The story takes place in Africa where an enormous, greedy crocodile telling a smaller crocodile he's going to eat children. The smaller crocodile objects, because children taste "nasty and bitter" in his opinion compared to fish, as well as what happened the last time the larger crocodile tried to eat children. The larger crocodile leaves the river anyway, and announces his intention to Humpy Rumpy the Hippopotamus, Trunky the Elephant, Muggle-Wump the Monkey and the Roly-Poly Bird. The other animals insult him and hope that he will fail and will himself be killed and eaten, after which the crocodile briefly and unsuccessfully attacks Muggle-Wump and the Roly-Poly Bird.