How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin

Quick Answer

Why This Story Works for Bedtime

It’s silly and energetic, but short and satisfying. The consequence is comedic (itchy skin), and it ends with a clear ‘that’s why’ explanation kids love.

Story Synopsis

In this playful ‘Just So’ world, a Parsee man bakes a delicious cake on the shore. Along comes a rhinoceros with very bad manners. The rhino scares the man and steals the cake, gobbling it down without thanks. The Parsee doesn’t chase with anger; he uses cleverness. Later, when the rhinoceros takes off its skin to cool down, the Parsee sprinkles crumbs into the skin. When the rhino puts the skin back on, the crumbs scratch and itch terribly. The rhinoceros wriggles and rubs and wiggles, trying to relieve the itch—stretching the skin into folds and wrinkles. And that, the story says, is why rhinoceroses have lumpy, loose skin to this day. It’s a humorous reminder that rude choices can leave you uncomfortable consequences—and that clever problem‑solving can beat bullying.

Story Excerpt

Once, long ago, there was an island by the Red Sea where nobody lived at all—nobody, that is, except one Parsee. He had a bright hat that caught the sunlight and sent it shining back in splendid rays. He also had a knife and a little cooking-stove—the kind you must particularly never touch. One warm day, the Parsee decided to bake something wonderful. He mixed flour and water with currants and plums and sugar and other good things, and he made one enormous cake—two feet across and three feet thick. It was a truly Superior Comestible, which means it was the very best sort of cake. He set it carefully on his stove, because he was allowed to cook on his own stove, and he baked it and baked it until it turned a deep, happy brown and smelled so sweet and rich it could make you sigh. Just as he was about to eat it, something came down to the beach from the Altogether Uninhabited Interior. It was a Rhinoceros. He had a horn on his nose, small piggy eyes, and hardly any manners at all. In those days, the Rhinoceros’s skin fit him very tight—no wrinkles anywhere. He looked like a picture-book rhinoceros, only much bigger.

In One Glance