گیلبرت و مارمولک

Gilbert and the Lizard

Eliza disliked Australia. Firstly, she’d had to spend twenty uncomfortable hours on an aircraft getting here. She wanted to go to the beach, but her husband was a zoology professor and wanted to look for some interesting animals. So now she was traversing a swamp in the midday heat.

“Let me sit down, Gilbert. I’m not hardy like you,” she said, eventually. They sat under a tree. There were lots of birds in that secluded, rural place, and they watched them flying overhead.

Then suddenly Gilbert saw something on a rock. “That’s strange,” said Gilbert. “That looks like a red swamp lizard, but I thought that species was extinct.” He carefully picked it up. “Yes, it is! I’m going to take it back to the Zoology Institute. They will be filled with so much jealousy when they see what I have found!”

“Are you sure we should take it from its home?” asked Eliza.

“Nonsense, many animals migrate. They’re used to changes,” said Gilbert. “Hmm, I don’t agree with the principle of it,” said Eliza. “It isn’t ethical.” But Gilbert was decisive and took the lizard back to the hotel in the city. He thought that this find would make him a highly esteemed celebrity at the Zoology Institute.

For the next few days, Gilbert fed and nurtured the lizard. But the lizard wasn’t happy. It lost its beautiful red color and began to look ordinary. In fact, Gilbert started to wonder whether it was special at all.

He went outside and found a common lizard on a piece of concrete. When he compared them, they looked exactly alike. The lizard was only red in the swamp!

Gilbert said to Eliza, “I’m going to return this lizard to the swamp. I’ve learned an important lesson. Home is where we are happiest. At home, we are special like the red lizard. We can never be so happy when we are away!”

“Good,” said Eliza. “So, can we go home now?”