e little of it is that we don't match our backgrounds. I'm going
to take Baviaan's advice. He told me I ought to change; and as I've
nothing to change except my skin I'm going to change that.'

'What to?' said the Leopard, tremendously excited.

'To a nice working blackish-brownish colour, with a little purple in it,
and touches of slaty-blue. It will be the very thing for hiding in
hollows and behind trees.'

So he changed his skin then and there, and the Leopard was more excited
than ever; he had never seen a man change his skin before.

'But what about me?' he said, when the Ethiopian had worked his last
little finger into his fine new black skin.

'You take Baviaan's advice too. He told you to go into spots.'

'So I did,' said the Leopard. 'I went into other spots as fast as I
could. I went into this spot with you, and a lot of good it has done
me.'

'Oh,' said the Ethiopian, 'Baviaan didn't mean spots in South Africa. He
meant spots on your skin.'

'What's the use of that?' said the Leopard.

'Think of Giraffe,' said the Ethiopian. 'Or if you prefer stripes,
think of Zebra. They find their spots and stripes give them perfect
satisfaction.'

'Umm,' said the Leopard. 'I wouldn't look like Zebra--not for ever so.'

'Well, make up your mind,' said the Ethiopian, 'because I'd hate to go
hunting without you, but I must if you insist on looking like a
sun-flower against a tarred fence.'

'I'll take spots, then,' said the Leopard; 'but don't make 'em too
vulgar-big. I wouldn't look like Giraffe--not for ever so.'

'I'll make 'em with the tips of my fingers,' said the Ethiopian.
'There's plenty of black left on my skin still. Stand over!'

Then the Ethiopian put his five fingers close together (there was plenty
of black left on his new skin still) and pressed them all over the
Leopard, and wherever the five fingers touched they left five little
black marks, all close together. You can see them on any Leopard's skin
you like, Best Beloved. Sometimes the fingers slipped and the marks got
a little blurred; but if you look closely at any Leopard now you will
see that there are always five spots--off five fat black finger-tips.

[Illustration: THIS is the picture of the Leopard and the Ethiopian
after they had taken Wise Baviaan's advice and the Leopard had gone
into other spots and the Ethiopian had changed his skin. The Ethiopian
was really a negro, and so his name was Sambo. The Leopard was
called Spots, and