oscar la hormiguita cosquillera

7/28/2019 Oscar La Hormiguita Cosquillera

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scar, la hormiguita cosquillera

Oscar from Tickly Ant HillU P L


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SCAR, LA HOMIGUITA COSQUILLERA

rase una vez, unas hormiguitas muy chi-quitinas y juguetonas.

Estas hormiguitas se multiplicaban much-simo pero tenan la desgracia de que nunca lle-gaban a conocer a sus abue-los, pues estaban conde-nadas a morir; Cada ao,unos osos hormigueros

venan y en un periquete,metan sus enormes trom-pas y se las engullan.

Muchas quedaban heridas y las pocas quese salvaban, rpidamente comenzaban a re-

construir sus hormigueros, intentndolos hacercada vez ms grandes y fuertes, pero cada aoera lo mismo. Trataban de formar su nueva co-lonia ms profunda que el ao anterior pero eraen vano. Como eran tan pequeas, les costabamucho hacer tneles profundos en tan poco


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niques needed. They didnt have any adults to

guide them so they tried the best they couldbut it wasnt good enough.

There was an ant called Oscar, he wasthe only ant that knew his grandfather. Hisgrandfather had been lucky enough to survivetwice from the anteaters long tongues.

One day Oscars grandfa-ther said:

Oscar you are ayear old now, you mustgo to the land of the Ar-

my Ants. They are the onlyones that can help us.

But Grandpa you are not well, I dont wantto leave you, answered Oscar.

It wont be for long, dont worry Ill be fi-ne. If you dont go then well all die as the ant-

eaters will come back and gobble us all up. Youare the only one who can go and get help.

Where will I find these Army Ants. Idont know anything outside our land.


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- No te preocupes por eso. Yo te har unplano igual que mi padre me lo hizo a m. Al igualque t, yo puse todas las excusas del mundo pa-

ra no ir, pero tuve que hacerlo aunque fracasen el intento. As que yeme bien: Debers diri-girte siempre al norte.

- Y cmo voy yo a reconocer el Norte,

abuelo?- El sol sale por el Este y se pone por elOeste . As que, antes de empezar a caminar,debes situarte de modo que tus patitas izquier-das apunten hacia el Este y tus patitas dere-

chas al Oeste.- Dirgete siempre hacia delante hasta encon-

trar un arroyuelo- continu diciendo el abuelo.Es pequeo. Busca una agrupacin de rocas cer-

ca y por ah podrs cruzar al otro lado. Sigue elcurso de ese arroyo en la misma direccin quelas aguas que lleva. Pronto vers que se une a unro mayor donde hay varias embarcaciones.

Ah es donde debers tener especialmente

cuidado. Pues debes subir al barco que utilizan


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Dont Worry. Ill draw you a map, just like

the one my father did for me. I also made allthe excuses in the world to not go, I had to go,

but I failed. So listen to me carefully, you mustalways face north.

But Grandpa, which direction is North?

The sun rises in the East and setsin the West , so, before you start walking,make sure your left feet face

East and your right feetface West.

Go forward until you

find a stream, its small,

look for a group of stonesclose to the bank, and that is where you should

cross. When you get to the other side followthe way the current flows. Soon youll find thatthe stream runs into a river, youll then seesome boats.

This is where you must be very careful.

You have to get on boat that lots of humans


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muchos humanos para cruzar el roy es ah don-de te pueden pisar y tener una muerte muy do-lorosa.

- Ellos siempre viajan con bolsas o paquetes -sigui explicando el abuelo. Procura esconderteen una de esas bolsas sin que te vea nadie. Unavez al otro lado, sales de la bolsa y contina ca-

minando, siguiendo el ro, hacia la derecha.Cuando veas una roca grande roja, habrs en-trado en el territorio de las hormigas gue-rreras. Cuando ellas te hagan el alto, t tepresentas como una hormiga cosquilleray les

dices que quieres ver a su reina. Aade que esmuy urgente y que estamos en peligro.

- De acuerdo abuelo contest scarno ssi podr llegar tan lejos pero al menos lo inten-tar, como t.

- Ese es mi chico!: Valiente. Vayamos a pedirel permiso de nuestra reina.

- Por qu debera darnos permiso nuestrareina?

- Ya s que piensas que es slo un poco ms


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use to cross the river, so you could get trod onand have a very painful death.

The humans always travel with bags andpackages his grandfather explained. Try andget in and hide in one of these bags without any-body seeing you. When the boat stops get outthe bag and keep on walking, following the river

on the right side of the bank. When yousee a big red rock, youll have enteredin the Army Ants territory.

They will halt you, so you tellthem you are a TicklyAnt, and ask to

see their queen tell them that its ur-gent and that we are in danger.

OK Grandpa Oscarsaid. I dont know ifIll get that far but I will try my best, just like

you did.Thats my brave boy! Lets go and ask the

queen for permission.

Why does the queen have to give us per-mission?


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pequea que t. Pero a ella le corresponde dar elpermiso de expedicin porque es de dinastareal.

- Y por qu no viene ella conmigo?No digas tonteras; a ella debemos proteger-

la. Slo los valientes pueden hacer estaexpedicin y t eres el mas valiente

de todos.- De acuerdo abuelo.

Fueron a pedirle permiso a lajoven reina que le pareci muy

bien la propuesta y hasta se ofre-ci para acompaarlo, pero el abuelole dijo:

- No majestad, usted debe quedarse aqupues su funcin es dirigir el hormiguero. Mi nie-

to puede hacerlo solo.- Te deseo mucha suerte, scar dijo la

reina.

- Gracias majestad, espero volver con ayuda

respondi scar.


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I know you think that the queen is only a

little younger than you, but she is the only onethat can give you an expedition permit as she isroyalty.

Why doesnt she come with me?

Dont be silly. Its her that we must pro-

tect. Only the brave can go on this expe-

dition and you are the bravest of all.Alright Grandpa, I under-

stand.

Oscar and his grandfather went

to get the permit from the youngqueen, she thought it was a great idea andeven offered to go too. But Oscars grandfa-ther told her:

No your majesty, you must stay here be-

cause its your responsibility to rule the nest.My grandson can do this by himself.

I wish you all the best, Oscar, said thequeen.

Thank-you your majesty, I hope to bringback help, answered Oscar.


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scarsali muy satisfecho porque la reina in-cluso se haba ofrecido a acompaarlo.

Al enterarse de la noticia, todos los supervi-vientes de hormigueros de la comarca acudierona despedirlo y scarparti como un hroe.

Siguiendo las instrucciones de su abuelo, s-caremprendi el camino hacia el norte.

Empez el viaje con mucha energa, pero cadavez, se haca ms pesado. A veces se haca casiimposible continuar pues tena que rodear e in-cluso trepar, cada vez ms piedras, pero tenaque hacerlo; de l dependa su colonia. De no-che, paraba para comer y dormir y cuando salanlos claros del da, continuaba su camino.

Al segundo da de viaje, coincidi con una ra-tita que tambin se diriga al norte y a la que le

pregunt si estaba cerca el riachuelo que suabuelole mencion. La ratita le contesto:

- An te queda mucho camino, pero si quieres,puedes subir a mi lomo y yo te llevar.

Nuestra hormiguita subi al lomo de la ratitay lo llev incluso hasta la otra orilla del riachue-


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Oscar was very pleased that the queenhad offered to accompany him.

When word go out all the surviving ants ofthe land went to see him off, so Oscar left as ahero.

Following his grandfathers instructions,

Oscar faced north and began his journey.

He started the journey with lots of energy, butas time went past it became harder and harder.Sometimes it was almost impossible to carry on,

as he had to go round or over big rocks. But hehad to continue as his colony depended on him.At night, he stopped to eat and sleep and thenat the light of day he continued on his way.

On the second day of his journey, he met

a rat that happened to be going in the same di-rection. Oscar asked the rat if he was near thestream that his grandfather had mentionedand the rat said:

You still have a long way to go, but if youwish Ill carry you on my back.


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lo. Fue fcil cruzarlo en el lomo de la ratita,atravesando las muchas piedras que all haba.

Al llegar a la otraorilla, la ratita sedespidi. Tena queregresar con su fa-

milia, y la hormigui-ta le agradeci loque haba hecho porella.

scar sigui an-dando junto al arroyo, aunque an tardara algu-nos das en llegar hasta donde los humanos cru-zaban en barco.

No iba cansado, porque el viaje lo haba hecho

encima de la ratita pero se hizo de noche y nopudo continuar, as que busc un hormiguerodeshabitado para pasar la noche. Vio uno quepor la forma en que estaba la tierra, supuso queno viva nadie. Se acerc a la entrada y grit:

- Hay alguien aqu?


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So Oscar got on the rats back and the rattook him all the way to the other side of thestream. The stream was full of rocks and

stones and the crossing would have been verydifficult for Oscar if he hadnt been travellingon the rats back.

When they reached the other bank, the

rat said goodbye as he had to meet with hisfamily. Oscar told the rat how much he appre-ciated his help and also said goodbye.

Oscar carried on walking along the streambut he still had a few days journey to reach

where the humans crossed the river in boats.He wasnt that tired as travelling on the

rats back had helped a lot, but it was gettingdark so he started to look for an empty anthill

to spend the night. He soon found one that bythe way the earth mounded he thought wouldbe empty.

Is anyone there? he cried at the en-

trance.


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Nadie contest, pero antes que se dieracuenta, una hormiga grandiosa se puso delantede ella y le dijo con tono grave:

- Qu buscas aqu?Perdone seor hormiga - le contest scar

un poco asustado - voy en busca de las hormigasguerreras para que nos ayuden.

- De dnde vienes?- Vengo de lejos, soy una hormigacosquillera

- contest scar.

- Cosquillerahas dicho?

- Si seor, tengo que ir a la tierrade las guerreras a pedirles ayuda.

- Pues da la casualidad que yo soyuna guerrera escaladora. No te preocupes,

yo te llevar hasta mi reina. Vosotras, por or-den de nuestra reina, sois consideradas y res-petadas por todos nosotros. Saldremos maanapor la maana Has comido?

- No mucho. No tengo mucho tiempo para co-

mer, viajo todo el da y cuando llega la noche,


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Nobody answered, but suddenly a great bigant jumped in front of him and said in deepvoice:

Whos there? What do you want?Excuse me Mr. Ant answered Oscar a lit-

tle scared, Im looking for the Army Ants. I

need their help.

Where are you from.Im from far far away Im a TicklyAnt

from TicklyAnt Hill, answered Oscar.

A TicklyAnt did you say.

Yes, sir, I need to find the land ofthe Army Ants to ask for help.

Well as it happens, Im a warrior ant

myself, so dont worry, I can take you to see

my queen. We have been told by our queen torespect your species. Well leave tomorrowmorning, have you eaten?

Not much. I havent had much time to eat,

Ive been travelling all day and then at night I

just eat what I can find.


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como lo que me encuentro.

- Pues vamos a comer. He trado varias hojasfrescas. Espero que sean de tu gusto.

scar, la hormiguita, comi y quedo dormida.Cuando despert al da siguiente, su compaeraya la estaba esperando de pie.

- Ser mejor que nos demos prisa apremi -

debemos llegar antes de que salga el barco.Iban andando ligero, pero la guerrera iba ms

deprisa y a scar le costaba seguir su paso. Alnotarlo, la guerrera se volvi y la invit a que

subiera a su lomo. Ella se subi y continuaron lamarcha pero era muy difcil mantenerse sobreaquel lomo tan resbaladizo. Entonces la guerre-ra le dijo:

- Sintate cerca de mi cabeza y agrrate a

mis antenas.As lo hizo scary todo march bien. Pare-

ca que aquella guerrera saba bien lo que ha-cia.

Al llegar junto al barco, la guerrera, aprove-ch la oportunidad cuando un humano que iba a


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OK, lets eat then, Ive got a few fresh

leaves that Im sure youll enjoy.

Oscar had his dinner and them fell asleep.When he woke the next morning, his friend wasalready awake and waiting.

We had better get a move on, the warri-

or said. We have a boatto catch.

They started to walk at a good pace butOscar found it hard to keep up with the bigwarrior ant. When the warrior ant noticed thatOscar was having trouble, he invited Oscar tojump on his back. But Oscar found it very diffi-cult because he kept slipping off, so the warri-or said:

Sit on my head and hold on to my anten-

nae.

Oscar did as he was told and everythingwent well. Oscar thought that the warrior antcertainly new what he was doing.

When they arrived at the boat, the warri-

or took the opportunity of getting into a basketthat a human had left on the floor while buying


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subir al barco, dej la cesta en el suelo, parasubirse a ella. Cuando el humano baj del barco,la guerrera con scar todava a cuestas, salt

al suelo pero la hormigacosquillerase escurriy se dio un buen porrazo.

- Ests bien? pregunt la guerrera.

- Un poco mareado dijo scar.

- Lo siento, he perdido el equilibrio. Sbeteotra vez que pronto estaremos all.

A los pocos minutos, scardivis una gran rocaroja a lo lejos y muy entusiasmado grit:

- Ya veo el territorio de las guerreras!Cuando llegaron a su base de la roca, la

guerrera de dijo:

Ya casi estamos. Agrrate bien

que escalamos la roca.Pero entonces se escuch una vozque deca:

- quin viene?

La guerrera respondi:


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his ticket. When the human got of the boat,the warrior with Oscar still on his head, jumpedout of the basket but the little tickly antcouldnt keep on and fell to the floor with a nas-ty bump.

Are you alright? Asked the warrior.

Just a little dizzy, answered Oscar.

Sorry. I lost my balance. Get back on andwell continue on our journey. Well soon be

there.

A few minutes later, Oscar saw a big red

rock. Were here! were here! cried Oscar ex-citedly.

I can see the land of the Army

Ants.

When they got to the bottomof the rock the warrior said:

Were nearly there. Hold on

tight because weve got to climb this

rock.

Suddenly they heard a voice that said:


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- Soy escaladora y traigo conmigo a una cos-quillera que quiere hablar con nuestrareina.

- Has dicho cosquillera?La misma voz dijo otra vez:

- Dejen paso libre una escaladora!, trae a unacosquillera a cuestas. Por favor, iros turnando

para subirla. Es muy pequea y hay que subirla acuestas hasta la cima de la roca.

Pronto tuvo delante de ella seis guerreras. Tresde ellas sujetaban, con sus fuertes mandbulas,

una hoja de rbol por cada lado. Colocaron en elcentro a nuestra hormiguita cosquillera e ibanpasando la voz para que dejaran libre el paso.

Para ellas, aquella roca era tan alta como unamontaa y, en su cima, era donde tenan las gue-

rreras la entrada al hormiguero. scarascendae iba en la gloria, como si fuese el rey.

Todas las que iban cargadas ascendan por laizquierda y las que iban de vaco descendan por

la derecha y se apartaban para dejarles pasar yla saludaban. Que buena organizacin tenan las


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Whos there?

The warrior answered:

Im a warrior and Im carrying a TicklyAnt who wants to talk to our queen.

Did you say a TicklyAnt?

The same voice replied, and then shouted:

Let the warrior through! Hes bringing aTicklyAnt with him. Take turns in helping himup as he is very small and we have to get him tothe top of the rock.

Soon there were six more warriors in

front of them, three of them were carrying atree leaf with their strong jaws. They sat Os-car on the leaf and shouted up so that every-body new that they should let Oscar through.

The rock, (for ants), was as high as amountain and the entrance to the Army Antsnest was at the top. Oscar was taken up in gloryand he felt like a king.

All the ants that were going up carrying

something travelled on the left and those emp-


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guerreras! Si l pudiera llevar a sus hormigue-ros todo el orden como lo llevaban ellas, seriaalgo estupendo. scarno perda detalle de todo

lo que iba viendo para ponerlo luego en prcticaen su hormiguero. Iba pensando: si nos organi-zramos como ellas, en vez de ir cada una por sulado, tal vez nos ira mejor.

Por fin, entraron en el hormiguero de las gue-rreras. Not que era cuesta abajo, entonces gi-raron a la derecha hasta llegar al centro de lasgaleras. scar estaba maravillado. Aquello eralo mejor que haba visto en su vida. Aquellas ga-

leras eran profundas y amplias.La iban pasando de una galera a otra con tal

rapidez que no saba si podran aguantar muchoaquel ritmo. Pues pareca una noria con tantassubidas y bajadas.

Entraron en una gran sala donde pareca queera donde ellas se reunan. Ah la bajaron y unade ellas, la que siempre daba rdenes, la possobre una taburete y le dijo:

- Espera aqu. Nuestra reinavendr a hablar


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ty handed went down on the right, as Oscar wascarried through they stood aside to let himpass and saluted. What fantastic organization!

Thought Oscar, wouldnt it be great if our anthill could be as organized as this. Oscarwatched everything so he could take all his ide-as back home. We must learn to work togetheras a group, he thought, then maybe things wouldbe better for us all.

At last, they entered the nest. He noticedthat it was down hill, then they turned right un-til they arrived to the center of the galleries.

Oscar was amazed. Hed never seen anythinglike it in his whole life. The galleries were so bigand deep.

They travelled from one gallery to anotherso quickly, he was getting dizzy with all the go-ing ups and coming downs he felt like he was ona big wheel.

They went into a big room where it seemedeverybody met. This is where he was made to

get off the leaf, the ant that was ordering eve-rybody about sat Oscar on a stool and said:


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contigo. quieres comer algo?

- No, gracias, he venido picando un poco de lahoja en la que me sentaron.

- Bien

La hormiga encargada no pudohablar ms, pues en aquel instan-te entr la reina.

- Majestad, esta es la hor-migacosquillera-dijo la encar-gada.

La reina an era ms grande

que el resto de sus sbditos.- Encantada de conocerte - dijo la reina a

scar, al tiempo que sus antenas acariciaban supequea cabeza. scar de dijo:

- Majestad, necesitamos vuestra ayuda. Ven-go de parte de mi pueblo, si as se le puede lla-mar, porque cada vez quedamos menos y no sa-bemos qu hacer. Fue idea de mi abuelo el venira pediros ayuda.

- Qu ha pasado? - Pregunt la reina.


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Wait here. Our queen will come and talkto you. Would you like something to eat?

No thank-you, Ive been picking at theleaf I was sat on.

Good

But the ant in charge stopped talking be-cause just then the queen entered the room.

Your majesty, this is the TicklyAnt.Said the ant in charge.

The queen was even bigger than the restof her soldiers.

Pleased to meet you, announced the

queen, while she stroked her small head withher antenna. Oscar said to her:

Your majesty, we need your help. Ive

come in the name of my colony, if you can call itthat, because each year we are less and less,we dont know what to do. It was my grandfa-thers idea that I come here and ask you forhelp.

What has happened my dear? asked the


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La hormiguita le cont detalladamente todo loque pasaba, la reina lo escuchaba y cuando ter-min de dijo:

- No te preocupes, claro que te ayudaremos,pues nosotros estamos en deudas con las hormi-gas cosquilleras.

- En deuda con nosotros? - pregunt scar

mirndola sorprendido.- S, es una historia muy vieja: Una vez, unos

de mis antepasados el hijo de la reina, quiso re-correr diferentes tierras lejos de aqu. l lleva-ba una escolta, pero les sorprendi una tremen-da tormenta en medio del campo, aunque no eratiempo de tormentas. No tenan dnde refugiar-se. El agua inundaba la tierra y cada uno corrien direcciones diferentes buscando piedras a

las que trepar. El prncipe fue a trepar sobreuna de ellas pero esta cedi y le cay encimaatrapndolo y dejndolo sin conocimiento.

Al amainar el temporal, sus sbditos comen-zaron rpidamente a buscarlo pero no lo encon-

traron por ninguna parte. Pensaron que la co-


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queen?

Oscar told her everything. The queen lis-ten carefully and when he had finished she said:

Dont you worry now, of course we will

help you. We are in great debt with the TicklyAnts.

In debt with us? Asked Oscar looking

surprised.Yes, Its a very old story: A long time ago,

one of my ancestors, the queens son, wanted to

visit other lands far away. He took an escort

with him, but a tremendous storm surprisedthem while they were out. It wasnt the season

for storms and they couldnt anywhere to shel-

ter. The rain flooded the land, everybody ran inall directions to find a stone or rock to climb

on. The prince found one, but he slipped and felland the stone fell on him, which left trappedand unconscious.

When the storm subsided, his escort went

looking for him but they couldnt find him any-where. They thought the water had carried him


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rriente del agua se lo haba llevado lejos de all.As que se alejaron del lugar y se dirigieron ha-cia donde les llevaba la corriente.

Al da siguiente, por la maana, una tribu dehormiguitas a las que llamaban hormigas de jar-dn, sali muy temprano a buscar comida cuandovieron que, debajo de una roca, estaba atrapada

una gran hormiga roja. Se lo comunicaron a sureinay esta mand que le quitaran la piedra ycomprobasen si estaba viva.

Con mucho esfuerzo y palancas de palos, lashormiguitas le quitaron la piedra de encima y

necesitaron veinte hormiguitas para transpor-tar aquella hormiga tan grande a su hormiguero.La misma reinala reconoci y dijo:

- Sigue inconsciente pero viva, tenis que

darle un masaje para reanimarle.- Cmo vamos a hacerlo majestad? pregun-t una de ellas - somos tan pequeas.

- Subid diez de vosotras encima de ella y convuestras patitas hacedle cosquillas por todaspartes.


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somewhere else, so they left the scene tosearch further away.

The next morning, a tribe of ants whichwere called garden ants, left early to find foodand found a big red ant trapped under a rock.They informed their queen and she ordered

that they were to move the

stone to see if he was still alive.With much effort and leversticks they managed to get himout. They needed twenty ants to

transport the great big ant back to the anthill.

The queen herself came to see the Army Antand said:

Hes still alive but unconscious, you must

give him a massage to reanimate him.

How are we going to do that your majes-ty? one of them asked. Hes so big and were so

small.

Ten of you, get on top of him and tickle

him all over with your tiny little feet.


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As lo hicieron y cuando se cansaban aquellasdiez, cambiaban y suban otras diez. Lo intenta-ron muchas veces hasta que, al final, la hormiga

roja empez a rer y dijo:- No me hagis ms cosquillas!.

Al reponerse, la gran hormiga rojales expliclo que haba pasado. Las jardineras fueron a avi-

sar a los sbditos de su escolta que, aunque mal-heridos seguan buscando su prncipe.

Al saber que estaba bien, se pusieron muycontentos y acudieron a su lado. Todos estuvie-ron all varios das y, mientras se recuperaban,mandaron un aviso a su reina para informarle.sta se puso de inmediato de camino para ir abuscar a su hijo.

Al arribar y or la historia, la reina les dijo a

las hormiguitas que, desde aquel da, se llama-ran las hormigas cosquilleras. Y si algn da,ellas necesitaran cualquier cosa, contara con suayuda, pues su agradecimiento perdurar porgeneraciones.

Y de eso fue hace muchos aos continu la


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So they did as they were told and whenthey were tired another ten got on to relaythem. They tried over and over again until at

last the red ant started to laugh and said:Stop tickly me, please!.

When recovered, the big red ant toldthem what had happened to him and his men.

The garden ants went out in search of theprinces escort, who even badly injured werestill looking for their prince.

The escort was extremely happy whenthey found out that their prince was safe andsound, they went back to the nest with the gar-den ants to be with their prince. They allstayed a few days to recover from their inju-ries and a message was sent to the Army Ants

queen, to let her know that her son was alright.When the message arrived she left immediatelyto go and get her son.

The prince told his mother all that hadhappened and the queen announced, that from

that day, she would call them the TicklyAnts,


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reina - pero todas las generaciones han idotransmitiendo la historia y todas las hormigasguerreras sabemos que estamos en deudas con

vosotras.La reina empez a dar rdenes a sus guerre-

ras y al mando de un capitn, se reclutaron uncentenar de ellas listas para partir. scar se

despidi de la reinadndole las gracias en nom-bre de su pueblo.

Durante el camino de regreso, llevaron anuestra valiente cosquilleraa cuestas.

l iba encantado, vindolas como recibanrdenes sin protestar. Tenan tanta disciplinaque todo lo que hacan le pareca perfecto. s-car iba tomando nota y pensando en que si ellosestuvieran tan bien preparados como estas gue-

rreras, tal vez, l podra capitanearlas. Se pro-puso fijarse en todo lo que hacan y aprenderatodo lo que estuviera de su parte para conse-guirlo.

No tardaron mucho en llegar al ro y no

fueron por el mismo sitio por el que vinieron.


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and that at any time in the future if they need-ed anything, the Army Ants would come tothere rescue, as she would be eternally grate-

ful.This happened many generations back the

queen continued, but we have made sure that

all our generations know that we will always be

in debt with your colony.The queen started to give everybody or-ders and together with the captain they go to-gether a hundred ants ready to leave for Tick-lyAnt Hill. Oscar thanked the queen and said

goodbye.The Army Ants carried Oscar all the way.

He was amazed, watching how they all re-ceived order without any complaining. They

were so disciplined that everything seemed justperfect. Oscar took note of everything he sawand thought to himself if only his colony couldbe so well prepared as the Army Ants, maybe,he could lead them. He decided to learn as

much as possible.


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Las embarcacin no eran tan grande y entoncescomprob que todas las guerreras se ponan enfilas de a dos y suban a la misma por la soga de

amarre. Una vez arriba, todas quedaron pegadasa la proa.

l lo observaba todo. Pareca que conocanbien la hora y modo de salida. La barca era una

lancha motora y sali disparada. No supo cmo,pero llegaron a su hormiguero tan rpido, que lepareci haber volado.

Al llegar a la comarca de las cosquilleras,todos sus compaeros salieron a recibirle. Su

abueloy la mismsima reina le dieron la enhora-buena.

Las guerreras entraron en el hormiguero ydieron rdenes de que saliramos todos de all.

Daba gusto como trabajaban tan rpido. Nues-tro hroe entr con ellos y observ cmo re-construan las galeras con la misma estructuraque en su hormiguero: amplias al principio y msreducidas a medida que se hacan ms profun-

das.


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It didnt take them long to reach the river,Oscar noticed that they werent at the sameplace that he had crossed. The boats werent as

big, all the ants formed in lines of two by twoand marched up the mooring rope. Once onboard, they all stayed at the front of the boat.

It seemed that they new what time the

boat was leaving. Apparently it was a speedboat so it shot off very quickly and before henew it, they were back at his ant hill, they hadtravelled so fast that it seemed that they hadflown.

When they arrived at the TicklyAnt Hill,everybody came out to meet them. His grand-father and even the queen came out to con-gratulate him.

The warriors went into the nest and toldeverybody to get out. They worked very quickly.Oscar went in to watch how they rebuilt thegalleries copying their home in Army Ant Hill,making the galleries big at the entrance and

them making them smaller and smaller as theywent down.


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- Podemos hacer nosotros algo? preguntscar al capitn.

- S, quiero que vayis a buscar pinchos. Elpincho del cardo.

- Pinchos? - pregunt scar.

- Exactamente, - contesto el capitn - y de-prisa, pues antes de que se haga de noche mis

guerreras habrn terminado las galeras.scar sali y orden a sus compaeros que

fuesen a buscar los pinchos. Todosse extraaron, pero ninguno pro-

test. El abuelo les dijo, ms omenos, donde podran encontrarlos.Las obreras siguieron la direccin del abuelo ypronto volvieron cargadas con una docena degrandes pinchos de los que extrajeron sus espi-

nas.Las guerreras, que aun trabajaban en las ga-

leras, les indicaron donde tenan que guardaraquellas espinas.

La noche se echaba encima y dejaron todasde trabajar. Ya haban terminado las galeras de


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Can we do anything? Oscar asked thecaptain.

Yes, you could go and get thistle spines.

Thistle spines? said Oscar surprised.

Yes, exactly, answered the captain andhurry up, so my men can finish these galleriesbefore night fall.

Oscar organized a group of ants, and toldthem to go and find thistle spines. They allthought it very strange but they did as theywere told and Oscars grandfather told them

where they could find them. The worker antsfollowed Oscars grandfathers instructions andwere soon back loaded with a dozen thistles,another group of ants took all the spines off ofthe thistles.

The Army Ants, who were still working onthe galleries told them where to leave thespikes.

Night fell so everybody stopped working.

They had finished the galleries on the first


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la primera planta y segn les dijo el capitn, ma-ana terminaran la segunda.

Las guerreras haban trado muchas hojasfrescas y todos se dieron un festn.Terminaron al da siguiente todas las galeras ya nuestro amigo, el valiente scar, le dieron ins-trucciones de cmo tenia que obrar cuando lle-

garan los osos hormigueros.Ahora tenan que esperar.

El tiempo pas muy deprisa y lleg la poca enla que volvan los osos hormigueros.

A partir de entonces se quedaron en la segun-da planta que era la ms profunda del hormigue-ro.

- Aqu es donde todos tenemos que estar -deca el capitn la guerreras haremos guardia.Las dems, debis traer mucha comida, pues nosabemos cunto tiempo estarn rondando lososos hormigueros. Estos pasadizos dan vueltas,como habis podido comprobar y para llegar

desde la primera a la segunda planta hemos he-cho una barrera de proteccin para que las len-


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floor and the captain told them that theywould finish the second floor in the morning.

The Warriors had brought lots of freshleaves with them so they all had a feast.

They finished all the other galleries thenext day and showed brave Oscar what to dowhen the anteaters arrived.

All they had to do now was wait.Soon it will be the season for the ant-

eaters to come back and attack.

Everybody got prepared for the attack

and were told to go to the second floor as ithad the longest and deepest tunnels.

This is where well wait, said the captain. The Warriors will stand guard, and everybodyelse must go and get food as we dont know how

long the anteaters will be prowling outside.These tunnels go up and down and around andaround as you will have seen and to get fromthe first floor to the second we have made a

barrier so that the anteaters tongues cantreach us. When the alarm is given you must run


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guas de los osos no lleguen hasta aqu. Cuando sed la voz de alarma, todos y digo, todos, cadauno, a su posicin sin preocuparse de la carga

que llevis o lo que estis haciendo. Si es nece-sario, la tiris y os dirigs a la segunda planta loms rpido posible, cerrar con tierra la boca delhormiguero. Si alguna no consigue entrarpara cuando los osos lleguen, debe irse aotro hormiguero sin mirar atrs, lo msde prisa que podis.

- Entendido dijimos todos.

Las guerreras cogieron las espinas

guardadas y las clavaron en las galeras de laprimera planta apuntando hacia arriba.

- Cuando ellos metan su trompa, la sacaranllena de espinas.dijo el capitn. Si todo sale

bien, entonces cada ao reforzaremos nuestrohormigueros con esta defensa.

Los das pasaron y las cosquilleras, que nose alejaban mucho, haban recogido bastantecomida y estaban alerta.

Pronto se dio la voz de alarma y todas las


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to the second floor it doesnt matter what you

are carrying or what you are doing at that mo-ment, just run back to the nest and go to the

second floor as quickly as possible and thenwhen everybody is in the nest close the en-trance up with soil.

If anybody cant make it in time before

the anteaters arrive then find another nest.Dont look back, just run as fast as you can.

We understand, everybody said.

The Warriors took the spines and stuckthem into the ground on the first floor.

The captain told them that when the ant-eaters stick their tongues in they should get amouth full of spines, and if everything goes wellthat they would reinforce the anthill with this

defense system.The days went past, the TicklyAnts didnt

go far from there nests, they had collectedplenty of food and were ready and alert.

Soon the alarm was given and everybodywent to the second floor. The anteaters stuck


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hormiguitas se colocaron en sus respectivosapartamentos. Los osos hormigueros metieronsus trompas dentro del hormiguero, como ha-

ban hecho siempre y chuparon lo que ellos pen-saban que eran hormigas, pero eran espinas quese les clavaron en sus lenguas. Cuanto ms mo-van las lenguas, ms profundo se clava-ban las espinas.

Salieron corriendo de all y cuen-tan que nunca ms volvieron.

La reina dijo a scarque ella quera que l secoronara rey pero scarle respondi:

- No majestad, yo ser vuestro capitn paraorganizar la defensa y usted ser nuestra reina.

La reina dio una gran fiesta de celebracinen honor de scar y las hormigas guerreras y

nuestras queridas hormiguitas cosquilleras pu-dieron conocer por fin, a sus abuelos y tatara-buelos.

FIN


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their noses into the ant hill, like they hadyears before and began to lick what theythought were ants, but to their surprise they

had spines stuck in their tongues, the morethey moved the deeper the spines stuck intotheir tongues.

The anteaters ran away and they

say that they never came back.The queen told Oscar that shewanted to crown him king but Oscar answered:

No your majesty, Ill be your captain, toorganize and defend your kingdom, and youll be

our queen.The queen gave a big celebration party in

Oscars and the Army Ants honor and fromthen on, and at long last, all the younger Tickly

Ants got to know their grandparents and greatgrandparents.

THE END


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A u t o r a . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . P i l a r L u n aA s e s o r . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . E d u a r d o G a r c aT r a d u c c i n . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . L i s a R y a nI l u s t r a c i n . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . s c a r G a r c a R y a n

Equipo


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oscar la hormiguita cosquillera

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