F R E YA H A R TA S
Voor mijn vader, die al mijn eindeloze vragen en gedoe heeft doorstaan
Copyright © 2016 by Lemniscaat, Rotterdam, The Netherlands First published in The Netherlands under the title Kleine Kong Text & illustration copyright © 2016 by Freya Hartas All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. First published in the United States and Canada in 2016 by Lemniscaat USA LLC • New York Distributed in the United States by Lemniscaat USA LLC • New York Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. ISBN 13: 978‑1‑935954‑47‑7 (Hardcover) Printing and binding: Worzalla, Stevens Point, WI USA First U.S. edition
L E M N I S C A AT
“UGH! Esmeralda you’ve made a terrible mess of my flowerbeds.”
Esmeralda was a very naughty little girl.
“Don’t chew with your mouth full Esmeralda!” “Don’t run Esmeralda! Walk like a lady.”
Esmeralda drew on the expensive wallpaper and made dens with her mother’s designer dresses.
” YO U G H A S T LY G I R L ! ” shouted her mother for the hundredth time. “If you won’t behave we’ll send you to a desert island to learn some manners!”
That night Esmeralda dreamed of of savage pirates and mermaids with long wavy hair. She heard rustling sea and shrieking seagulls.
A huge hairy shape flew in from nowhere.
The next morning Esmeralda found herself building a sandcastle on a desert island beach.
“ YO U H O R R I B L E A N I M A L , ” cried Esmeralda. “Look at what you have done! I’m hungry. M A K E M E
B R E A K FA S T ! ”
O R
R ! ! R ! A “Yeah, whatever … Where’s my breakfast?” said Esmeralda.
Wiggly worms, slimy snails and crunchy beetles were what the Gorilla found for her.
“You ghastly Gorilla!” tittered Esmeralda “I think you need to learn some manners.”
She learned the Gorilla to eat nicely with knife and fork. She showed him how to drink politely from a glass.
She taught him how to walk like a true gentleman. And she told him that he always had to clean up his mess.
“My bedroom at home is always neat,” she lied.
“Look at you!” said Esmeralda. “You do fine for a Gorilla.”
But when Esmeralda turned her back, just for one second, the Gorilla began to pick his nose.
“ GA H H R R ” growled the Gorilla
Have you learnt nothing?”
G
“ R R R H H H ” growled Esmeralda
!
“ W H AT A R E YO U D O I N G ! ?
R
HHH!! A R
RAAAHH
H
!!!
BOOOOOM!!!!!
All animals were furious because Esmeralda and the Gorilla had awakened the volcano. Their houses were completely destroyed.
Luckily, Esmeralda got a good idea, “ I’m really good at making dens,” she said. “Tomorrow we will make a lovely new home for everyone in the jungle, and the Gorilla will make us breakfast.”
The next day they went to work. And as befits it became an awful lot of mess and hullabaloo!
They worked from early morning till late evening.
And the Gorilla organized a feast — a breakfast that was ready just in time for supper.
When Esmeralda's parents came ashore, the Gorilla bowed his head politely and kissed her mother on the hand. “Oh, what a gentleman!” she fluttered.
“This is the best tree house I've ever made,” Esmeralda said with satisfaction. “Even better than at home.” At that moment, a neat little boat appeared on the horizon.The Gorilla tied his bow tie.
That evening Esmeralda had a huge jungle dinner with all her new friends, who were just as naughty and unladylike as she was… “This is where I belong,” she thought.
The Esmeralda parents were so impressed with the well mannered Gorilla that they took him home.
Esmeralda stayed in her tree house with all her new friends. Everyone lived happily ever after.
Well ... almost everyone.