Dino Fable #20

A mother and father Hadrosaur had many young. One of them delighted in teasing and playing tricks. He had been warned to keep a sharp eye out for big meat-eaters that might come, looking to make a snack of him or his brothers and sisters.

One afternoon he was playing by the edge of the forest when an idea struck him.

“Help! Help!” he bleated. “A sharp-tooth is coming! Help!”

At once his mother and father rushed up in alarm, gathering in the brood and preparing to defend them. But they soon saw that it was only a joke—there had been no meat-eater. They scolded the young Hadrosaur, but he only laughed.

Indeed, he enjoyed this trick so much that he played it again several times over the next few days. Each time he was scolded by his parents, and each time he only laughed.

Then, one afternoon, the little Hadrosaur saw the toothy head of Spinosaurus—a big, dangerous flesh-eater—poke itself out of the woods and eye him hungrily.

In terror, the young Hadrosaur began to cry for help. But his family had become accustomed to his games and ignored his cries.

Spinosaurus chased him, and was almost upon him, when his parents heard the loud footsteps and charged in, bleating and swinging their heavy tails. Spinosaurus backed down, outnumbered, and disappeared into the forest. But the youngster knew he had had a very close call.

 

MORAL: Tell lies, and soon you won’t be believed when you tell the truth.

 

Text by M.V. Moorhead

Illustration by Ron Strecker

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