Zippy the Zebra: Learn English (IND) with subtitles - Story for Children and Adults "BookBox.com"

Zippy the Zebra, is totally bugged with fleas. Find out how Zippy gets rid of these fleas with the help of his new friends.

Symbiosis
By Urmila Ellappan
Zippy
had walked a long distance
in the African savannah
to reach a small lake.
He eagerly quenched his thirst
and went to rest
in the cool shade
of a baobab tree.
Zippy tried to fall asleep
but he felt uncomfortable
and very itchy.
For days,
there were those tiny fleas
all over his body.
He tried to get rid of the fleas
by swishing his tail
from side to side.
He tried to get rid of the fleas
by thumping his four legs,
one by one, on the ground.
He even tried thumping
all four legs at once!
He rubbed his whole body
against the tree trunk.
He tried to get rid of
some fleas
by licking his face
with his long tongue.
But nothing seemed to work!
The fleas just wouldn’t go away!
No swishing or licking,
no rubbing and thumping
could make them leave him.
Finally,
he became so tired and irritated,
that he rolled on the ground
with his feet up in the air.
Perched on a branch
of the mighty baobab,
he saw two little birds.
They made a lot of noise,
winked at each other
and darted down.
“Wow, that was something.
Are you okay, Pick?”
“Sure, Peck, I’m fine!
Ehh- hi, I’m Pick!”
“And I am Peck, hi!”
With a sheepish smile,
Zippy got to his feet.
“Ahem, nice to meet you,
I am Zippy,”
“You have such delicious,
tempting fleas on you,”
Pick and Peck
settled down on Zippy’s back.
“Delicious?” groaned Zippy,
“I am totally bugged!
I just can’t get them off,
no matter how hard I try.”
“We are very hungry, Zippy,
and we love fleas.
May we eat up all these …
nasty creatures?”
asked Pick and Peck.
“Sure! Be my guests!”
exclaimed Zippy, delighted.
The birds began.
They pecked at the fleas
on the face and the legs,
they cleaned Zippy’s belly
and cleaned Zippy’s back.
The zebra stood still,
letting the birds eat their fill.
Finally they were all happy.
The zebra had been freed
of the annoying fleas
and the two birds
had enjoyed a splendid meal.
“Thank you very much
for pecking those nasty fleas
off my body.”
“Oh! We must thank you
for providing us
with such a flea meal-
free meal.
Animals helping each other,
as Pick and Peck helped Zippy,
is called symbiosis.

Author: Urmila Ellapan
Narration: Ashwin Kumar Aiyangar
Illustrations: Emanuele Scanziani
Music: Holger Jetter
Animation: BookBox

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