There were many people to tell that boy what to do．There were his mother and his father，his grandfather，and his older brother．And there was also an aunt，who was always saying：‘Do this．Do that．’Every day，this aunt would shout at him，and make a great noise that would frighten the birds．

The boy did not like his aunt．Sometimes， he thought that he might go to some man to buy some medicine to put into her food to make her quiet，but of course he never did this．In spite² of all his aunt's shouting and ordering about，the boy always obeyed her，as his father said he must．

‘She has nothing to do but shout at you，’the boy's father explained．‘It keeps her happy．’

‘When I'm a big man，I'll come and shout in her ear，’the boy said．It was good to think about that．

There was a place that the aunt knew where a lot of fruit grew．It was a place which was quite far away，and the boy did not like going there．Near this place，there were caves and the boy had heard that a strange animal lived in these caves．One of his friends had seen this strange animal and had warned³ people about going near that place．

But the aunt insisted on sending the boy to pick fruit there，and so he went，his heart beating so fast out of fear inside him．He found the trees and began to pick the fruit，but a little later he heard the sound of something in the bush⁴ beside him．He stopped his task and stood near the tree，in case the strange animal should be coming．

Out of the bush came the strange animal．It was just as his friend had described it and the boy was very frightened．Quickly，he took out the drum which he had brought with him and began to beat it．The strange animal stopped， looked at the boy in surprise，and began to dance．

All day，the boy played the drum，keeping the strange animal dancing．As long as he played the drum，he knew that there was nothing that the strange animal could do to harm him．At last，when night came，the strange animal stopped dancing and disappeared back into the bush．The boy knew that it had gone back to its cave and so he was able to walk home safely．When he reached home though，his aunt had prepared her screams．

‘Where is all the fruit？’she shouted．Thinking that he had eaten it，she then began to beat him until the boy was able to run away from her and hide in his own hut⁵．

The boy told his father the next day of the real reason why he had been unable to bring back fruit from the tree．He explained that there had been a strange animal there and that he had had to play his drum to keep the animal dancing．The father listened and told the story to the aunt，who scoffed⁶ at the boy．

‘There are no strange animals at that place，’she said．‘You must be making all thisup．’

But the father believed the boy and said that the next day，they would all go to the fruit place with him．The aunt thought that this was a waste of time，but she was not going to miss any chance of shouting，and so she came too．

When the family reached the tree，there was no strange animal．The aunt began to pick fruit from the tree and stuff⁷ it into her pockets．She called to the boy to give her his drum and then she hung it on the branch of a tree in a place where he would not be able to get at it easily．

‘You must pick fruit，’she shouted to the boy．‘You must not play a drum in idleness⁸．’

The boy obeyed his aunt，but all the time he was listening for any sounds to come from the bush．He knew that sooner or later the strange animal would appear and that they would then all be in danger．

When the strange animal did come，it went straight to the boy's father and mother and quickly ate them up．Then the aunt tried to run away，but the strange animal ran after her and ate her too．While this was happening，the boy had the time to reach up for his drum from the branch of the fruit tree．Quickly，he began to play his drum，which made the strange animal stop looking for people to eat and begin to dance．

As the boy played his drum faster and faster，the strange animal danced more and more quickly．Eventually，the boy played so fast that the animal had to spit¹ out the father and the mother．The boy was very pleased with this and began to play more slowly．At this moment，the strange animal's dancing became slower．

‘You must play your drum fast again，’the boy's father said，‘Then the strange animal will have to spit out your aunt．’

‘Do I have to？’the boy asked，disapointed that he would not be allowed to leave the aunt in the stomach of the strange animal．

‘Yes，’the boy's father said sternly⁹．‘You must．’

Reluctantly，the boy again began to play the drum and the strange animal began to dance more quickly．After a few minutes it was dancing so quickly that it had to spit out the aunt．Then darkness came and the strange animal went back to its cave．

The aunt was very quiet during the journey back home．The next day she was quiet as well， and she never shouted at the boy again．Having been swallowed by a strange animal had taught the aunt not to waste her time shouting；now，all that she wanted to do was to sit quietly in the sun．

The boy was very happy．

Homework：Talk about the story with your partner．Make notes about the boy，the aunt and the father．