This aired on Music and the Spoken Word on April 30, 2023.
In an old fable, the hippo had long, beautiful hair. He would show it off each night in the light of the fire. Both the lion and the jackal cautioned the hippo about vanity and staying too close to the fire, but the hippo refused to listen to them. One night, the hippo's mane caught on fire, and he had to run to the river and jump in to extinguish the flames. All his hair was burnt off! That is why hippos like to stay in the water, because they are ashamed of missing all of their hair.
What a fun idea to illustrate! I found old illustrations of woolly rhinos and mammoths to base the idea of a hairy hippo upon. We also played a bit with AI generated images to get some ideas!
