Once
upon a time an elephant made a friendship with a man. One day a heavy
thunderstorm broke out, the elephant went to his friend, who had a little hut
at the edge of the forest, and said to him: 'My dear good man, will you please
let me put my trunk inside your hut to keep it out of this torrential rain?'
The man, seeing what situation his friend was in, replied: 'My dear good
elephant, my hut is very small, but there is room for your trunk and myself.
Please put your trunk in gently.' The elephant thanked his friend, saying: 'You
have done me a good deed and one day I shall return your kindness.' But what
followed? As soon as the elephant put his trunk inside the hut, slowly he
pushed his head inside, and finally flung the man out in the rain, and then lay
down comfortably inside his friend's hut, saying: 'My dear good friend, your
skin is harder than mine, and as there is not enough room for both of us, you
can afford to remain in the rain while I am protecting my delicate skin from
the hailstorm.'
The
man, seeing what his friend had done to him, started to grumble; the animals in
the nearby forest heard the noise and came to see what was the matter. All
stood around listening to the heated argument between the man and his friend
the elephant. In this turmoil the lion came along roaring, and said in a loud
voice: 'Don't you all know that I am the King of the Jungle! How dare any one
disturb the peace of my kingdom?' On hearing this the elephant, who was one of
the high ministers in the jungle kingdom, replied in a soothing voice, and
said: 'My lord, there is no disturbance of the peace in your kingdom. I have
only been having a little discussion with my friend here as to the possession
of this little hut which your lordship sees me occupying.' The lion, who wanted
to have 'peace and tranquility' in his kingdom, replied in a noble voice,
saying: 'I command my ministers to appoint a Commission of Enquiry to go
thoroughly into this matter and report accordingly.' He then turned to the man
and said: 'You have done well by establishing friendship with my people,
especially with the elephant, who is one of my honourable ministers of state.
Do not grumble any more, your hut is not lost to you. Wait until the sitting of
my Imperial Commission, and there you will be given plenty of opportunity to
state your case. I am sure that you will be pleased with the findings of the
Commission.' The man was very pleased by these sweet words from the King of the
Jungle, and innocently waited for his opportunity, in the belief that naturally
the hut would be returned to him.
The
elephant, obeying the command of his master, got busy with other ministers to
appoint the Commission of Enquiry. The following elders of the jungle were
appointed to sit in the Commission: (1) Mr Rhinoceros; (2) Mr Buffalo; (3) Mr
Alligator; (4) The Rt Hon. Mr Fox to act as chairman; and (5) Mr Leopard to act
as Secretary to the Commission. On seeing the personnel, the man protested and
asked if it was not necessary to include in this Commission a member from his
side. But he was told that it was impossible, since no one from his side was
well enough educated to understand the intricacy of jungle law. Further, that
there was nothing to fear, for the members of the Commission were all men of
repute for their impartiality in justice, and as they were gentlemen chosen by
God to look after the interests of races less adequately endowed with teeth and
claws, he might rest assured that they would investigate the matter with the
greatest care and report impartially.
The
Commission sat to take the evidence. The Rt Hon. Mr Elephant was first called.
He came along with a superior air, brushing his tusks with a sapling which Mrs
Elephant had provided, and in an authoritative voice said: 'Gentlemen of the
Jungle, there is no need for me to waste your valuable time in relating a story
which I am sure you all know. I have always regarded it as my duty to protect
the interests of my friends, and this appears to have caused the
misunderstanding between myself and my friend here. He invited me to save his
hut from being blown away by a hurricane. As the hurricane had gained access
owing to the unoccupied space in the hut, I considered it necessary, in my
friend's own interests, to turn the undeveloped space to a more economic use by
sitting in it myself; a duty which any of you would undoubtedly have performed
with equal readiness in similar circumstances.'
After
hearing the Rt Hon. Mr Elephant's conclusive evidence, the Commission called Mr
Hyena and other elders of the jungle, who all supported what Mr Elephant had
said. They then called the man, who began to give his own account of the
dispute. But the Commission cut him short, saying: 'My good man, please confine
yourself to relevant issues. We have already heard the circumstances from
various unbiased sources; all we wish you to tell us is whether the undeveloped
space in your hut was occupied by any one else before Mr Elephant assumed his
position?' The man began to say: 'No, but-' But at this point the Commission
declared that they had heard sufficient evidence from both sides and retired to
consider their decision. After enjoying a delicious meal at the expense of the
Rt Hon. Mr Elephant, they reached their verdict, called the man, and declared
as follows: 'In our opinion this dispute has arisen through a regrettable
misunderstanding due to the backwardness of your ideas. We consider that Mr
Elephant has fulfilled his sacred duty of protecting your interests. As it is
clearly for your good that the space should be put to its most economic use,
and as you yourself have not reached the stage of expansion which would enable
you to fill it, we consider it necessary to arrange a compromise to suit both
parties. Mr Elephant shall continue his occupation of your hut, but we give you
permission to look for a site where you can build another hut more suited to
your needs, and we will see that you are well protected.'
The
man, having no alternative, and fearing that his refusal might expose him to
the teeth and claws of members of the Commission, did as they suggested. But no
sooner had he built another hut than Mr Rhinoceros charged in with his horn
lowered and ordered the man to quit. A Royal Commission was again appointed to
look into the matter, and the same finding was given. This procedure was
repeated until Mr Buffalo, Mr Leopard, Mr Hyena and the rest were all
accommodated with new huts. Then the man decided that he must adopt an
effective method of protection, since Commissions of Enquiry did not seem to be
of any use to him. He sat down and said, 'Ng'enda thi ndagaga motegi,' which
literally means 'there is nothing that treads on the earth that cannot be
trapped,' or in other words, you can fool people for a time, but not for ever.
Early
one morning, when the huts already occupied by the jungle lords were all
beginning to decay and fall to pieces, he went out and built a bigger and
better hut a little distance away. No sooner had Mr Rhinoceros seen it than he
came rushing in, only to find that Mr Elephant was already inside, sound
asleep. Mr Leopard next came to the window, Mr Lion, Mr Fox and Mr Buffalo
entered the doors, while Mr Hyena howled for a place in the shade and Mr
Alligator basked on the roof. Presently they all began disputing about their
rights of penetration, and from disputing they came to fighting, and while they
were all embroiled together the man set the hut on fire and burnt it to the
ground, jungle lords and all. Then he went home, saying: 'Peace is costly, but
it's worth the expense,' and lived happily ever after.
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