Chapter 12: chapter 12

Why Are Pigs Such Stinky-Poos?Poo the piggy was happy to be on break from jungle school. Poo and his other piggy friends decided to spend the day swimming in a nearby forest pond. They reached there, put their things on the bank of the pond and jumped into the water.It was a hot, humid day, and the water was cool and green. The friends were having a great time, splashing water on each other and diving into the pond again and again. Soon, it started raining, and the earth surrounding the pond became muddy and slippery. Poo was running after his friend around the pond, playing catch, when he slipped and fell in the mud. He tried getting up, but the ground was too slippery. The mud was so stinky that Poo secretly suspected he had slipped in elephant poop!All his piggy friends fell about laughing. Poo’s friends deliberately tried to recreate Poo’s mighty fall by rolling around in the mud. Their antics were creating a lot of ruckus for the forest residents who lived close to the pond—especially Tinku the tiger.Tinku had just returned from a challenging hunt and a satisfying feast of gazelle, and was looking forward to a relaxing siesta. But the drove of pigs at the pond were being a nuisance. He decided to scare them away.He casually sauntered up to the pond and let out a loud roar to announce his presence. ‘Why are you kids being so loud? Quieten down. Or else I will pounce on you,’ threatened Tinku.Excitable after so much horsing around and giggling, Poo had a sudden fit of bravado and stepped forward. ‘We are not scared of you. I can easily beat you in a fight. Come forward if you have the guts,’ he challenged.Tinku suddenly saw red. He stepped ahead angrily, determined to swat this upstart of a pig. But as he went closer to the pond, he took a long whiff and grimaced. The place was stinking unbearably, and the pigs looked like they had rolled about in poop. Afraid to get his paws dirty after his wonderful lunch, Tinku began walking away.‘What! Scared, are you? Come on,’ dared Poo, believing that the tiger was frightened.Tinku turned around. ‘Nah. Not in the mood. Come back tomorrow when I am hungry. We will see who is scared then. I can make a meal out of you. And if you don’t come here tomorrow, I will hunt down your whole clan and enjoy a feast.’Poo saw Tinku gracefully walk away and realised the enormity of his stupidity. Why did he ever believe that he could defeat a tiger in a fight? He was now very scared of what would happen tomorrow. Not going to the fight the next day was not an option, because it would endanger all his family and friends. But going meant certain death!At home, Poo didn’t want to worry his parents. So he told only his grandmother about his problem. She was wise and always had a solution.Grandma Piggy listened to the whole story. ‘We challenged a huge tiger to a fight, did we? That is a big problem, especially since you have neither big claws and sharp teeth nor the killer instinct that Tinku has. You only have a love for mud and filth,’ she remarked while wiping the mud off Poo’s back.‘Yes,’ Poo sighed. ‘But he was scared at the beginning because of all the filth and stench. We really did stink.’‘Well then, there’s your solution. Maybe you should roll around in even more stinky poop and mud tomorrow so that Tinku won’t come near you at all. I know that he is a finicky beast for sure. He won’t like getting dirty,’ suggested Grandma Piggy.The next day, Poo went with his friends to find the choicest and stinkiest mud and filth and poop to roll around in all morning. Then they went to meet Tinku the tiger for his challenge. Tinku was pacing around the pond. He had gone hungry that morning and was relishing the idea of fresh, delicious meat. But Poo and the drove of pigs showed up to the pond stinking to high heaven. They all looked utterly disgusting to Tinku. As they approached, he started backing away. When they kept coming closer, he turned and made a run for it before they could rub their filth on him.He didn’t want to eat these pigs. They were revolting!The pigs realised that even the most fearsome creatures would stay far away from them if they stayed filthy all the time. And that is why pigs like being dirty.