Raffles, the Brave Little Pig By Yoginder Sikand

Raffles, the Brave Little Pig
By Yoginder Sikand
Sunny lived on a little farm with his parents, high up in the
mountains. Life on the farm afforded little amusement, and so it was
with great excitement when, one day, Sunny heard of a grand carnival
at a neighbouring village, several miles away. One bright Sunday
morning Sunny hurriedly gobbled down his breakfast and hurried off to
the carnival. He did not want to miss a bit of it!
When the boy got to the carnival he could hardly believe his eyes!
There were balloon stalls and a merry-go-round, a pair of performing
giraffes and a giant Ferris wheel and goodness knows what other
delightful treats that Sunny had only heard of or read about till
then. He spent nearly all the pocket-money that he had carefully saved
for months treating himself to all of these and to a sumptuous lunch
as well. He still had some money left, though, at the end of it, just
enough to buy a ticket for the grand raffle. A great many prizes were
to be given away at the raffle, and you can imagine how little Sunny
hoped and prayed that he would win the first prize.
And, would you believe it, Sunny's prayer came true! A voice crackled
over the microphone, announcing that Sunny was the proud winner of the
first prize! A great sound of claps rent the air as Sunny, hardly
believing his ears, drew up to the stage to receive his prize. He
shook hands with a kind old lady, who was giving away the prizes, and
waited with bated breath to see what his prize was.
The lady walked to a corner of the stage and stopped at an enormous
box-like thing that was covered with a sheet. Was it a television,
thought Sunny? Or, perhaps, a washing machine, or a fridge? How
excited his parents would be when he brought it back, he thought, for
they had none of these at home.
But do you know what that big box contained? The lady drew off the
sheet to reveal a wooden cage. Then, she slid open a door on the side,
and out trotted, you won't believe it—a little piglet!
The piglet turned this way and that, showed off its little bottom and
its curly, noodle-like tail, did a little a jig, and then it began to
squeal! 'Oink! Oink!' it cried.
At first, Sunny was completely taken aback, for who would have
thought of a piglet as the first prize in a raffle? What on earth
would he do with a piglet, he thought. He never knew of anyone who had
kept a piggy as a pet. And then, surely, his parents would refuse to
let him have it. But when the piglet began to squeal again (for it was
obviously hungry from being kept in a box for hours) little Sunny's
tender heart melted at once. He looked closely at the piglet, which
was now sniffing up his shoes, probably thinking they were edible. Oh,
what a cutely mischievous face it had, thought Sunny. And what
roly-poly cheeks, speckled with a pair of little dimples!
'Oink! Oink!', cried the piglet again, looking helplessly up at Sunny.
Sunny bent down, lifted the piglet in his arms and burst into a hearty
laugh. 'This is the best prize I could ever think of!' he said to the
old lady. 'Thank you so very much.'
When Sunny got back home later that evening he knew his parents would
be cross with him. 'We can hardly survive ourselves, son, and here
you've brought us an extra mouth to feed,' his mother complained.
Sunny's father was aghast when he saw the animal. 'What? A pig? In my
house? No way! I'll turn it into bacon and sausages or else sell it to
the butcher's tomorrow!' And that was no empty threat, Sunny knew, for
his father was really a hard-hearted man who never minced his words.
Poor little Sunny was all so perplexed. How he wished he could keep
the piglet, which he had already named as Raffles, as his pet.
'Take the damn thing and leave her in the backyard tonight and I'll
send her off to the piggery the first thing in the morning,' Sunny's
father commanded, and Sunny reluctantly did as he was told.
That night, Sunny hardly slept a wink, tossing and turning in his bed
fretting about little Raffles, who was all by herself in the backyard,
and dreading the next day when his father was certain to take her to
the butcher's.
But do you know what Raffles (who knew nothing at all about what
Sunny's father had planned for her) was busy doing all night? She was
nosing around, you see, and quite literally at that! It so happened
that Sunny's father had buried a great many potatoes just behind the
house, to be used in an emergency when food-stocks ran short—a common
enough occurrence up in the remote hills. Little nosey Raffles had
sniffed the potatoes out and with her little snout she began to dig,
throwing up great heaps of mud, until she had created an enormous pit
and had at last found the potatoes, which she munched to her heart's
content.
At around mid-night, it suddenly began to rain. Pitter-patter, it
began, but it soon turned into a dreadful storm. And as the rain came
pelting hard and the winds howled about an enormous boulder slipped
from the steep mountainside just above Sunny's house and came hurtling
down with a ferocious speed. It would certainly have crashed into the
house and smashed it to bits but, as luck would have it, it tumbled
instead into the giant pit that Raffles had dug out while looking for
the potatoes.
The next morning, Sunny's father stepped out to see what damage the
storm had caused his crops when he spied the massive boulder that was
sunk deep inside the pit. At the edge of the pit sat little Raffles,
quite enjoying herself nibbling at a juicy potato and naughtily
wagging her little, loopy tail. And then Sunny's father knew exactly
what had happened the night before. The poor little pig had saved him
and his family and their house from the monster boulder!
Do you know what Sunny's father then did? He raced up to Raffles,
caught her up in his arms, gave her a hearty hug and planted an
enormous kiss on the little piggy's baby-pink cheek!
Sunny raced out on hearing his father shouting out in glee—it was
rarely that the old man did so.
'Raffles! You saved us! You brave little piggy!', his father laughed
and shrieked and danced about in delight. 'Forgive me, little one, for
being a bad old grumpy man.'
'Father, does that mean that Raffles can stay with us?', asked Sunny,
who was completely taken aback at his father's behaviour.
'Don't ask silly questions, boy!' his father replied. 'Of course, she
can! Run off and tell your mother to make a giant bowl of potato
porridge for Raffles at once!'
And, on hearing that, little Raffles, who was still in Sunny's
father's arms, let out a little shriek of delight. 'Oink! Oink', she
cried out and wagged her little pink bottom.