An African Fable: What's The Matter With Elephant Read online

  “He won’t go home with us?” Young Elephant asked one more time. Mouse had followed him and now he shook his head again.

  “No, Young Elephant, he won’t go home with us. Not ever again,” he said gently. Young Elephant slumped down to the ground. He sat on his haunches for a while, swinging his head from side to side. But then he sagged down, head on his front legs. Then he cried….

  ~~**~~

  Big sobs racked Young Elephant’s body. His heart was breaking. His beloved Old Elephant had died. He will never again tell them his wonderful stories. He will not go home with them again.

  The other elephants didn’t know what to do. At first they stood around Young Elephant.

  “You mustn’t cry, Young One. He was getting very old, you know. It is better for him,” they’d say.

  “No..!! It is not better!” cried Young Elephant angrily, before giving in to another bout of sobs.

  “You’re a big boy now. You must stop crying,” some of the elephants admonished.

  “No, I’m not a big boy!” Young Elephant shouted. “I am only a little elephant. I need Old Elephant!” And then he cried some more. The elephants had nothing to say to that, so they slowly wandered off, until no-one remained. Only Mouse stayed behind with him.

  ~~**~~

  Mouse wished that he was big and that he had very long arms, so that he could hold Young Elephant and hug him and rock him while he cried. But Mouse was very small, and he didn’t know how to console Young Elephant. He climbed on top of his friend’s head, and patted him and stroked him. “Shh, shh..,” he murmured, trying to soothe his friend. He scratched Young Elephant behind his ear, where Mouse thought he’d feel it best. Young Elephant’s heart was breaking, and Mouse wanted him to know that his little friend cared.

  Young Elephant was sobbing and sobbing, and between each fit of sobs, he’d take a deep gulp of air, so that he would have enough breath for the next fit of sobbing. And every time Young Elephant’s body would heave and quiver and Mouse would lose his footing and he would slip and fall down to the ground.

  But every time Mouse would pick himself up and climb back up onto Young Elephant’s head, to soothe him and scratch him behind one of his big ears. This happened many times before Mouse remembered to grab onto one of the hairs that grew on Young Elephant’s back. He held on tight, so that he would not slip and fall to the ground again. He held on with the one hand, and with the other he patted his friend, and he scratched him behind the ear. “Shh…shh...,” was all that he could think to say.

  Eventually Young Elephant’s sobbing slowed down, and because he was very tired from all the crying, he drifted off to sleep. But sometimes his body would shudder, as if he was crying in his sleep. And Mouse would slip and fall to the ground again, because he was tired and he’d forgotten to hold on tight. But every time Mouse just picked himself up and climbed back up, to stroke and soothe his friend while he slept.

  ~~**~~

  “Wake up! Time to go!” trumpeted Big Elephant. The elephants were very excited. They were going home!

  “Come on, Young Elephant! Time to go!” they called. Mouse woke up as Young Elephant gave his first big yawn of the morning. He had just enough time to scramble up to the top of Young Elephant’s head before Young Elephant was up and ready to go.

  “Wait, let me call Old Elephant so that we can go home!” called Young Elephant to the others, but with all the noise around them, they didn’t hear him. Everyone was ready to go and they started moving away in the direction that would take them home.

  Suddenly Young Elephant remembered! It felt like the time when he had run head-on into a big tree and a big branch had hit him between the eyes. He stopped and stood as if stunned.

  But Mouse’s little body kept moving and he lurched forward and almost fell off. Just in time he managed to grab hold of Young Elephant’s one ear. His little bottom was very sore from all the slipping and falling he did through the night, while he was trying to soothe and calm down his friend. He was very tired.

  “We have to leave with the others, Young Elephant,” Mouse said. “We cannot stay behind! It would be too dangerous for us to be left alone, without the others.”

  Young Elephant stood undecided.

  “But how can we just leave?” Young Elephant cried helplessly. “We cannot just leave Old Elephant!

  “We cannot stay behind, Young Elephant,” Mouse repeated. “It would be dangerous!”

  “But we have to do something, Mouse! We cannot leave without saying goodbye to Old Elephant!” Mouse had to agree with that. They couldn’t leave without saying goodbye…

  ~~**~~

  “Very well then,” said Mouse, “Let’s go and say goodbye to Old Elephant.” Together they picked a couple of fresh twigs from a tree, the ones with the newest and freshest leaves at the end. That was when Young Elephant saw the flower.

  “Look at that, Mouse!” Young Elephant called.

  “Where?” Mouse asked. “I can’t see anything! There is nothing but tree!” Mouse was not impressed.

  “There, look at that flower,” Young Elephant insisted. “It is the first one of the season!” When he squinted, Mouse could see a beautiful flower, the first one that had opened after the rains. It was very high up in the tree.

  “Let’s pick that for Old Elephant!” Young Elephant said.

  “We won’t be able to reach it,” Mouse protested. “It is too high up in the tree.”

  “I have grown very tall, remember,” Young Elephant said confidently. “If I stand on my hind legs and I reach out with the tip of my trunk, I will be able to pick that flower!” So Young Elephant stood on his hind legs and he put his front legs on a big overhanging branch, to balance himself. Then he reached out with his trunk and he stretched and stretched. He could almost reach the flower. He stretched and stretched some more. But his trunk was just a little bit too short.

  He dropped down to all four his feet and stood dejectedly, his head hanging. Then he thought for a little while.

  “You will have to help me, Mouse,” Young Elephant decided. “If you stand on the tip of my trunk when I stretch and stretch, then you will be able to reach the flower.” Mouse did not think that this was a good idea at all. He really didn’t want to stand high up, on the tip of Young Elephant’s trunk and with nothing to hold onto, to pick the flower.

  “Let us rather look for another flower,” he suggested. He was really, really scared to follow Young Elephant’s plan. So they looked all over, in all of the trees and everywhere between the grasses. But there weren’t any other flowers to be found anywhere. There was only that one flower, high up in the tree.

  “Please Mouse,” pleaded Young Elephant, “help me to pick that flower for Old Elephant.” Mouse did not have any better plan, so he sat on Young Elephant’s head, while Young Elephant again stood on his hind legs, balanced himself with his front legs on the big overhanging branch, and stretched and stretched his trunk. Mouse crawled up, to the tip of Young Elephant’s trunk. He held on as tight as he could, he didn’t want to look down. The ground was very far below. He was very scared.

  “Hurry up, Mouse! Don’t just sit there.” Young Elephant demanded. He was wobbling on his hind legs and he could not stretch for much longer. “You have to stand on your hind legs and reach up with your arms!” But Mouse was crouching and clinging on as tight as he could while Young Elephant wobbled some more.

  “Hurry up, Mouse!” Young Elephant cried. Mouse heard the urgency in Young Elephant’s voice and he didn’t want to disappoint his friend. So he slowly and carefully stood upright on his hind legs, on the tip of Young Elephant’s trunk. He was very scared, but slowly, slowly he stretched up, and reached out to pick the big, beautiful flower.

  Just then Young Elephant wobbled again. Mouse screeched and he almost fainted. He lost his balance and he felt himself falling, falling…

  ~~**~~

  “Got you!” Mouse heard Young Elephant shouting proudly, but his voice sounded a
s if from very far away.

  “I’ve got you, Mouse!” Young Elephant said again. “You can open your eyes now.” Mouse opened just one eye as he was very scared. Things looked a bit upside down.

  “The world is upside down, Young Elephant,” Mouse whispered. “What’s wrong with the world?”

  “Open both your eyes, Mouse, and look around,” Young Elephant almost laughed. Mouse opened both his eyes and then he could see properly. He was hanging upside down with the big flower firmly clasped in one of his little hands. Young Elephant had caught Mouse by the tip of his tail when he fell. He had caught him just in time! Now Mouse was hanging from the tip of Young Elephant’s trunk. He was upside down, but he was safe. And he had the flower!

  ~~**~~

  Silently, Young Elephant and Mouse walked to where Old Elephant’s body lay. With all the other elephants gone, it was very quiet.

  “I will miss you, Old Elephant,” Young Elephant whispered as he carefully put one of the twigs that they had picked on Old Elephant’s head.

  “I will miss you too, Old Elephant,” said Mouse. But he was a small little mouse, and he struggled to put his twig on Old Elephant’s head. So Young Elephant had to help him.

  Then, together, they put the beautiful flower on Old Elephant’s head, and both of them cried. They were very sad.

  Young Elephant touched and stroked Old Elephant’s face with the tip of his trunk. It was for the last time.

  Then they turned around and they had to run very fast to catch up with the other elephants. They were going home.

  ~~**~~

  The elephants were eager to get home and they walked very far every day. Young Elephant and Mouse found all the special places that Old Elephant had shown to them. They now knew where to find the juiciest leaves and the softest grass. They knew which trees had the best bark. Young Elephant managed to strip some of the good bark off a tree by himself. The last time Old Elephant had to help him, but now he could do it by himself. They knew which paths to follow to take them home. Old Elephant had taught them very many things and they had learned it well.

  Then one morning, just when the sun came up, Young Elephant and Mouse heard a commotion. They could see some elephants milling around, looking at something on the ground.

  “What happened?” Mouse asked. “Let’s go see!” They went over to have a look.

  “Look!” said Mouse. “That is cute!” He was sitting on top of Young Elephant’s head, as he almost always did.

  “What? What?” Young Elephant tried to push through the group, but all the elephants wanted to see, and there wasn’t enough space for everyone.

  “Stand back!” Big Elephant ordered everyone and reluctantly the elephants stood back a little bit, and then Young Elephant could see.

  In the middle of the circle was the smallest little baby elephant that Young Elephant had ever seen. It was newly born and it was tiny.

  “Ooh,” the elephants sighed in unison. “That is too sweet!” The tiny little elephant tried to stand up, but he didn’t know which leg should be where. He had to try a couple of times before he got it right. All the elephants stood in wonder.

  “Ooh, you are a clever little elephant” they said when Tiny Elephant managed to take a wobbly step. His mother was very proud when they said this.

  Once Tiny Elephant could work all his legs, he tried to work out what to do with his trunk, but that was a bit more difficult. He stepped on it and tried to pull it away from his face. When that didn’t work, he shook his head to get rid of this strange thing at the end of his face. His trunk was flopping around his head, but he couldn’t get rid of it. All the elephants laughed. Young Elephant and Mouse also laughed. Tiny Elephant had lots to learn still.

  “I wish that Old Elephant was here to see Tiny Elephant,” Young Elephant said wistfully. “I miss Old Elephant.” But Mouse couldn’t speak. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but it wouldn’t go away.

  ~~**~~

  “We’re almost home!” Big Elephant trumpeted. But it wasn’t really necessary to say it, because all the elephants knew that they were almost home. Except Tiny Elephant, because he was new and hadn’t been home yet.

  The other animals could hear the elephants from afar.

  “Let’s go meet them, Meerkat,” Monkey suggested. The two ran off towards the big group of elephants. Along the way they met Young Giraffe.

  “Come along, Young Giraffe. The elephants are almost home! Let’s go meet them!” they shouted and Young Giraffe joined them.

  The elephants were very excited to be home. But first they needed a drink of water. They lined up along the river bank to drink and splash in the water. Monkey was the first to see Tiny Elephant.

  “Look at that!” he shouted. “There’s a tiny elephant!” Tiny Elephant was still trying to work out how to use his trunk to slurp water and then to put it in his mouth.

  “It is very funny,” said Meerkat. “Only a little bit of the water gets into his mouth!” But Tiny Elephant kept on trying and he loved playing in the water.

  “Hello Young Elephant!” Young Giraffe called. “And there you are Mouse! We didn’t know what had happened to you!” They were all very glad to see each other again, and with much laughter, Mouse told the story of how he had migrated with the elephants. At the time when it happened it was not very funny. But now that he was safely home, he delighted in telling the story.

  “Where is Old Elephant?” Monkey suddenly asked. It went very quiet and the friends stood around expectantly, waiting for Young Elephant to answer. But he couldn’t. He suddenly had a huge lump in his throat and he wanted to cry. So Mouse told their friends that Old Elephant had died. He also told them about their sad goodbyes.

  “But he had told us many wonderful stories,” Mouse said when he’d finished.

  “Yes, and he had taught us many things along the way,” Young Elephant had found his voice again. They were all very sad, they had loved Old Elephant.

  But everyone was glad to be home again.

  ~~**~~

  “Come quickly, Mouse,” Monkey called. Mouse was down in his burrow. He had not been home for a long time and there was a lot to do.

  “Mouse, you have to come quick!” Meerkat shouted as well. When Mouse got outside, Young Giraffe was also waiting for him.

  “What’s happening? What’s the matter?” Mouse asked.

  “It’s Young Elephant!” they shouted. “Come quick!”

  “What’s the matter with Young Elephant?” Mouse was suddenly very alert. “What’s the matter with my friend?” But the others were already running towards the river. There was a lot of noise coming from the river.

  “Get onto my back!” said Young Giraffe. “It will be quicker!” Mouse scrambled onto Young Giraffe’s back. The others were already gone.

  “What’s the matter with Young Elephant? Mouse demanded again. He was worried about his best friend.

  “You are the only one that can calm Young Elephant when he is in this mood!” was all that Young Giraffe could say, and then they were at the river, where Monkey and Meerkat were waiting for them. Now Mouse could see for himself…

  ~~**~~

  Young Elephant was busy pushing down a tree. It was the third one! He was making a lot of noise while he pushed and pushed. The tree cracked and broke but Young Elephant was not satisfied. He pushed it and trampled it until the tree was lying flat on the ground.

  But still Young Elephant was not satisfied. He went to another tree and started pushing and pushing. The tree cracked and broke and Young Elephant stomped and trampled until the tree was flat on the ground. Young Elephant was very angry. He was destroying the trees in his anger.

  “Do something, Mouse!” the others urged Mouse. When Young Elephant was in this terrible mood he was very dangerous and Mouse was only a little bitty mouse. But he loved his friend and he had to do something.

  “Young Elephant!” he cried. He had to call him three times before Young Elephant he
ard him and stopped for a moment. But he was in no mood to listen. So, when Young Elephant turned to yet another tree, Mouse tried again.

  “What is the matter, Young Elephant?!” Mouse was very worried about his friend and his voice came out as a high pitched screech. “What is the matter?” he tried again, and this time it sounded a little better.

  Then suddenly Young Elephant stopped. He had his head against the tree, where he was pushing it. Now he just stood there with his head leaning against the tree. Then he started sobbing. This time Mouse knew what he had to do…

  ~~**~~

  It took a long time before Young Elephant had stopped crying. As before, Mouse was there to soothe him. He scratched him behind the ear, where he thought that his friend would feel it best. He remembered to hold on tight to one of the hairs that grew on Young Elephant’s back, so that he would not slip down and fall to the ground. Then finally, when Young Elephant was quiet, he gently asked.

  “What is the matter, Young Elephant?” It took a little time before his big friend could answer.

  “I’m angry, Mouse,” was all he could say.

  “Why are you angry, Young Elephant?”

  Young Elephant didn’t know how to tell Mouse why he was angry. He had to think about it for a long time. Mouse sat patiently, ready to listen to his friend.

  “Old Elephant s-should have b-been here!” Young Elephant eventually stammered. Mouse was quiet so that Young Elephant had time to think.

  “Yes, I’m angry because Old Elephant should have been here to see me push down my first tree!” Then Young Elephant couldn’t stop the flood of words that came out.

  “I am very angry with Old Elephant! He went and died while I still needed him!” Mouse just listened.

  “How could he do that, Mouse? When I still wanted him to see me push down my first tree? Yes, and he promised to take me to his rubbing tree! He said that I may use his rubbing tree! Now he is not here to show me where it is. How could he die before he did that? How could he, Mouse?!” Young Elephant talked and talked. All the time Mouse just listened patiently, without interrupting his friend. Slowly the anger left Young Elephant and the two of them sat quietly for a while.