A long, long time ago, when the world was brand new and shiny, there lived a Camel in the middle of a great sandy desert. The Camel was very, very lazy. He spent all day sitting on the warm sand, munching on sticks and thorns, and staring at his own reflection in a puddle. He did not like to work. Not one little bit!
Every morning, the Horse would trot past the Camel on his way to work. 'Good morning, Camel!' called the Horse. 'Will you come and help carry things today?' The Camel slowly turned his big grumpy head, looked at the Horse with his droopy eyes, and said just one word: 'Humph!' Then he went right back to doing nothing at all.
Next came the Dog, wagging his tail and panting in the hot sun. 'Hello, Camel! Will you come and fetch sticks with me today?' he asked hopefully. The Camel didn't even look up this time. He just opened his big mouth wide and said, 'Humph!' The poor Dog padded away sadly, his tail drooping behind him.
Then the Ox came plodding along, big and strong. 'Please, Camel, won't you come and help plow the fields?' asked the Ox kindly. But the Camel gave the very same answer he always gave. 'Humph!' he said, without moving a single muscle. The Ox sighed a great big sigh and walked away to do the Camel's work all by himself.
That evening, the Horse, the Dog, and the Ox gathered together under a big palm tree. They were very tired and very cross. 'It's not fair!' neighed the Horse. 'We do all the work while the Camel does nothing!' 'He just says Humph all day long!' barked the Dog. 'We must tell the Djinn of All Deserts about this,' mooed the Ox wisely.
The Djinn of All Deserts was a magical being who rolled across the sands in a great cloud of golden dust. When the three animals told him about the lazy Camel, the Djinn frowned. 'He just says Humph?' asked the Djinn, his eyes twinkling with mischief. 'We shall see about that! I will go and have a little word with your friend the Camel.'
The Djinn floated across the desert until he found the Camel, still sitting in the very same spot, still doing absolutely nothing. 'Camel,' said the Djinn in a deep, rumbling voice, 'why won't you work like the others?' The Camel slowly lifted his head, looked the great magical Djinn right in the eye, and said — you guessed it — 'Humph!'
The Djinn raised his hands high and the desert wind began to swirl. 'You have said Humph once too many times!' boomed the Djinn. Suddenly, the Camel felt something very strange happening on his back. It started to puff up, bigger and bigger and BIGGER! A great big lump grew right there on his back. 'What is this?!' cried the Camel in surprise, twisting around to look.
'That is your very own Humph!' said the Djinn, smiling. 'I have given it to you because you missed three days of work. Now your hump is full of food and water, so you can work for three whole days without stopping to eat or drink!' The Camel looked at his new hump and his eyes went very, very wide. He finally understood: being lazy has consequences!
From that day on, the Camel went to work with the Horse, the Dog, and the Ox. He carried heavy loads across the desert sands without complaining, and his hump kept him going for days and days. The other animals were happy to have his help at last. And do you know what? The Camel still has his hump today — to remind him that everyone must do their fair share of work!
