The three-toed sloths lived in trees near the castle where LongBeard was staying with his cousin. Each member of this family was called Sloth, as it was too much of an effort for them to choose other names. Sloths don’t do anything beyond what they have to, and that is the bare minimum!
LongBeard quickly climbed up the high tree where he could see a family of sloths hanging from the branches. Their eyes were open, so he knew they were awake. It was quite difficult to find the right time to visit the sloths, as they sleep for about 10 hours every day! Sloths prefer to hang upside down from branches, rather than sitting on them. They hang very quietly and because they hardly move, they are almost impossible to spot. Their long nails grip the branches firmly and their slightly green coats help them to blend in with their surroundings. They were invisible to the eagle which at that moment swooped down and grabbed a poor, unsuspecting rabbit who had exposed himself carelessly in the open.
LongBeard made himself comfortable on the branch alongside Sloth, the biggest of the family. He knew that sloths don’t enjoy speaking too much, and he chose his questions carefully so as to elicit maximum information with minimum effort from the sloth. “Sloth,” he asked, “how old are you?” “30,” came the one-word reply.
“Do you ever feel the need to move more quickly?” LongBeard inquired, knowing that at their fastest sloths can only progress about 2 metres per minute! In fact, everything about them is slow – they eat slowly, their digestion is very slow and they only go to the toilet once a week! Sloths have a very slow metabolism and they even keep their body temperatures down to conserve energy. “No,” came the one-word reply again.
At that moment, there was a commotion at the castle. A little prince came running towards the trees shouting, “Sloth, sloth, quickly! Move higher into the trees where you will be safe! The Devil is coming with his bow and arrows and he says he is going to shoot you!” The little prince’s fear could be clearly detected in his frantic behaviour. The sloths groaned but didn’t move. The little prince ran to the trees and searched for the sloths, but because they were so quiet and well camouflaged, he couldn’t see them at all.
“Who is the Devil?” whispered LongBeard. “The prince’s older brother,” said the sloth. “He enjoys killing animals for fun.” “Do you trust the little prince?” asked LongBeard. “We mistrust all humans,” the sloth said laconically and wisely. “They always seem to want to capture us and make pets out of us, or shoot at us as if we were target practice.”
LongBeard decided to go and have a word with the little prince. He enjoyed being in this country where gnomes could speak to humans and animals alike. He slid down the tree and walked to where the little prince was still calling out to the sloths. He tugged at his trouser leg to get his attention. “Hey, Little Prince!” he called.
“Oh hello,” said the little prince. “What are you doing here?” “I thought I should come and talk to you about the sloths,” LongBeard replied. “What about them?” asked the little prince. “Where are they? We must warn them that my brother is coming!”
“They heard you,” said LongBeard, “and are thankful for your warning. However, they want you to understand that safety for them lies in being quiet, rather than running. Because of their colour, and because they can stay still for such long periods at a time, their enemies can’t see them. They look as if they are part of the tree and not even the sharp eyed eagle or the cunning jaguar can find them easily.” “How do you know this?” asked the little prince. “The sloths told me,” LongBeard replied.
The little prince sighed. “I just want to help rescue them and make sure they are safe,” he said. “They are quite capable of helping themselves,” LongBeard replied gently. “Just because they are different and slow, it doesn’t mean that they are wrong and we are right. We each have our own journey to walk in our own way. Look at me, I’m much smaller than you, but I am happy being a gnome. Would you like to be a gnome or a sloth?”
“No,” smiled the little prince, “I guess not.” “Well,” LongBeard continued in his gentle tone, “it is just the same for sloths. They enjoy being who they are and appreciate being accepted as they are, rather than being changed into something or someone they would rather not be. Sometimes we are naïve in thinking that the way we perceive the world to be is the only way and it is good for us to remember that every being has the right and the freedom to be who they choose to be.”
“In the end it’s just about accepting ourselves and others without wanting to always make changes, isn’t it?” asked LongBeard. “Even with the best of intentions we sometimes interfere in others’ lives, thinking that we are helping them.”
The little prince sat down on the ground and looked at LongBeard very seriously. Then he nodded and said, “You are right. In fact, with all the noise I’m making I am probably leading my brother to the sloths rather than helping them! Silly me! I feel much happier now that I understand that they are quite capable of protecting themselves. I always thought sloths were just lazy and unaware of dangers around them, but now I realise how limited my knowledge is!”
With that he got up, dusted off his trousers and turned to go back to the castle. “Would you like a lift home?” he asked politely and held out his hand to LongBeard.
“Why sure,” said LongBeard and hopped onto the little prince’s hand. “I’d be honoured to be given a lift by such a helpful and caring chap!”
Original dream words on which this story is based: school, high, man, jumped, rescue, fear, violence, protect, airplane, crashed, schoolboys, spoilt.
Acknowledgement: www.blazelightaround.co.uk, google images
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