How the Camel Got Its Hump

Long ago Camel was a lazy creature and refused to help the other animals. An imaginative origin story of how the camel got its hump, this short play is inspired by one of The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. This is a perfect piece for exploring movement and ensemble work.

There are enough roles in this piece for everyone in your class, and we have four more plays in this series. Perform them one at a time or all together for an entire show-length presentation! Narrators can be “on book” to prompt other cast members.

Suggested Order for Show-Length Presentation:

How the Rhinoceros Got Its Wrinkly Skin
How the Kangaroo Got Its Jump
How the Camel Got Its Hump
How the Whale Got Its Throat
How the Elephant Got Its Trunk

You may also inspire your students to write their own origin stories with our popular Myths Drama Activity.

About the Playwright:

Greg Cummings is a member of Dramatists Guild. His plays are published by Concord Theatricals, Smith and Kraus, Brooklyn, Dominion, and Heuer, and have been produced at regional theatres, colleges, arts centers, high schools, and middle schools in all fifty states, Canada, and England.

Excerpt from the Play:

CHARACTERS:

ENSEMBLE transforms into

DOG
CAMEL
HORSE
OX
HEAD FARMER
DJINNS

SETTING
The Land of Palm Trees Near a Pond of Water

AT RISE: ENSEMBLE, as ELDEST MAGICIANS, enters, with great style, and stands in a line from stage right to stage left.

MAGICIANS
Good evening, O my Best Beloved! We are The Eldest Magicians! MAGICIANS bow. And welcome to our production of: ”How the Camel Got Its Hump”, based on one of The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling! Ahem! In the High and Far Off Times the Camel, O My Best Beloved, the Camel did not have a hump or two like it does today! No, no, no. Back then the Camel’s back was straight and flat! Look! There it is now, looking at its reflection in a pond. Even though it had no hump, I’ll say this for it: It sure loves to look at itself, and it sure is lazy.
One MAGICIAN becomes the lazy, self-centered CAMEL and side-steps the other MAGICIANS.

CAMEL
‘Scuse me, ‘scuse me please. Camel coming through.

CAMEL crosses downstage, drops to all fours, and regards its image in the pond.

Wow! I sure am beautiful! My reflection in this pond proves it!

MAGICIANS
It sure loves to look at itself! And it sure is lazy!

One MAGICIAN becomes DOG and, barking, crosses to CAMEL

DOG
Hey, Camel, come and fetch and carry with me and the other dogs!

CAMEL
Humph!

MAGICIANS
See what we mean?

DOG rejoins MAGICIANS. One MAGICIAN becomes HORSE and, neighing, crosses to CAMEL.

HORSE
Hey, Camel, come and help me and the other horses carry the farmers on our backs!

CAMEL
Humph!

MAGICIANS
See what we mean? And this “Humphing” went on for days!

HORSE rejoins MAGICIANS. One MAGICIAN becomes OX and, snorting, crosses to CAMEL.

OX
Hey, Camel, come and help me and the other oxen plow the fields!

CAMEL
Humph!

OX rejoins MAGICIANS.

MAGICIANS
Again with the “humphing”! Always with the “humphing”! Until, one day the Head Farmer had had enough of Camel’s humphing and called Dog, Horse, and Ox for a meeting.

One MAGICIAN becomes HEAD FARMER and steps forward.

HEAD FARMER
Dog! Horse! Ox! Meeting time!

DOG, HORSE, and OX step forward and cross to HEAD FARMER.

HEAD FARMER
Dog! Horse! Ox! I have good news and I have bad news.

DOG/HORSE/OX
What’s the bad news?

HEAD FARMER
Camel is lazy! Too lazy! Way too lazy! It won’t work at all. It just sits there looking at its reflection in the water of the pond!