This is a modern-English version of Little Black Sambo, originally written by Bannerman, Helen. It has been thoroughly updated, including changes to sentence structure, words, spelling, and grammar—to ensure clarity for contemporary readers, while preserving the original spirit and nuance. If you click on a paragraph, you will see the original text that we modified, and you can toggle between the two versions.

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Front Cover

Frontispiece

LITTLE
BLACK
SAMBO

BY

HELEN BANNERMAN

ILLUSTRATED
BY

FLORENCE WHITE WILLIAMS

THE
SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY

CHICAGO . AKRON, OHIO . NEW YORK

PRINTED IN U.S.A.

LITTLE BLACK
SAMBO

Tiger

nce upon a time there was a little black boy, and his name was Little Black Sambo.

Once upon a time, there was a little black boy named Little Black Sambo.

And
his
mother
was
called
Black
Mumbo.

And his mother was named Black Mumbo.

nd his father was called Black Jumbo.

And Black Mumbo made him a beautiful little Red Coat, and a pair of beautiful little Blue Trousers.

And Black Mumbo made him a lovely little red coat and a pair of nice little blue trousers.

And Black Jumbo went to the Bazaar and bought him a beautiful Green Umbrella and a lovely little Pair of Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings.

And Black Jumbo went to the market and bought himself a beautiful green umbrella and a lovely pair of purple shoes with red soles and red linings.

And then wasn't Little Black Sambo grand?

And wasn't Little Black Sambo amazing?

o he put on all his Fine Clothes and went out for a walk in the Jungle.

So he put on all his nice clothes and went out for a walk in the jungle.

And by and by he met a Tiger. And the Tiger said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"

And eventually, he ran into a Tiger. The Tiger said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you!"

And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please, Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful little Red Coat."

And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please, Mr. Tiger, don't eat me, and I'll give you my beautiful little red coat."

So the Tiger said, "Very well, I won't eat you this time, but you must give me your beautiful little Red Coat." So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little Red Coat, and went away saying,

So the Tiger said, "Alright, I won't eat you this time, but you have to give me your beautiful little Red Coat." So the Tiger took poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little Red Coat and walked away saying,

ow I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

Now I'm the greatest Tiger in the Jungle.

And Little Black Sambo went on, and by and by he met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"

And Little Black Sambo kept going, and eventually he ran into another Tiger, which said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"

And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please, Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful little Blue Trousers."

And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please, Mr. Tiger, don’t eat me, and I’ll give you my beautiful little blue trousers."

o the Tiger said, "Very well, I won't eat you this time, but you must give me your beautiful little Blue Trousers." So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little Blue Trousers, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

So the Tiger said, "Alright, I won't eat you this time, but you have to give me your beautiful little Blue Trousers." So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little Blue Trousers and walked away saying, "Now I'm the most amazing Tiger in the Jungle."

I'll give you my beautiful little Purple Shoes.

nd Little Black Sambo went on and by and by he met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please, Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings."

nd Little Black Sambo went on, and after a while he met another Tiger. The Tiger said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" Little Black Sambo replied, "Oh! Please, Mr. Tiger, don't eat me! I'll give you my beautiful little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings."

But the Tiger said, "What use would your shoes be to me? I've got four feet and you've got only two."

But the Tiger said, "What good would your shoes do me? I've got four feet and you only have two."

"You haven't got enough shoes for me." But Little Black Sambo said, "You could wear them on your ears."

"You don't have enough shoes for me." But Little Black Sambo said, "You could wear them on your ears."

o I could," said the Tiger, "that's a very good idea. Give them to me, and I won't eat you this time."

"I could," said the Tiger, "that's a great idea. Hand them over to me, and I won't eat you this time."

So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

So the Tiger took Little Black Sambo's beautiful little purple shoes with red soles and red linings, and walked away saying, "Now I’m the fanciest Tiger in the Jungle."

And by and by Little Black Sambo met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"

And eventually Little Black Sambo ran into another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"

And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please, Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up and I'll give you my beautiful Green Umbrella." But the Tiger said, "How can I carry an umbrella when I need all my paws for walking with?"

And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please, Mr. Tiger, don’t eat me, and I’ll give you my beautiful Green Umbrella." But the Tiger said, "How can I carry an umbrella when I need all my paws to walk?"

"You could
tie a knot
on your
tail,
and carry
it that way,"
said
Little
Black
Sambo.

"So I could," said the Tiger. "Give it to me and I won't eat you this time."

"So I could," said the Tiger. "Hand it over, and I won't eat you this time."

So he got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful Green Umbrella, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

So he took poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful green umbrella and walked away saying, "Now I'm the grandest tiger in the jungle."

And poor Little Black Sambo went away crying, because the cruel Tigers had taken all his fine clothes.

And poor Little Black Sambo walked away crying because the mean Tigers had taken all his nice clothes.

Presently he heard a horrible noise that sounded like "Gr-r-r-r-rrrrrrr," and it got louder and louder.

Presently, he heard a terrible sound that went "Gr-r-r-r-rrrrrrr," and it grew louder and louder.

"Oh dear!" said Little Black Sambo, "There are all the Tigers coming back to eat me up!

"Oh no!" said Little Black Sambo, "All the Tigers are coming back to eat me!"

What
shall
I
do?"

What should I do?

So he ran quickly to a palm-tree,

So he quickly ran to a palm tree,

nd peeped round it to see what the matter was.

and peeked around it to see what was going on.

And there he saw all the Tigers fighting and disputing which of them

And there he saw all the Tigers fighting and arguing about which of them

was
the
grandest.

was the best.

And at last they all got so angry that they jumped up and took off all the fine clothes and began to tear each other with their claws and

And finally, they all got so mad that they jumped up, took off all their fancy clothes, and started clawing at each other.

bite each other
with their
great big
white teeth.

bite each other with their huge white teeth.

And they came, rolling and tumbling, right to the foot of the very tree where Little Black Sambo was hiding, but he jumped quickly in behind the umbrella. And the Tigers all caught hold of each others' tails.

And they came, rolling and tumbling, right to the foot of the very tree where Little Black Sambo was hiding, but he quickly jumped in behind the umbrella. And the tigers all grabbed onto each other's tails.

right to the foot of the tree where Little Black Sambo was hiding

As they wrangled and scrambled, and so they found themselves in a ring around the tree.

As they struggled and clambered, they found themselves forming a circle around the tree.

Then, when the Tigers were very wee and very far away, Little Black Sambo jumped up and called out,

Then, when the Tigers were small and far away, Little Black Sambo jumped up and shouted,

"Oh! Tigers!
why have
you taken
off all your
nice clothes?
Don't you
want them
any more?"

"Oh! Tigers!
why did you?
take off all your clothes
cool clothes?
Don't you think?
want them
anymore?

But

the

Tigers

only

answered

"Gr-r-r-rrrrr!"

"Growl!"

Little Black Sambo jumped up and called out.

Then Little Black Sambo said, "If you want them, say so, or I'll take them away." But the Tigers would not let go of each others' tails, and so they could only say "Gr-r-r-rrrrrr!"

Then Little Black Sambo said, "If you want them, just say it, or I'll take them away." But the Tigers wouldn’t let go of each other's tails, so all they could say was "Gr-r-r-rrrrrr!"

nd the Tigers were very, very angry, but still they would not let go of each others' tails. And they were so angry that they ran round the tree, trying to eat each other up, and they ran faster and faster till they were whirling round so fast that you couldn't see their legs at all.

and the Tigers were really, really angry, but they still wouldn't let go of each other's tails. They were so mad that they ran around the tree, trying to eat each other, and they ran faster and faster until they were spinning so quickly that you couldn't see their legs at all.

And they still ran faster and faster and faster, till they all just melted away, and then there was nothing left but a great big pool of melted butter (or "ghi" as it is called in India) round the foot of the tree.

And they kept running faster and faster until they all just melted away, leaving behind nothing but a huge pool of melted butter (or "ghi" as it's called in India) at the base of the tree.

Now Black Jumbo was just coming home from his work, with a great big brass pot in his arms, and when he saw what was left of all the Tigers, he said,

Now Black Jumbo was just coming home from his job, carrying a huge brass pot in his arms, and when he saw what was left of all the Tigers, he said,

"Oh! what lovely melted butter! I'll take that home to Black Mumbo for her to cook with."

"Oh! what beautiful melted butter! I'll take that home to Black Mumbo for her to use in cooking."

So he put it all into the great big brass pot, and took it home to Black Mumbo to cook with.

So he threw everything into the huge brass pot and took it home to Black Mumbo to cook with.

When Black Mumbo saw the melted butter, wasn't she pleased!

When Black Mumbo saw the melted butter, she was so happy!

"Now," said she, "we'll all have pancakes for supper!"

"Now," she said, "we're all going to have pancakes for dinner!"

So she got flour and eggs and milk and sugar and butter, and she made a huge big plate of most lovely pancakes. And she fried them in the melted butter which the Tigers had made, and they were just as yellow and brown as little Tigers.

So she gathered flour, eggs, milk, sugar, and butter, and made a big plate of really delicious pancakes. She fried them in the melted butter that the Tigers had made, and they were just as yellow and brown as little Tigers.

And then they all sat down to supper. And Black Mumbo ate Twenty-seven pancakes, and Black Jumbo ate Fifty-five, but Little Black Sambo ate a Hundred and Sixty-nine, because he was so hungry.

And then they all sat down for dinner. Black Mumbo had twenty-seven pancakes, and Black Jumbo had fifty-five, but Little Black Sambo ate one hundred sixty-nine because he was so hungry.

Uniform With This Volume:

The Little Red Hen

Willie Mouse

Wee Peter Pug

The Saalfield Publishing Company

Chicago

AKRON, OHIO

New York

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LITTLE BLACK SAMBO

BY