Jumbo, the Elephant

Ali was nine. Dark-coloured and thin, he was tall for a boy of nine. He had dark-brown laughing eyes, black hair and snow-white teeth. Ali had neither a mother nor a father, and he was very poor. But he had three things which no other boy had. First, he had a bright silk scarf, which he wore on his head. When Ali put his scarf on, he looked wonderful — just like a young king. The second thing he had was a pair of short grey trousers. They were very old, but Ali had no other clothes to wear.

The third thing was a young elephant, Jumbo by name. Jumbo was a very good elephant, and Ali loved him very much.

The two friends worked hard. They woke up very early when the sun showed its rosy face in the sky and didn’t go to sleep till late at night. On one side of his elephant, Ali painted with ink a word which in English means “I can carry things”. And on the other side he painted a word which in English means “I can carry people”.

Together they went from village to village and from town to town and did all kinds of work. They got little money for their work, but they always had enough to pay for a cup of coffee and a few pieces of bread for Ali, and some vegetables for Jumbo.

Jumbo was quick to understand Ali and did everything Ali wanted him to do. Jumbo knew when Ali wanted him to help people get on or off his back. And he took Ali’s cap and held it before the people when they paid their fare.

When they came to a river, Ali got off Jumbo’s back; they went into the river, bathed and swam. Ali cleaned and brushed Jumbo at the riverside because he wanted Jumbo to look nice and clean.

The friends were very poor, and Ali never stayed at a hotel for the night, but often slept in a tent near a campfire with other poor people who had no homes.

Jumbo had always lived in a village, but now they often came to large towns with a lot of traffic, and Jumbo quickly learned to cross the streets when the traffic lights changed from red to green. They slowly paraded along the streets — Ali on Jumbo’s back, as high as the buses running past them. Bus conductors saluted Ali and laughed at him.

One day, as they walked along the street in a small village, they suddenly saw a car half turned over and a lot of large boxes on the ground near it. An old man stood beside the car.

“What’s the matter?” asked Ali. “Why are you crying? Can I do anything for you?”

“My car is on its side and my boxes are on the ground. I am too old to put them back into the car. But I think your elephant can help me,” said the old man.

“Of course he can help you,” said Ali and told Jumbo to put the boxes into the car.

Jumbo helped the man with the car first and then picked up the boxes and placed them in the car. The old man was very pleased. He said, “Thank you for your help! I want to pay you for your work. I cannot give you much, but here is something for you.” And with these words he put his hand into his pocket, took out some money and gave it to Ali.

Ali was so happy that he began to dance and sing a song. He stopped the first man he met in the street and asked:

“Where can I get something to eat for my money?”

“Go along this street, take the second turning on your right, and there, near the post office, you can see a shop. Or take the first turning on your right, then go straight on for three blocks, and not far from the crossing there is a nice café.”

Ali and Jumbo went to the shop. Ali bought some warm brown cakes for his money. He was so hungry that he did not go far from the shop but sat down on the ground just opposite it and began to eat. The cakes were so nice and warm that Ali ate the first one very quickly. He wanted to eat the second cake when he suddenly saw the elephant’s little red eyes looking down at the cake in his hand.

“Oh, I am very sorry, old friend! I did not think of you — you are hungry too,” said Ali and gave Jumbo a cake. Jumbo took it and quickly put it into his mouth. And then Ali saw something very interesting and strange. Jumbo was so pleased that he began to dance: he jumped first on one leg, then on the other, and then stood on his two front legs with his back legs high up.

A man stopped, then another, and soon there were a lot of people standing around the dancing elephant. They laughed and gave Ali vegetables, cakes, and money. They wanted to thank Jumbo for his dance. And when the second dance was over, Ali had a lot of money in his hand. The dancing elephant was the talk of the day in the small village.

Ali washed the words off the elephant’s sides, and they again went from village to village. Now Ali knew that Jumbo liked cakes so much that he danced after every one he ate. The two friends were happy. Now Ali had a suit in bright colors, a shirt, and even a pair of nice brown shoes. And he never went to bed without his supper.

But soon Jumbo began to understand that people gave money to him, not to Ali. And he did not want to dance if Ali did not give him five or six cakes. He also wanted ribbons of different colors on his legs and a tie around his neck, just like Ali. “You think too much of yourself,” Ali often said to Jumbo, but Jumbo did not listen to him.

One fine day Jumbo did not want to eat cakes at all. He had no appetite for them anymore. When Ali saw this, he turned pale. He understood everything. “Jumbo has had too much of a good thing,” he said to himself. “And that is the end of his dances.”

And, of course, Jumbo did not dance anymore. So Ali painted the words on the elephant’s sides again, and they went back to their work. Jumbo liked vegetables again and did not look at Ali when he ate his cakes.

If you go to Ali’s village, you can hear this story from Ali’s lips. And you can see Jumbo too. But don’t give him any cakes — he still does not like them.