The Five Fingers

The Five Fingers attempts to answer the following questions: Why is the sky so high? Why do dogs sniff at each other’s behinds? Why do leopards have spots, and why do tigers have stripes? Why are elephants scared of ants and goats? In short, this book is a collection of eleven fables that explore various themes, such as teamwork, friendship, self-belief, determination, perseverance, and leadership. But then, the book is not just about positive traits, as there are negative themes too, such as greed, lust, jealousy, war, famine, natural disasters, and how the characters deal with each of these challenges. Here are the stories in a nutshell: In ’The Five Fingers’ the tallest of the family, Thumb, is beaten and stepped on until he is squashed into a dwarf. Why? Because he refuses to steal during a famine and insists on family values of righteousness and teamwork. ’Why the Mosquito Sings the Praise of Mr Ear’ tells us why mosquitoes draw our blood. When an old, grateful mosquito sings his benefactor’s praise, his songs are out of tune, and this annoys Mr Ear’s neighbours. The mosquito is asked to stop, but he refuses and he is swatted dead. However, the next breed of mosquitoes is on the warpath to avenge the death of their great-grandfather. ’The Fox and the Tiger’ tells us a unique version of how the tiger got its stripes. In this story, the animals walk upright and wear shoes just like humans. Have you ever wondered why dogs sniff at each other’s behinds and why they don’t sign marriage contracts and why there are different breeds? Then read ’The Greatest Dog Disaster.’ In ’Hairy Furry’, a partnership between a hunter, a tiger, a lion, and a weasel goes wrong, leading to the death of both the tiger and the lion. However, whereas this partnership ends disastrously, that of ’The Corporate Body’ ends on a good note. ’Springo and King Mitus’ is a unique tale of how the leopard got its spots. Like the animals in ’The Fox and the Tiger’, the animals in this story behave and dress like humans. In ’Bleat and Everest,’ the most unlikely contender in a grass eating-contest, Bleat, a goat, challenges the reigning champion, Everest, an elephant, and wins. A similar story of courage and self-belief in the face of big challenges is ’The Scarlet Ant and the Elephant’. Finally, in ’The Rise and Fall of the Great Hornbill’, a small bird manipulates his way to the throne, but with time, his greed, foolish pride, and incompetence expose him as a fraud.