The Strange Animal

Strange Animal: Oh, who am I?  I can’t remember  my name.  Oh, Can’t somebody tell me who I am?  ANYBODY THERE?

Lion:                            (roars) Who are you/

SA:                              I don’t know.

Lion:                            Nonsense.  What is your name?

SA:                              I don’t remember.

Lion:                            Who’s there? Call my ministers.

Tiger:                          Maharaj, here are your ministers.

Lion:                            This is an emergency meeting.  We have here a strange animal. H e does not know his name.  He doesn’t know who he is.

SA:                              Please, please, Maharaj. Find out who I am.  I am confused.  I am scared. I don’t remember anything.

Lion:                            Be quiet, strange animal.  Let’s discuss this matter. Gajaraj, you are the head of our elephant army.  What is your opinion? Who is he?

Gajaraj:                       Maharaj, I think he is an elephant.  Look at his legs there are surely elephant legs. We can include him in our army.

Lion:                            Ashwapala, you control our horses. What do you think about him? Is he an elephant?

Ashwapala:                No, Maharaj. Look at his body. He looks very much like a horse.  And he has some stripes too.  He looks like a zebra to me.

Tiger:                          No, the stripes are that of a tiger.  I think he is a tiger.

Lion:                            Is there anybody else who wants to say something/ Any other ideas?

Monkey:                      Maharaj, I am the chief of monkeys. I have thousands of monkeys working under me.  I know a monkey’s tail when I see one.  His tail….Maharaj…look at his tail.  He is a monkey.  He just cannot be anything else. I’m sure he is a monkey.

Lioness:                     As the Maharani of all the animals of the forest, I the lioness, want to say something.

Lion:                            Go ahead Rani, what is your opinion?

Lioness:                     Maharaj, I think he is a lion.  Look at his face.  It is just like yours.  The beard on his face, his mane is very beautiful.  He is a very handsome lion.

Lion:                            What? There can’t be another one like me.  I can’t call him a lion. Gajaraj, you include him in your elephant force.

Gajaraj:                       But Maharaj, I don’t want him. He is a lion from the front and a monkey from the back. Send him to Ashwapala.

Ashwapala:                But Maharaj, only his body looks like a horse.  His stripes are also not like a zebra.  The tiger may like to have him.

Tiger:                          No, Maharaj, now I don’t think the stripes are like mine.  I just can’t have him in my section.

SA:                              Oh, who am I? Who am I? I am not a lion. I am not an elephant.  I am not a tiger and I am not a monkey.  Who can tell me who I am?

Lion:                            Run away stranger or I’ll kill you.

SA:                              But…but…Maharaj…

Lion:                            Get lost, strange animal. Nobody knows you and you don’t know yourself.  Get lost or I’ll kill you.

ALL:                            Long live the King !