"That's the Chipmunk, and we kill him
For his smooth, gray, stripey skin."
"Ah!" I said, "don't kill the Chipmunk,
If his little coat has stripes!
Brother he must be, or cousin
To a Chipmunk that I know
Dwelling in the Indian Jungle.
No one kills the small geloori
"Over there in far-off India,
Ever since they heard this story
How its coat came to be striped."
"Why, do tell!" cried my companion;
And I told the Hindoo story
All to save chipmunks and squirrels.
Once, among the palm-groves wandering,
Shiva, Lord and God of all things,
By the sea-shore saw a squirrel
Gray, with bushy tail and bright eyes,
Dipping constantly in ocean,
