They gathered around the lion one day,
They all had lots and lots to say,
'These humans come to hunt and prey,
'Cut down our trees and pull them away.'
'Ahem,' roared their king, 'What shall we do?
'They do not seem to have a clue,
'If they don't watch out. the day they'll rue,
'That they decided to rob us too'.
The doe with all her gentleness,
Said, 'I'm alarmed, I do confess,
'The hunters chase us, their dogs no less,
'It really all seems so senseless.'
'Do they not realise,' spoke up the hare,
'That this destruction that they dare,
'To cause without a thought or care,
'Will take from them what's theirs to share?'
'We too, the creatures of the wild,
'Have lots to teach,' said the elephant, mild.
'Look at my back with logs they've piled,
'Not once have I complained or riled.'
'I hear when they've a special cause,'
Added the tiger sharpening its claws
'They never think or for a moment pause,
'But march out in numbers to settle scores.'
'Let's do the same, for each one's sake,'
Said the clever fox, 'and each one take,
'Some posters too, there's lots at stake,
'We'll walk and walk till our legs do ache.'
The tailor bird stitched leaves together,
The crow wrote slogans with a feather.
To bamboos then they did these tether,
Saved them from sun and stormy weather.
They all set out, a determined band,
Through forest, by stream and over grassland;
Joined by animals, both humble and grand,
All set and ready to take up a firm stand.
They assembled near a city, each one dazed,
Each one now was completely dismayed,
Each one aghast, at their decision amazed,
Each one now terrified and afraid.
How had they conjured up a plan so brave,
That could easily take them to the grave,
Squeaked the lowly mouse, 'Your attention I crave,
'Why stop and wait when there are souls to save!'
Afire, they marched on, they were so near,
Their posters aloft, saying loud and clear,
'If you value this planet and all that's dear,
'You'll stop all destruction and remove all fear.'
The men, the women, the young, the old,
Mouths agape at a sight to behold,
Never had such a story been told,
Never had animals been so bold.
'Let us,' said humankind,' all say,
'Take a pledge and solemnly pray,
'To save our earth and all on it that stay,
'And wake each morn to a better day.'
- alarmed: frightened
- confess: admit something
- dismayed: sad or upset
- solemnly: sincerely
Match the following to find out the meaning of the words used in the poem. Do this exercise orally first.
| 1. prey | a. reason; something they want to change |
| 2. rue | b. to show that something wrong is happening and needs to be made right |
| 3. realise | c. wait and see what harm they are causing (here) |
| 4. riled | d. horrified; shocked at what they had done (here) |
| 5. cause | e. small; unimportant |
| 6. pause | f. held up high |
| 7. settle scores | g. not proud; less important than others |
| 8. stake | f. thought of; the plan they had made (here) |
| 9. slogan | i. making a promise- never to cause destruction of their environment or animals (here) |
| 10. tether | j. understand |
| 11. humble | k. so much to lose if action is not taken |
| 12. aghast | l. mouths open with amazement at something they had never seen before |
| 13. conjured | m. tie |
| 14. lowly | n. to hunt animals for food or for their skins |
| 15. aloft | o. something said or written to show how people feel or feel they want (here) |
| 16. agape | p. to feel sad |
| 17. pledge | q. angry; annoyed; irritated |
Tick (√) the best answer.
- What did the animals want to tell their king?
- They wanted to say that they were afraid of humans.
- They wanted to say that they humans were hunting them and destroying their homes.
- They wanted to say that they humans were destroying the forest.
- What did the hare say about the destruction of the forests?
- The hare said the humans did not understand that they were destroying what was also theirs to share with the animals.
- The hare said that cutting down trees was bad for both humans and animals.
- The hare said that humans did not realised that cutting down trees and hunting animals was bad.
- What did the tiger suggest they should do?
- The tiger suggested that they should fight with the humans.
- The tiger suggested that the animals should do what the humans did when they wanted to solve a problem.
- The tiger suggested that they should march out together and go to the humans to settle the problem.
- What did the animals do?
- They made poster and marched out to a city.
- They carried posters that said what they wanted to say and marched together to a city.
- The animals carried posters on which they had written slogans and went to a city.
- Why were the people amazed at the sight they saw?
- They had never seen animals carrying posters coming into their city.
- They were surprised to see such a strange sight.
- The people had never seen animals marching together into their city so bravely to fight for their homes and their lives.
- What did the people promise to do?
- They promised to save their planet.
- They took a solemn pledge to save the earth and all living things.
- They promised to be better people.
The animals that are humble are the doe, hare, elephant, and the tailor bird.
The animals that are grand are the lion, tiger, fox, crow, and the mouse.
The grand animal that has been called mild is the elephant.
The humble animal that encouraged the animals was the mouse.
It said that why should they stop and wait when there are so many souls they have to save.


