從前，有一個奇妙的地方叫作茉莉叢林。這裏的空氣甜絲絲的，生活著各種神奇的動物，他們的歡聲笑語在林中回**。這裏有獵豹的小寶寶學著跳躍，有或大或小的大象用長鼻子吸著水，在林中噴出細細的水霧，在一縷縷陽光下映出小小的彩虹。茉莉叢林就是這樣一個地方。
There was a land; a marvelous, sweet-smelling land called the Jasmine Jungle. A land brimming with all the mystery of life and filled with the raucous sounds of all the creatures who lived within. It was here that baby leopards leaped. It was here that elephants of all sizes spritzed and sprayed the jungle with a fine watery mist, causing rainbows to dance from sunbeam to sunbeam. This was the Jasmine Jungle.
叢林的最中間是一片草地。在這片芳香的青草地上，一隻小小的長頸鹿寶寶出生了，她的名字叫作梅米麗。一般來說，小寶寶出生不是什麽特別的事情，但是，當梅米麗降生的時候，整個叢林裏隻剩下兩隻長頸鹿了——一隻是梅米麗的爸爸，另一隻當然就是梅米麗的媽媽。叢林裏的所有動物都來看新出生的寶寶，驚奇地直喊著“哦！”或者“哇！”。
In the middle of this land was a meadow, and in this fragrant meadow a small knobby-kneed giraffe was born, called Memily. Normally, this would not have been such a special event, but until Memily was born there were only two other giraffes in the jungle: Memily’s father and, of course, Memily’s mother. All the other creatures of the jungle gathered around and “oohhed” and “ahhed” at the newborn baby.
在生命的最初幾個禮拜裏，梅米麗一直在磕磕絆絆地學走路。我們都知道，長頸鹿的腿又細又長，而梅米麗的腿也是這樣。她花了好長時間，才學會用這四條長長的腿走路。她在草地上搖搖晃晃地走著，努力想要保持平衡，卻總是一會兒撞上一棵大樹，一會兒又撞上小樹叢。