Page nofollow, near miss

Stripes were my idea. A plain orange tiger came to me in Bengal, sad and easy to see. I took a burnt stick and drew on him while he held still. He hunted well after that. Soon a long line of tigers stood waiting outside my tent, each one purring.

Eels came up the drainpipe at my house in Bremen. I tied them end to end, and we made a rope that reached the church tower. The bell ringer was most grateful. Sadly the rope went home in the rain, and it took the bell and the ringer with it.

Flags are hard to carry on a windy day. At the battle of Bender mine grew so large with pride that it lifted me off my horse. I floated over both armies, waving. Everyone stopped to clap. Then we all had lunch, and the war just sort of ended.

Parrots make terrible spies, as the Doge learned from mine. I gave the bird to him as a gift, and it sat in his room all winter. Back in my hands, it told me every secret in Venice, along with some very poor jokes and a long recipe for eels.

Gibraltar was a modest hill when I took it up as a hobby. I fed it well, gave it.