippopotamus got tangled up with the tiger and the alligator and all three of them went over the waterfall.Īlice didn’t say anything. Then suddenly, when they least expected it, that snake, the one over there, who was younger then and didn’t look so beat up, swung out of a tree and knocked the tiger into the water, where the alligator started chewing on him. And then a gigantic hippopotamus rose up out of the river and started chasing after the alligator, who was swimming as fast as he could to catch the beautiful lady before the tiger could jump on top of the canoe and eat everyone. Anyway, they paddled and paddled, when, suddenly, a huge tiger with big yellow eyes and a snarly expression jumped out of the jungle and started running alongside the canoe. So, naturally, the beautiful lady was really scared. Remember? And these teeth were dripping blood. It sounded a little like Grandpa’s car does when it won’t start. And they made a grinding noise when the alligator chewed that was awful to hear. And the teeth-the teeth were really something- each tooth was like a saw.
And it had a mouth as wide as an open grand piano. You couldn’t tell because it was half-underwater. This alligator was as big as a small automobile, maybe a big automobile. One day she was traveling down the Amazon River in a canoe carved out of a single tree trunk, while natives of the jungle sat in front of her and in back of her paddling as fast as they could to get away from an alligator who was chasing them. That old lady who is sitting there, half-asleep, was once a beautiful young lady. “That snake is a heroic snake, not an evil snake. “Is that snake safe?” Alice asked her grandfather in a low voice, curling up against him.