How the Camel Got His Hump: the full story
Part One · Humph!
In the very beginning, when the world was so new and all, the animals had only just started to work for Man. The Horse carried him wherever he wanted to go, the Dog guarded his door, and the Ox pulled his plow across the fields. Every one of them worked hard from morning till night, every one of them, that is, but the Camel.
The Camel lived in the middle of a Howling Desert, and he did not want to work. He just wandered about, chewing on sticks and thorns and prickles, and he was very, very lazy. When anyone spoke to him, he only said one word. "Humph!" That was all he ever said.
On Monday morning, the Horse came to the edge of the desert with a saddle on his back. "Camel, O Camel," he said, "come out and trot like the rest of us." "Humph!" said the Camel. So the Horse went away and told Man what the Camel had said.
On Tuesday, the Dog came with a stick in his mouth. "Camel, O Camel," he said, "come and fetch and carry like the rest of us." "Humph!" said the Camel. So the Dog went away and told Man what the Camel had said.
On Wednesday, the Ox came with a heavy yoke on his neck. He had been pulling the plow since the sun came up. "Camel, O Camel," he said, "come and plow like the rest of us." "Humph!" said the Camel. So the Ox went away and told Man too.
Part Two · The Djinn
Then Man called the Horse and the Dog and the Ox together. "I am sorry for you," he said. "But I cannot catch that Humph-thing in the desert, so I have given up on him. You three must do double the work." The Horse, the Dog and the Ox did not like that one bit.
They sat down in the middle of the desert to talk it over, and just then, the Camel came strolling past, chewing on a thorny bush. He laughed at the three of them. "Humph!" he said, and he wandered off again, which made them angrier still.
Soon after that, the Djinn who looks after all the deserts came rolling by in a cloud of dust. Djinns always travel that way, because it is magic. "Djinn of All Deserts," said the Horse. "Is it right for anyone to be lazy, with the world so new and all?" "Certainly not," said the Djinn.
"There is a creature in your desert," said the Dog, "with a long neck and long legs. He has done no work since Monday." "He will not trot," said the Horse. "He will not fetch and carry," said the Dog. "He will not plow," said the Ox. "He only says Humph!" "Humph?" said the Djinn. "That's my Camel! I will see to this."
The Djinn rolled across the desert in his cloud of dust, and he found the Camel looking at his own reflection in a pool of water. "My long and bubbly friend," said the Djinn, "what is this I hear about you not working?" "Humph!" said the Camel. The Djinn sat down with his chin in his hand, and he began to work a Great Magic.
"Because you are lazy, the others have had extra work ever since Monday," said the Djinn. "Humph!" said the Camel, and he went on looking at his reflection. "I would not say that again, if I were you," said the Djinn. "You might say it once too often." But the Camel said it again anyway. "Humph!"
Part Three · The Hump
No sooner had he said it than he saw his back puff up and up and up, into a great big lump. "Look at that!" said the Djinn. "That is your very own humph. You got it all by yourself, by not working. Today is Thursday, and you have missed three days of work. Now you will work.
"How can I work with this lump on my back?" cried the Camel. "I made it on purpose," said the Djinn. "Now you can work for three days without eating anything, because your humph will feed you. Don't you ever say I never did anything for you! Go out of the desert and join the others, and behave yourself!"
The Camel looked at his back, and he sighed. Then he went out of the desert to join the Horse and the Dog and the Ox. And from that day to this, the Camel has worn a humph on his back. We call it a hump now, so we do not hurt his feelings.
He has never caught up with the three days he missed at the beginning of the world, and he has never learned how to behave. But when the sun is hot and the road is long, that humph comes in very handy indeed.