The Elephant and the Dog

4.8

Once upon a time a Dog used to go into the stable where the king’s Elephant lived. At first the Dog went there because he wanted to get the food that remained after the Elephant.

After a while the Elephant and the Dog became great friends. The Elephant shared his food with the Dog, and they ate together. When the Elephant slept, his friend the Dog slept beside him. When the Elephant wanted to play he caught the dog in his trunk and swung him to and fro.

The Dog and the Elephant were happy only when they were together.

One day a farmer saw the Dog and said to the elephant -keeper, “I shall buy that dog. He looks very clever. How much do you want for him?”

The elephant-keeper asked a great deal of money, and the farmer paid it and took the Dog away to the country.

When the time came for the King’s Elephant to eat he did not eat as his friend was hot there. Oh, how he wanted to share his food with him again. When the time came for the Elephant to bathe, he did not bathe. On the next day the Elephant did not eat again and he didn’t want to bathe. On the third day, when the Elephant neither ate nor bathed, the King sent for his chief servant and said, “Go to the stable and find out what is the matter with the Elephant.”

The chief servant went to the stable and said to the elephant-keeper:

“Why is the Elephant so sad? Has he lost his friend?”

“Yes,” said the keeper, “there was a Dog who ate and slept with the Elephant. A farmer bought the Dog and took him away to the country.”

Then the chief servant went back to the King and said, “The Elephant is lonely without his friend, the Dog. A farmer bought the dog and took him away but no one knows where the farmer lives.”

“Very well,” said the King, “my servants must find the farmer who bought the Dog and ask him to turn the Dog loose, and he will find the way back. I’ll give the farmer the money which he paid for the Dog.”

When the King’s servants spread this message all over the country, the farmer heard it and turned the Dog loose. The Dog ran back as fast as he could to the Elephant’s stable. The Elephant was so glad to see the Dog that he picked him up with his trunk and placed him on his head. Then he put him down again.

When the elephant-keeper brought food to the stable the Elephant waited; when he saw that the Dog was eating, only then he ate by his side. All the rest of their days the Elephant and the Dog lived together.