In a mysterious and beautiful African wetland, many animals live together. There are thick grass, muddy water, and countless underwater creatures. This land is the kingdom of the crocodiles and the home of the little birds. Today’s story is about a funny and touching story between a fierce crocodile and a clever little bird.
1. The crocodile’s problem: a toothache plagues the overlord
In the wetlands, there is a giant crocodile called “Steel Tooth”. Covered in hard black scales, it can make a huge splash with a flick of its tail and is the absolute overlord of these waters. However, even the mighty Steel Tooth can get into trouble.
One day, Steel Tooth was lurking by the edge of a shallow pool, preparing to ambush prey that came to drink. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his teeth! It turned out that when he had bitten prey a few days ago, a piece of broken bone had become stuck between his teeth, now causing redness and severe pain. Steel Tooth rolled around in agony, churning up mud and water all around him, but no matter how much he shook his head or flailed his tail, the tingling sensation just wouldn’t go away.
2. The arrival of the bird: a brave helper
Just as Steel Tooth was becoming restless, a small black and white bird called Jumpy appeared. Jumpy is a type of bird that lives near rivers and makes a living cleaning animal teeth. Jumpy landed lightly on a dead tree and, looking at the miserable Steel Tooth, couldn’t help but say, “Hey, big guy! Judging from the way you look, do your teeth hurt?”
Steel Teeth was burning with pain and anger when he heard this, and he said, “Hmph, you little brat, if you don’t get out of the way, I’ll swallow you in one bite!”
But Tappy wasn’t afraid at all. Fluttering his wings, he waved in front of Steel Teeth’s snout and said, “Don’t be so cocky. Without my help, your teeth will rot sooner or later, and then you won’t even be able to hunt, and you’ll just starve!”
Steel Tooth was shocked to hear this. He knew that Jumpy was right, but as the dominant species, it was too embarrassing to admit defeat to a little bird. After a moment of hesitation, the pain returned, and Steel Tooth groaned helplessly, “So…what can you do to help?”
Tappy shook his feathers with glee: “I can help you by pecking out the broken bones and rotten flesh from between your teeth. I guarantee that you will feel better immediately. But you have to promise me that you won’t move around and that you won’t hurt me.”
3. A wonderful collaboration: from enemy to friend
Despite his reluctance, Steel Tooth agreed to Tappy’s request: ”Okay, I promise. Just do it!”
So, Jumping carefully jumped into the steel teeth’s big mouth, and with the tip of his beak, he carefully explored the teeth’s gums, beginning to clean the broken bones and rotten flesh embedded inside. Although the process made the steel teeth feel numb, they desperately held back and did not move. While working, Jumping muttered, “You have terrible oral hygiene, you need to gargle more often in the future…” The steel teeth rolled their eyes in anger, but there was nothing they could do.
After a while, with a sharp piece of bone pecked out, the steel tooth suddenly felt much more relaxed. It closed its mouth and shook its head gently, surprised to find that it really felt much better. “Thank…thank you, little guy,” the steel tooth said awkwardly.
Jumping on the top of Steel Tooth’s head, he chirped happily, “No problem! We’ll be friends from now on. I’ll clean your teeth every day, and you can share the leftovers with me when you catch prey.”
Steel Tooth grunted, “Fine, as you wish.”
4. Daily understanding: partners who help each other
From that day on, Steel Tooth and Jumping developed a special kind of partnership. Every morning, Jumping would fly to the shallow water where Steel Tooth was perched, chirping to wake him up from his nap, and then jump into his mouth for an “oral cleaning”. Steel Tooth, in turn, became more diligent in hunting because he knew that he had a little friend waiting to share the food.
Once, Steel Tooth set his sights on a buffalo crossing the river. It swam up to it silently and pounced, seizing the buffalo’s hind leg in its jaws. The buffalo struggled desperately, nearly shaking Steel Teeth off, but Steel Teeth held on tight. After a fierce struggle, the buffalo finally became exhausted and sank to the bottom. Steel Teeth dragged its prey back to shore and called Jumping as agreed. Jumping pounced excitedly and feasted on the buffalo carcass. “Wow, what a feast today!” Tiao Tiao was full of joy as he gobbled up the buffalo’s corpse. Gangya looked at Tiao Tiao as he wolfed down the meat, his eyes full of affection. ‘Eat slowly, don’t choke, without me, how could you have eaten so much meat?’ ‘Yes, yes, you’re the best!’ Tiao Tiao responded indistinctly.
5. A test in crisis: a friendship through thick and thin
However, the good times did not last long. When the rainy season came, the river swelled and the raging flood washed away many small fish and shrimp. The food in the wetlands became scarce and the competition became more intense. One day, Gangya was in a fight with another slightly smaller crocodile over a backwater bay where the fish gathered. The two crocodiles rolled and bit in the water, splashing water everywhere. On the shore, Hop hop anxiously jumped up and shouted, “Gangya, be careful!”
Although Steel Tooth was brave, his opponent was very cunning. While Steel Tooth was not looking, his opponent slashed a wound on his belly. Steel Tooth was in pain and his movements slowed, almost losing the fight. At this critical moment, Tiao Tiao had a brainstorm. He picked up a slender tree branch and flew over his opponent’s head, repeatedly patting the branch against his eyes. The crocodile was distracted and let go of Steel Tooth to chase Tiao Tiao away. Steel Tooth seized the opportunity to fight back and finally drove his opponent away.
“Tappy, thanks to you this time,” Steel Tooth weakly lay on the bank. Tappy looked at Steel Tooth’s wounds with concern: ‘Don’t talk, just rest. I’ll go find some herbs to apply to your wounds.’ With that, he flapped his wings and flew into the distance.
Under the careful care of Tiaotiao, Gangya’s wounds gradually healed. After this crisis, their friendship deepened, and they became a pair of partners that everyone in the wetland marveled at.
6. A legendary symbiosis: a friendship across the species
Whether it was a sunny day or a stormy season, Steel Tooth and Hop always stayed together. They faced the challenges of nature together and wrote a legendary story of symbiosis across the species.
This story tells us that even the most unlikely friends can build a deep friendship through trust and cooperation. Just like Steel Tooth and Hop, they have proved by their actions that helping others is actually helping yourself.
