Far, far away, a land buried in snow. Among the grown-up penguins, three little chicks — Tuki, Punchki and Motu. The middle of the huddle is the warmest, so all three shove and push — “Move! The middle's mine!” “No, mine!”
The pushing only grew. In a huff the three chicks split three ways — “Keep your own warmth, I'll make mine!” The moment they pulled away, the huddle opened up and the icy wind slipped inside. From afar, old Dadu watched it all.
Dadu came close and said — “Just try standing alone a while, little ones.” Tuki stood alone — a shiver took him. Punchki stood alone — her teeth went chatter-chatter. Motu stood alone — his nose turned to ice. All three ran back.
“Now stand together, you three.” The chicks pressed close, head to head. One… two… ten — and nobody felt cold, warm as Ma's kantha quilt! “Hey, together it's all warm!” laughed Tuki. But far off in a corner of the sky, a black storm was gathering.
Then the storm hit. Wind howling shoo-shoo, everything blinding white — you couldn't see a thing! All the penguins pressed into one great huddle, and it began to turn, slowly, slowly — outer ones in, inner ones out. “Keep turning! Nobody stays outside alone!”
Tuki's turn came at the outer edge. The wind bit hard, but he held — because back to back stood Punchki. Suddenly he spotted Motu, stuck in the snow a little way off! Without calling anyone, Tuki and Punchki dashed over, reached out their wings and pulled him in. Inside now, all was quiet — only the warmth of every body.
By morning the storm was gone. Across the whole sky shimmered the green-and-violet polar light. The three chicks quarrelled no more — they sat little Motu right in the middle, the warmest spot of all. Dadu smiled. And the three chicks said together — “Alone we shiver, together we're warm!”