The Story of Little Black Sambo

HELEN BANNERMAN

Once upon a time there was a little black boy, and his name was Little Black Sambo.
And his mother was called Black Mumbo.
And his father was called Black Jumbo.

And Black Mumbo made him a beautiful little Red Coat,
and a pair of beautiful little blue trousers.
And Black Jumbo went to the Bazaar, and bought him a
beautiful Green Umbrella, and a lovely little
Pair of Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings.

And then wasn't Little Black Sambo grand?
So he put on all his Fine Clothes, and went out for
a walk in the Jungle. And by and by he met a
Tiger. And the Tiger said to him, "Little
Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"

And Little Black Sambo
said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me
up, and I'll give you my beautiful little Red Coat."

So the Tiger said, "Very well,
I won't eat you this time, but you must give me
your beautiful little Red Coat."
So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful
little Red Coat, and went away saying,
"I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

And Little Black Sambo went on, and
by and by he met another Tiger, and it said to
him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"

And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr.
Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my
beautiful little Blue Trousers."

So the Tiger said, "Very well,
I won't eat you this time, but you must give me
your beautiful little Blue Trousers."
So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful
little Blue Trousers, and went away saying,
"Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

And Little Black Sambo went on, and
by and by he met another Tiger, and it said to
him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"
And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr.
Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my
beautiful little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles
and Crimson Linings."
But the Tiger said, "What use would your shoes
be to me? I've got four feet, and you've got only
two; you haven't got enough shoes for me."
But Little Black Sambo said, "You could wear
them on your ears."
"So I could," said the Tiger: "that's a
very good idea. Give them to me, and I won't eat
you this time."

So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful
little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and
Crimson Linings, and went away saying, "Now
I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

And by and by Little Black Sambo met
another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little
Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"
And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr.
Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my
beautiful Green Umbrella."
But the Tiger said, "How can I carry an
umbrella, when I need all my paws for walking with?"

"You could tie a knot on your
tail and carry it that way,"
said Little Black Sambo.
"So I could," said the Tiger. "Give it to
me, and I won't eat you this time."
So he got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful Green Umbrella,
and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest
Tiger in the Jungle."

And poor Little Black Sambo went away crying, because
the cruel Tigers had taken all his fine clothes.

Presently he heard a horrible noise
that sounded like "Gr-r-r-r-rrrrrr,"
and it got louder and louder.
"Oh! dear!" said Little Black Sambo, "there
are all the Tigers coming back to eat me up! What
shall I do?"
So he ran quickly to a palm-tree, and peeped round it
to see what the matter was.

And there he saw all the Tigers
fighting, and disputing which of them was the grandest.
And at last they all got so angry that they jumped up
and took off all the fine clothes, and began to
tear each other with their claws, and bite each
other with their great big white teeth.

And they came, rolling and tumbling
right to the foot of the very tree where Little
Black Sambo was hiding, but he jumped quickly in behind the umbrella.
And the Tigers all caught hold of each other's tails,
as they wrangled and scrambled, and so they found
themselves in a ring round the tree.

Then, when the Tigers were very wee
and very far away, Little Black Sambo jumped up,
and called out, "Oh! Tigers! why have you
taken off all your nice clothes? Don't you want them any more?"
But the Tigers only answered, "Gr-r-rrrr!"

Then Little Black Sambo said,
"If you want them, say so, or I'll take them
away." But the Tigers would not let go of
each other's tails, and so they could only say
"Gr-r-r-rrrrrr!"
So Little Black
Sambo put on all his fine clothes again and
walked off.

And the Tigers were very, very
angry, but still they would not let go of each other's tails.
And they were so angry, that they ran round the tree,
trying to eat each other up, and they ran faster
and faster, till they were whirling round so fast
that you couldn't see their legs at all.

And they still ran faster and faster and faster, till
they all just melted away, and there was nothing
left but a great big pool of melted butter (or
"ghi," as it is called in India) round
the foot of the tree.

Now Black Jumbo was just coming home
from his work, with a great big brass pot in his
arms, and when he saw what was left of all the
Tigers he said, "Oh! what lovely melted
butter! I'll take that home to Black Mumbo for
her to cook with."

So he put it all into the great big brass pot, and
took it home to Black Mumbo to cook with. When
Black Mumbo saw the melted butter, wasn't she
pleased! "Now," said she, "we'll
all have pancakes for supper!"

So she got flour and eggs and milk
and sugar and butter, and she made a huge big
plate of most lovely pancakes.
And she fried them in the melted butter which the
Tigers had made, and they were just as yellow and
brown as little Tigers.

And then they all sat down to supper.
And Black Mumbo ate
Twenty-seven pancakes, and Black Jumbo ate
Fifty-five but Little Black Sambo ate a Hundred
and Sixty-nine, because he was so hungry.

The End


NOTE: The "Story of Little Black Sambo" is rarely told any more, because it is presumed to be racist. However, examination of the story shows that it is about India, not Africa. The story refers to "ghe", a type of butter used in India. Also, tigers exist in India but not in Africa. The only thing African about the story is the "mb" sound in Sambo and Jumbo, which is a sound commonly heard in African languages.

The story is no more racist than the Story about Goldilocks and the Three Bears, which is a story about a little blond-haired girl who steals things from a family of bears.

Sambo Sloan

Here are some more old stories, as retold by Sam Sloan:

Contact address - please send e-mail to the following address: Sloan@ishipress.com