Roy, the Baby Penguin

Once upon a time there was a very little penguin, whose name was Roy. He lay in his egg. He was not born yet. But he wanted to be born very much, and go and play with the other penguins. He pushed against the side of his egg with his feet and beak again and again, and at last the shell broke, and he was born. His mother looked at him. Roy was all brown. «That’s strange», she thought, «penguins must be black and white» She tried to scrape the brown off with her beak, but nothing happenedd Roy still stayed brownn I know what I’ll doo», she said, and went to the cupboard and took a jar of honey and poured it on Roy. Then she called the white bear whose name was Grumpy, to come and lick it off. Grumpy was very happy, and he came and began to lick Roy. When he licked off all the honey, Roy was still brown. Then Grumpy said, «Roy has to climb a snow hill. When he gets to the top he has to lie down and slide down the hill. The snow will wash him all right» So Roy climbed a hill and slid downn But he was still brownn «Let’s go and see the owl», said Mrs. Penguin. «He is very clever» The owl, whose name was Joe, saidd: «Well, you are a silly mother penguin. Don’t you know that penguins are always born brown, and only become black and white when they grow up?» «Of course!», said Roy’s mother. «What a silly bird I am to forget that» And really, when Row grew up, he became black and white like all the other penguinss