In this narrated excerpt from Roald Dahl’s ‘The Enormous Crocodile’, the story follows the villainous crocodile as he prowls the jungle, confronting three jungle inhabitants—Trunky the elephant, Mugglemump the monkey, and a roly‑poly bird. Each encounter showcases the crocodile’s menacing dialogue, his declaration that he intends to eat children, and his attempts to intimidate or attack the animals. After narrowly missing the bird, the crocodile emerges from the jungle, spots a nearby town, and devises a cunning plan: he gathers fallen coconuts and branches, arranging them on his back to masquerade as a small coconut tree among the taller ones, hoping to lure unsuspecting children who come for coconuts. The passage is delivered with dramatic narration, character voices, and repeated exclamations, emphasizing the crocodile’s wickedness and the looming danger for the town’s children.
Chapters
Inside the jungle, he met Trunky the elephant. Trunky was nibbling on leaves from the top of a tall tree, and he didn't notice the crocodile at first. So the crocodile bit him in the leg.
Ow!
said Trunky with his big deep voice.
Who did that? Oh, it's you, is it? You beastly crocodile! Why don't you go back to the big Brown muddy river! Where you belong! I have secret plans and clever tricks, said the crocodile. You mean you got nasty plans and nasty tricks, said Trunky. You've never done a nice thing in your life! Enormous crocodile grinned at Trunky and said, I'm going to find a yummy child for lunch. Keep listening and you'll hear the bones go crunch! Oh, you wicked beastly beast!
cried Trunky.
Oh, you foul and filthy fiend! I hope you get squashed and squished and squuzzled and boiled into crocodile stew!
The enormous crocodile laughed out loud and disappeared into the thick, thick jungle. A little bit further, he met Mugglemump, the monkey. Mugglemump was sitting in the tree eating nuts. Hello, Crocky, said Muggawump. What are you up to now?
I have secret plans and clever tricks, said the crocodile.
Would you like some nuts? asked Muggawump.
I have better things to eat than nuts, sniffed the crocodile.
I didn't think there was anything better than nuts, said Muggawump.
Aha!
said enormous crocodile.
The sort of things that I'm going to eat have fingers, toes and nails, arms and legs and feet.
Muggawump went pale and began to shake all over. You aren't really going to gobble up a little child, are you? he said.
Of course I am!
said the crocodile.
Clothes and all! They taste better with the clothes on.
Oh, you horrid, horrid croc! cried Muggawump. You silly creepy creature! I hope the buttons and buckles all stick in your throat and you choke to death! The crocodile grinned at Muggerwump and said, I eat monkeys too! And quickly, and quick as a flash, with one bite of his huge jaw, he bit through the tree that Muggerwump was sitting in, and down it came. But just in time, Muggerwump jumped into the next tree and swung away through the branches. A little farther on, the enormous croc met the roly-poly bird. The roly-poly bird was building a nest in an orange tree. Oh, hello, enormous crocodile!
G'day!
Said the roly-poly bird. We don't often see you up here in the jungle. Ah, said the crocodile.
I have secret plans and clever tricks.
I hope it's not something nasty, said the roly-poly bird.
Nasty?
cried the crocodile. Of course it's not nasty!
It's delicious! It's ludicrous!
It's super! It's mushiest and stupor!
It's better than rotten old fish! You mash it and munch it and chew it and crunch it! It's so lovely to hear it go squish!
Oh, it must be berries! Berries are my favourite food in the world. It's raspberries perhaps, or could it be strawberries? The enormous crocodile laughed so much his teeth rattled together like pennies in a piggy bank.
Crocodiles do not eat berries, he said. We eat little boys and girls, and sometimes we eat roly-poly birds as well.
Very quickly, the crocodile reached up and snapped his jaws at the roly-poly bird. He just missed the bird, but he managed to catch a hold of some of the long, beautiful feathers in its tail. The roly-poly bird gave a shriek of terror and shot straight into the air, leaving its tail feathers behind in the enormous crocodile's mouth. At last, the enormous crocodile came out of the other side of the jungle into the sunshine. He could see the town not far away.
Ho ho!
He said, talking aloud to himself.
Ha ha! That walk through the jungle has made me hungrier than ever. One child isn't going to be nearly enough for me today. I won't be full until I have at least eaten three juicy little children.
He started to creep forward toward the town. The enormous crocodile. crept over to a place where there were a lot of coconut trees. He knew that children from the town often came here looking for coconuts. The trees were far too tall for the children to climb, but there were always some coconuts on the ground that had fallen down. The enormous crocodile quickly collected all the coconuts that were lying on the ground. He also gathered together several fallen branches.
Now for my clever trick number 1, he whispered to himself. It won't be long before I'm eating the first part of my lunch.
He took all the coconut branches and held them between his teeth. He grasped the coconuts in his front paws. Then he stood straight up in the air. Balancing himself on his tail, he had arranged the branches in and the coconuts so cleverly that he now looked exactly like a small coconut tree standing amongst all the big coconut trees.
