The Raccoon and the Great Flea

The raccoon sat down under a tree and let out a deep cry.

“Sad, sad, sad!” he cried. “I am so, so sad. I am unhappy with me. I would like to be a great, big animal! Big animals have all the fun. They play and have a good time. But not me. I do not have a good time at all. I want to be something new and big!”

“What would you like to be?” said a flea, as he sat down next to the raccoon.

“A bear,” said the raccoon. “A bear is a great animal. It is big and soft. It has long white teeth. It can stand up tall as a tree.”

“You can be a bear,” said the flea.

“How?” cried the raccoon. “How could I be a bear?”

“I know a way,” said the flea. “Look at what I do. Then do it after me.”

The flea said, “One, two, three,” and then made a jump backwards. The raccoon said, “One, two, three.” Then he made a jump backwards too. The flea called out, “Make me a bear!” The raccoon called it too. Then the raccoon looked at the flea.

“It did not work,” he said. “You look like the flea you were.”

“It did not work for me,” said the flea. “But it did work for you. See! You are a bear from top to toe.”

What the flea said was true. The raccoon was now a big, brown bear.

“Thank you, Flea,” said the raccoon that was now a bear.

“Do not thank me,” said the flea. “Be a bear for a time. See how you like it. Then you can thank me.” With that, the flea went away.

The raccoon that was now a bear looked all about. “I will find a friend to play with,” he said. He ran over to the rabbits.

“How do you do,” he said.

“Look out!” cried the rabbits. “It is a big, big bear. We have to get out of here!”

“Come back, rabbits! Come back!” called the raccoon that was now a bear. “All I want to do is play with you.”

But the rabbits would not stop. “You are too big,” they called. “We do not want to play with you!” They ran away as fast as they could.

The raccoon that was now a bear went back and sat under his tree.

“Flea, Flea,” he cried. “Where are you? It is not good for me to be a big bear. Small animals run away from me. They do not want to play. I want to try something new. Could I be a small, small animal – like a snail? Or, how about a toad? Yes, I think a toad is what I would like to be now.”

The flea laughed as he danced over to the raccoon that was now a bear. “So now you would like to be a toad,” he said.

“Yes!” cried the raccoon. “A toad is a good little animal. It can jump way up high. It can play on land and sea. A toad is green, and it can sing.”

“Then here we go again,” said the flea. “Look at what I do. Then do it after me.”

The flea said, “One, two, three,” and then made a jump backwards. The raccoon that was now a bear said, “One, two, three.” Then he made a jump backwards too. The flea called out, “Make me a toad!” The raccoon that was now a bear said it too.

At last, the raccoon that was a bear looked at the flea. “It did not work. You are not a toad.”

“I am not, but you are,” laughed the flea.

“Thank you, thank you!” said the raccoon that was now small and green all over. “Now I will look for other animals to play with.” With that, he went on his way. Soon he saw a goat.

“I will jump over and sing to that goat,” he said. “I know the goat will want to sing with me. We will have a great time, the goat and I.”

But that was not to be! The goat looked at the raccoon that was now small and green all over.

“How do you do,” said the goat. “Come, stand next to me. I like you, Toad, and you may be good to eat.”

“Eat!” cried the raccoon who was now small and green all over. “You do not want to eat me! I am not a true toad. I am a raccoon!”

“A raccoon?” said the goat. “You do not look like a raccoon to me.”

“But I am,” he said.

The goat did not want to know about it. He showed his long, long teeth. Then he went after the sad, little green animal that no longer looked like a raccoon.

The raccoon did not want to be small and green all over now. “Flea, Flea!” he cried. “Make me me again! I was a big bear and that was no good. Now I am a small, green toad, and that is no good. At last,” he went on, “I know what I want to be. I want to be ME – a raccoon.”

The flea laughed. “It is good that you know that now. We all have to be what we are. Take a jump backwards and you will be you.”

The raccoon did. “I am me again!” he cried. “You know what? I think I am a pretty great animal. I can play, run, and jump up a tree. I am not too big and not too small. From now on, a raccoon is what I want to be. Thank you, Flea.”

“Thank you for your thank you,” said the flea. Then he made a jump backwards, and away he went.