The Man with the Coconuts

Once upon a time, in a pretty little village on the bank of a great green river, there lived an adventurous young man named Tash. One nice morning, he took it into his head to go to a distant palm forest for fresh coconuts that he could later sell at the market.

Before he could even set out, however, he had to pay a visit to the local blacksmith. His horse, named Harry, needed new shoes if they were going to take such a long journey. And especially pull such a heavy load of coconuts back home.

Soon Tash entered the forge and the blacksmith took a look at Harry and quickly got to work. First, he fanned the fire until the iron turned white-hot in the burning heat. Then he started forging the horseshoes one by one. When he finished, the two of them worked, nailing them on the horse’s hooves together, and when it was all over Harry the horse happily neighed.

The young man was finally ready to set out on his journey. He had to hurry, though, if he wanted to be back home by nightfall. Tash hitched his horse to a rickety wooden cart, and when he cracked the whip, Harry broke into a trot and headed towards a dense forest.

It was a very long journey for them, since the best coconuts grew only on the tippy-top of the tallest trees in the dimmest, deepest part of the woods. To make the ride a little more pleasant, Tash started whistling. Harry clopped his hoofs to match and they had a pleasant journey.

At long last, he reached a cold mountain stream running through a thick forest. When the young lad jumped off of his cart and looked up…