The Buffaloes and the Blue DeerThe Buffaloes and the Blue Deer
The tiger is furious. He stands a moment before the buffaloes, growling with rage. But the bulls in front of the herd paw the ground, and rattle their horns with one another. They are going to charge!
But that tiger does not wait for the charge of the bull buffaloes. He does not want to be trampled into a mess under their hoofs, or cut up into pieces with their horns. Instead, he sneaks away, growling. He sneaks back to the stream, to wait for some other weak animal.
So, you see, the jungle folks are in many ways just like us; for a brave man always helps a lady or anybody who needs his help.
But now let us watch the stream higher up.
Here come thewild pigs. They are not exactly a herd; but still there are many dozens of them, all one large family with all their relations—cousins and uncles and aunts. Some of the wild pigs are calledboars; they are the Papas among the wild pigs. You can always tell them by the twosharp tusks, or teeth, oneon each side, which growupwardfrom their under jaw. Each tusk is as long as a knife, and so sharp that a tiger does not always care to fight with a boar.
The wild pigs drink in any fashion, and go off in any fashion—just as they like. They trust to luck or to the sharp tusks of some of the boars to guard them from danger. But they have not learned enough yet to do things in proper order.
Meanwhile other animals have also come. The moon is now quite high in the sky. A band of shadows in the moonlight seems to fall upon the water. It is a pack ofred dogs; they have come boldly, as they are afraid of nothing. For if a hungry tiger attacks them, the whole pack will jump on the tiger and tear him down—that is, the tiger could kill dozens of the dogs in a few minutes, but then the rest of the wild red dogs would tear the tiger to pieces.
So the red dogs are not afraid as they come flocking to the stream. They lap up the water with their lolling tongues. Then they look up at the moon. Do you see what they are doing? Can youhearthem? They arehowling at themoon in a chorus. Dogs always howl at the moon. Men do not quite know just why dogs do that. But perhaps they do it because they are glad and satisfied, and are trying tosing!Whenyousing, and there is a dog near by, you may hear him start howling. He does that, I suppose, because he likes your singing, and wants to join in the chorus!
So the wild dogs of the jungle also howl when they are glad. Then, after the red dogs have howled as long as a song, they scamper off into the jungle again. That shows, I suppose, that their howling was really a song!
The red dogs are the last of the animals that come in a bunch. Now you see other animals coming one by one. A sneaking shadow there! It must be ahyena. That is an animal that eats what remains from some other animal's supper; so the hyena waits to see if a tiger or a leopard has caught any supper, or else it will have to go hungry.
But hush! Here is ared deercoming carefully to the water. This animal is much bigger than the blue deer, and more able to take care of herself. But, still, she comes very quietly,looking to right and left to make sure that the tiger is not just in that place. She reaches the water and starts drinking. But do you see how her ear is bent to the side? The red deer is listening most carefully, even while she is drinking!
But look, look! The bush behind the deer parts very slowly, and a huge yellow form crouches there! It is the tiger!
He is not near enough to jump on the deer; so he takes one step forward—as softly as a cat!
But the deer has heard the footfall! For she can hear even a leaf when it falls to the ground. And in that one second, even while she was drinking, the red deer has turned and leaped to the side. The tiger has also leaped at the same time, and he aimed at the place where the deerwas. But the deer has just left that place, and the next second she gives another leap, like a flash, and gets out of the tiger's reach.
The tiger stands where he leaped, and growls with rage. He knows it would be no use chasing the deer, asthe deer can run much faster. So he stands there, and growls for quite a while. Then, as he did not get any supper that night,he can at least have a drink. So he drinks and goes away, still growling.
Now all is quiet at last at the midnight pool, as all the animals have gone away.
But beforeweleave the place, I want you to remember something. I showed you first the elephants; they were on our right—that is,downthe stream, the way the water flows. And the elephants drank first among all the animals.
Then all the other animals came to the stream, but more to our left—that is,upthe stream. Why was that? Think!
I shall tell you. By the time the elephants finish drinking by dipping their trunks into the stream many times, the water begins to get muddy. In fact, after drinking, the elephants jump into the water to have a bath and a swim, as I shall tell you in the next chapter.
So the water gets muddy near the elephants and all the way down stream from that place, as the water flows that way. And as the other animals do not want muddy water to drink, they always goupthe stream, where the water is still clear.
That isThe Law of the Jungle, though it is not written down in a book, like the laws among men. The Law of the Jungle says that as the elephants are the lords of the jungle, they shall drinkfirst: but they must be careful to drinkdown the stream, so that all the other animals may have a place higher up, where they can getclear water to drink.
And that law has never been broken, for many thousands of years, among all the different sorts of animals.
But with men the laws among the different sorts of people, called nations, are often broken, because some of them want all the best things and the best places, and do not care if they muddy the water that their neighbors have to drink.
So, my dear children, we can learn many things from the animals, even how to be better men and women when we grow up.
I have just told you that, after drinking, the elephants jump into the water and have a bath and a swim. That is, all the grown-up elephants do that, while the little ones stay on the bank and play about.
But, you may ask, why does not the tiger try to grab one of the little ones then? Because even when the Mammas go into the water they keep their eyes on the babies, who play quite near by, so that the Mammas can come to them any minute.
And the Mammas cansmella tiger a little before he gets there, so that they have enough time to climb out of the water. Besides, the babies themselves can smell the tiger when he is coming; then they call out to their Mammas by making a queer rumbling sound in their throats, and the Mammas come to them at once, before the tiger can get there.
So all the grown-up elephants can go into thewater, without any worry. And at first they have a regular shower bath.
How do they do that? Why, each elephant fills his trunk with water; then he curls up the trunk in the air over his head and squirts the water out, and it falls in a shower all over his body. You can see how he does it in the picture. All the grown-up elephants do that, and even those that are half grown.
After the shower bath, they swim about; but the Mamma elephants do not do that. Why? Because they have to get busy and bathe their little children. They call to the children to stop playing, and come and have a bath—just as our Mammas do.
How do they call? Why, I must tell you at once that all kinds of animals havea language of their own. They do not speak exactly as we do, but make different sounds through their mouth or nose, and each soundmeanssomething.
If the Mamma elephant wants to say "Come here," she makes one kind of sound, and the baby elephant has learned to know exactly what that means. And if the Mamma elephant wants to say "Keep still," she makes another kind of sound, and the baby knows also what that means.
An Elephant Giving himself a Shower BathAn Elephant Giving himself a Shower Bath
In this way all animals can talk among themselves. Of course they cannot say many things, as we do, but quite enough to tell what they want.
So each Mamma elephant calls to her child to come and stand on the bank. Now, many of our children often hate to be bathed; and the elephant children are just the same! In fact, the very small ones actually cry and shriek, just like our babies!
But when the Mamma elephant calls to the baby to stop playing and come and stand by the bank, the baby comes at once, even though it hates to be bathed. The baby elephant obeys its Mamma almost the first time, whatever she tells it to do.
But if the baby does not obey, does its Mamma spank it? Of course she does—like all Mammas! The elephant Mamma does the spanking with her trunk.
But I must tell you at once that an elephant child never gets spanked more than once in its life—and that is enough! And some are so good that theyneverget spanked!
The elephant child learns very quickly to obey its Mamma and Papa, and afterwards its trainer or teacher. The elephant child even obeys the very minute it is told to do anything; in fact, sometimes in the jungle there is a sudden danger, even if the elephant child does not see the danger. But its Mamma or Papa sees it.
Then the Mamma or Papa calls out to the child to stop, or come away, or do something,at once; and if the child does not do it at once, it may get killed. Among men folks, if a child runs out into the street, and an auto or a street car comes suddenly, then if the child will not obey its Mamma at once and do exactly as she says, the child may be run over and killed. In the jungle the elephant child also has sudden dangers like that, though in a different way.
In the next chapter I shall tell you a wonderful story about a boy elephant who escaped a great danger because he obeyed his Papa at once.
But sometimes it happens that a boy elephant is really naughty—just like a bad boy among men. As you know, a bad boy among men usually grows up to be a bad man, and then he gets into a lot of trouble. In theelephant herd it is just the same; a bad little elephant grows up to be a bad big elephant; it is then called arogue. In another book I shall tell you how the President of the herd orders all the police elephants to stand in a ring around the rogue and give him a most awful spanking. And they do that, not with their trunks this time, but with theirtusks—which hurt most dreadfully.
But now I shall tell you about the baby elephant when its Mamma calls it to come and be bathed. It comes to the edge of the bank, and stands facing its Mamma. Then the Mamma fills her trunk with water, brings the trunk quite near the baby, and squirts the water all over it.
The baby may howl and jump about and make faces, but itnever runs away! Again and again the Mamma squirts the water, till all the mud and dust of the jungle is washed away from the baby's body. Then she tells the baby to play about on the bank again, while she attends to the bigger children.
What has she got to do to them? She must teach them to swim!
Of courseall animals with four legs know how to swim naturally; their bodies float in the water quite easily, and they have only to work their legs to move along in the water. But with elephants it is a little different. Why? Just think!
I shall tell you. Although they can float quite naturally, their noses point downward right into the water. As I said before, the elephant's trunk is its nose—that is, the elephant has tobreathe through the trunk. So of course, if in trying to swim a little elephant kept its trunk down in the water, it would not be able to breathe at all, and would die.
That is why the Mamma elephant has to teach her child how to swim properly. And the way she does it is quite wonderful.
I must first tell you that the trunk is not only like a nose to the elephant, but also is useful as ahand; the elephant can hold a lot of things with it, and can even pick up with its tip a tiny thing as small as a pin.
So the Mamma elephant stretches out her trunk before her, just like an arm, and tells her child to lie across it. In that way she holds upthe child in the water, so that the little elephant has only to think of curling up the tip of its own little trunk out of the water to breathe. Then she tells her child to kick out with its legs, so as to move forward through the water.
But sometimes, in kicking out, the little elephant forgets to hold up the tip of its trunk out of the water at the same time; then down goes its trunk into the water, and it cannot breathe!
Then what happens? The Mamma elephant can do nothing, as she is already using her own trunk to hold up her child. So, what is to be done?
Really, the elephants are so wise that they take no chances of that happening. The Papa elephant takes care of that. When he sees that the Mamma is teaching the little elephant how to swim, he always comes near them. He may be swimming about, as if he were enjoying himself; but he is really watching them all the time.
And if the little elephant forgets to hold up its trunk out of the water, the Papa comes quickly, and with one upward stroke of his own trunk he lifts up the little elephant's trunk clear out of the water. Is not that very wise and thoughtful of the Papa elephant?
In that way the little elephant soon learns to doboththings—that is, to kick out with its legs so as to move along, and also to hold up its trunk to breathe. And then, of course, it can swim properly.
And yet the elephants are so very wise that they never take the risk of tiring out a little elephant, if they have to swim a very long way. Sometimes a whole herd of elephants has to swim across a very wide river. Then the Mamma elephant tells her child to swim in front of her, while she encourages the child from behind with many fond words.
But sometimes after swimming halfway across the river—
"Mamma, I am getting tired!" cries the little one.
"Then come on my back, darling!" says the Mamma.
She dives, and comes up right under the little elephant; so now her child sits on her back. In that way she swims along, and carries her child across the wide river, as you see in the picture.
An Elephant Mamma Carrying her Child across the RiverAn Elephant Mamma Carrying her Child across the River
Now I shall tell you how a little elephant learns all the tricks of the jungle from its Mamma and Papa. By the tricks of the jungle I mean all the things that an animal has to learn in order to get enough to eat every day, what to do when food is scarce, how to be comfortable and happy, and also how to escape from every danger; in fact, these things are very much like what men have to learn, only in a different way.
But the animal folks are better off in one way: what they have to learn is not like a lesson in school, but just play. In fact they learn everything by just playing it as a game! I shall tell you how.
When a baby elephant is quite small, its Mamma has to feed it with milk. Afterwards, when it has teeth, she teaches it to feed from the jungle. All elephants eat tender shoots, herbs, and fresh young leaves; they seize a bough with the trunk, and pull it down in sucha way that the end of the bough reaches right into the mouth.
First, the Mamma elephant eats like that from several boughs, while the little elephant watches her do it. Then she looks at a low bough within easy reach, and says in the elephant language, "Eat that!"
The little one looks at the bough, grabs it anyhow with its trunk, and pulls it down. But it cannot get the end of the boughinto its mouth! Instead, the bough pokes it on the forehead, or eyes, or cheeks.
"Hold it straight!" says Mamma, laughing.
The little one tries several times, but still it cannot get the bough to come right. Then its Mamma puts her own trunk over that of her child, and turns it to right or left, till the bough comes exactly into the little elephant's mouth.
"You must learn to use your trunk just like ahand," she says. "So you must bend your trunk, or turn it, or twist it, to get the thing you are holding exactly where you want it."
And that is the first great thing the little elephant has to learn—how to use its trunk aswe use our hands. After that everything else comes easy.
Now I am going to tell you about the childhood of the most wonderful elephant in the world, who actually lives to-day in the courtyard of a palace in India. He is the biggest elephant that ever was; that is why he lives in a grand palace, and does nothing except carry a King, or some other great man, on his back on days of festival.
In fact he was the leader among all the elephants in a long procession at a grand festival called the Durbar, held in honor of the King of England. On that day a lovely cloth of silk woven with gold was put on the elephant's back, and around his tusks were placed rings of solid gold studded with real diamonds, rubies, and pearls.
At another time he carried on his back the Crown Prince of Germany, when he visited India a few years ago; and at other times he has carried Grand Dukes of Russia and Arch Dukes of Austria whentheyvisited India.
So you see, he is quite the grandest elephant in the world. He has a real name, just like a man, and it is written down in books with the names of all the grand officers of the palace.His name is Salar Jung; so we shall call him Salar for short.
He was born in the jungle, and his Papa and Mamma were quite wild then. It was only after he grew up that Salar came to live in a palace.
But now about Salar's early boyhood. After his Mamma had taught him to swim, to eat from the boughs of trees, and to drink for himself by dipping his trunk into the water, she had another useful thing to teach him. In the jungle there are swarms of tormenting flies; they come buzzing around the elephants, and bother them, just as they bother us. Now,wecan whisk off the flies with our hands, but how about an elephant?
Of course, you will say, his trunk is his hand; and so he can use the trunk to slap the flies or whisk them off. True, but the trunk will not reach more than halfway down the side of the body; and the elephant is too stiff to bend his body as we do; and his tail is too short to reach even a yard each way. Then how can he get rid of the flies where he cannot reach them? Just think!
If he only could make his trunklonger! But how could he do that? Very simply! Of course he cannot actually make the trunk longer, but he breaks off a small bough of a tree and holds it at the end of his trunk; then he uses the bough like a fan, and whisks off, or brushes off, the flies with it.
And that is what Salar's Mamma taught him to do. After that he was very comfortable.
Not quite; he had just one more thing to learn from his Mamma, to make him quite comfortable. The sun gets very hot, and when the elephants are feeding from tree to tree, or marching through the jungle, they feel the hot sun on their backs dreadfully—although they have a thick skin.
Now, how could they guard themselves from the hot sun? Just think!
Why, just aswedo, you will say, by using a kind of umbrella! Of course you mean that an elephant could break off a large bough, and hold it over his head and over his back! But his trunk would soon get tired of holding anything as big as that! Besides, he has to use his trunk all the time to feed! Ifyouhad only one hand, you could not eat with it and at the same time hold an umbrella over your headwith it! Then howdoesthe elephant manage it?
I shall tell you. He breaks off many small boughs, one at a time, and lays them on his back with his trunk; he is careful to lay them in proper order, and to criss-cross them, so that the boughs will not fall off. In fact, he tries to arrange them very much like the thatched roof of a cottage. That is very clever of him, is it not?
But then he does something else, still more clever! When a cottager builds his thatched roof, he has to plaster the ceiling to prevent any rain or sunshine from creeping in through the little spaces between the thatches. So also the thatch on the elephant's back has many gaps, through which the hot sun can still beat down on his skin. So what does he do to fill up the gaps?
He cannot do anything toplasterhis back; but I shall tell you what he does do. He just draws into his trunk a lot of dust from the ground; then he curls up the trunk over his back, and blows the dust over the gaps in the thatch on his back. Of course he has to dothat many times to fill up all the gaps; but at last, when he does notfeelthe sun any more, he knows that his back is quite covered.
Is not that a very wonderful thing for the elephants to think out, all by themselves? And that is what Salar's Mamma taught him to do.
But, a few years later, he came to the age when boys among men usually have to go to school. Then Salar passed to the care of his Papa. In feeding through the jungle, when all the elephants march and eat from tree to tree, Salar walked with his Papa, and began to learn lessons from him. And his Papa's way of teaching him was quite different from that of his Mamma, and often very funny!
The first thing he taught was at the stream at midnight. By this time Salar could swim quite well; so he was enjoying himself with the grown-ups. But his Papa kept watching him with the corner of his eye. Little by little he drew nearer and nearer to Salar, and waited till the youngster came to a part where the water was not at all deep. Then suddenly his Papa gave Salar a butt with his head. Downwent Salar under the water, snorting and spluttering and hollering.
"Hold up your trunk, you simp!" cried his Papa.
But Salar was too frightened to remember to hold up his trunk; so his Papa caught Salar's trunk in his own and hoisted it clear out of the water. Then what was Salar's joy and surprise to find that he could breathe quite well, though his feet were actually touching the bottom of the stream. Of course he kicked out, and tried to get up to the top of the water again. But—
"Stay there!" cried his Papa, giving him another butt, though still holding the youngster's trunk carefully out of the water.
Then Salar lost all fear of the water; he was not a bit afraid of being ducked, so long as the tip of his trunk was out of the water. So he learned to do a wonderful thing—he learned to remain completely under the water, so that his feet were actually resting on the bottom of the stream, with only the tip of his trunk out of the water. No other animal can do that.
And the most astonishing thing about it is that the elephants have taught themselves to do that trick; so thata whole herd of elephantscan walk into a stream in time of danger, and disappear from sight, the smaller ones standing in the shallow parts, and the full-grown ones standing in the deeper parts.
I have known of lots of hunters, who were chasing a herd of elephants and who saw the elephants run ahead toward a river, to find to their surprise, on reaching the river, that the whole herd had disappeared as if by magic. They saw nothing, and did not dream that the little things floating here and there, no bigger than your fist, could mean anything. But of course they were the tips of the trunks of the elephants hidden under the water.
To have thought out even that one trick for themselves proves that the elephants are the wisest of all animals, next after men folks. And they have thought out many more tricks, as I shall tell you very soon.
But now I shall tell you the next trick that Salar's father taught him. An elephant often has to break down trees in the jungle to clear a way for himself; or sometimes he has to do that to make an open space where he can lie down comfortably. So this is the way Salar's father taught him to break down trees.
First he chose a small tree, not much thicker than your wrist; this he pulled out easily with his trunk, just as you might use your hand to pull out a small shrub. Then he chose a tree about six inches thick. He tried it first carefully with his trunk; but the tree was too strong to pull out in that way.
So the old elephant put his foot on the side of the tree, and pressed with all his weight—as you see in the picture. The tree bent more and more, and then suddenly broke off near the ground with a loud crack.
"I can do that!" cried Salar, frisking around his father, impatient to show whathecould do.
Salar looked around and saw a tree of about the same size. He made a dash at the tree, put his right foot on it, and—
His father winked, but said nothing. For all elephants love a joke.
Now the wily old elephant knew that this tree was a banana tree, although the fruit had not yet started growing on it. The tree looked quite hard and strong, but it was really very soft and easy to break, like all banana trees. But Salar did not know that yet!
An Elephant Breaking a Tree with his FootAn Elephant Breaking a Tree with his Foot
Instead, when he pressed on it with his foot and put his whole weight on it, just as he had seen his father do to the other tree,—snap went the tree like a twig, and Salar tumbled head over heels and went rolling over the ground.
"Haw! Haw! Haw!" laughed the merry old elephant. "Did I not show you, silly, how to try it first carefully, with your trunk, before putting your foot on it?"
"Of course you did!" Salar said, remembering.
"That is what men folks mean when they say, 'You have put your foot into it.' You must remembernever to put your foot into anything before trying it first with your trunk," the old elephant went on to say. "Now watch me knock down a still bigger tree."
This tree was as thick as a man's body. After trying it first with his trunk and then with his foot, the wise old elephant put his back on it andheaved. Little by little the tree bent on that side, but not very much. The elephant stopped heaving, came around and looked at the tree. Then he began to heave from theotherside of the tree.
You have seen a man trying to loosen a nail from a board? He first hits the nail on oneside, and then on the other side; and he goes on hitting the nail from side to side, till it is quite loose.
Well, that cunning old elephant did just the same thing to that tree; he first heaved the tree from one side, and then he heaved from the other side; and he went on heaving from side to side, till he loosened the tree from the ground. Then he pushed the tree with his foot, and it came out of the ground and fell with a loud thud.
And that is how Salar learned to heave with his body, though of course he could not loosen so big a tree just yet.
There were many other tricks that Salar learned from his father, and I shall tell you one of the best of them in the next chapter.
Salar and his father were going through the jungle, feeding from tree to tree, and from bush to bush. One day they saw a little clear space and in the middle of it a banana tree—just one tree. But beautiful bunches of ripe bananas were growing on it from a large stalk.
Salar just loved bananas. In fact, all elephants do, as they cannot get them in the jungle more than once in many months; for bananas grow mostly in plantations kept by men. So Salar ran toward the tree joyously.
But the wise old elephant had seen at once that the space all around the tree was rather level and clear of bushes. That was strange in the jungle, he thought!
Now, why did it look strange? Canyoutell? Why was it strange that the space should be all flat and level, and clear of bushes? Just think!
Because in the jungle that was not natural! In the jungle the space should be all covered with grass and bushes, or at least with small shrubs of different sizes, just as you have seen in fieldswhich are allowed to grow wild. So somebody must havemadethe place level and flat, and cleared away the bushes! That is what the wise old elephant thought!
Then, also, he had seen that there was justonebanana tree, with no other anywhere near it. That also seemed strange! Why? Because banana trees always grow in groups of many dozens, whether they are in the jungle or in a plantation.
"Halt!" the old elephant cried, just in time. Salar was not more than five or six yards from the tree when he heard his father's voice. I have told you before that, when an elephant child is told to do anything by his Mamma or Papa, he obeysat once, or else he might fall into some awful danger—just as a child in a town might get run over by an auto or a street car.
So as soon as Salar heard his father's voice, he halted just where he was. And that saved him, as you will see.
His father came up to him, and looked around carefully. Then hetapped on the ground with the end of his trunk.
"An elephant must always tap with his trunk when he is coming to suspicious ground, before he puts his foot on it," he said to Salar.
"What does suspicious ground mean?" Salar asked.
"Ground where there might be danger, though you do notseethe danger," his father answered.
He went on a couple of yards, tapping the ground before him all the time. Then he suddenly stopped.
"Gr-r-r-rump!" he cried, "it sounds strange and hollow!"
Most carefully he put his foot forward andfeltthe ground with it, as an elephant always does when he thinks there is danger. Now the groundbent downa little just where he pressed it with his foot!
"I thought so!" he muttered.
Then he felt most carefully all along thefrontedge of the open space, first tapping it with his trunk, then pressing on it with his foot—of course with the toe end of the foot. And all along that front edge of the open space the ground bent down a little wherever he pressed it with his foot.
Then he came to theright sideof the open space where the banana tree grew, and tried theground there also along the edge. And this ground too bent down a little wherever he pressed it with his foot.
He came to thebackof the open space, and tried it in the same way. And there also the ground bent down a little along the edge, wherever he pressed it with his foot.
He came around at last to theleft side, and tried that also. And there again the ground bent down in the same way.
"All four sides are suspicious!" he cried. "My son, this isa most tricky trap!"
And though he did not see them, a dozen men were hiding in the tops of trees all around. They were the hunters kept by a great Prince, who had ordered them to catch the big elephant and also the young one.
The hunters had first dug a huge pit. It was ten feet deep and twenty-five feet wide on each side; so it was as big as a large room. Then they had covered the top of the pit by laying many long bamboos right across from side to side and very close to each other; so it was just like the roof of a large room. And on the top of the bamboos they had spread a layer of earth—just like what you have seen in flower beds in a garden; and on that they had plantedgrass, to make it look quite natural—only, they forgot that it might look natural for a garden, but not for a wild jungle. Or perhaps they thought that an elephant would not know any better!
And then they had gone to a plantation and fetched from there a banana tree, with a huge bunch of ripe bananas on it. They had set up the tree in the middle of that space; and as it would not keep straight, they had first driven a long bamboo rod right through into the ground, and then tied the banana tree to the top of the rod.
After doing all that, the hunters were hiding in the trees around. They were watching to see the big elephant and the little elephant come right up to the banana tree to eat the bananas, and get caught! For if any elephant stepped upon that place, the top would give way under his full weight, and he would fall right through into the pit.
But Salar's father grabbed him with his trunk, and pulled him away.
"Come away!" he said. "This is a most hideous trap!"
But Salar, who loved bananas quite as much as you love ice cream, began to cry.
"I want the bananas; I want them; I do, I do!" he kept saying over and over again.
Now his Papa was very fond of Salar, but he did not know how to reach the bananas and not fall into the pit. He and Salar walked home slowly.
"I must think it over a bit," he said, scratching his head with a bough.
He came there the next day with Salar, and looked all around the place; but he could think of no safe way to get the bananas. The hunters also came there the next day, for by this time they were quite excited to see what the wily old elephant would do. In fact, it was from the chief hunter of that Prince that I heard afterwards what the elephant did do.
I must tell you here that these hunters had been watching the big elephant for many years, and trying to catch him by different kinds of traps; and that is how we know all about him and Salar. For when an elephant is very big and has fine tusks, people sometimes try for ten years to catch him, so that he may be used as the leading elephant of a grand palace.
Almost all the elephants you see in the zoo or in a circus were once quite wild in the jungle, and have been caught by some kind of trap. Theyare then tamed, and finally trained to do tricks that men want them to do. I shall tell you all about that in another book, when you are a little older.
But now about Salar and his father. On the third day the big elephant came there again, with Salar; and again the hunters came and hid in the trees around. This time the big elephant looked farther into the jungle. Then he saw the long bamboos growing in a clump—the very clump from which the hunters had got the bamboos to make the trap. As the elephant looked at the clump of bamboos, a thought came slowly into his head.
He pulled out a long bamboo, and returned to the place where the trap was. He stood just outside the trap, and thought again for some time. Then he held one end of the bamboo in his trunk, pointed the other end to the banana tree just where the stalk of the bunch began, and gave a jab.
But he did not aim right, and the bamboo slipped off from the stalk. So he tried again, and gave another jab at the stalk. In this way, after trying many times, he managed at last to hit the stalk and break it. Down fell the bunch of bananas to the ground.
Meanwhile Salar was jumping around his father for joy. But his father told him to keep still. He had not succeeded in getting those bananas yet! How could he get them out of the place of danger?
It puzzled him a long time. He poked at the bunch with the bamboo, but that only broke off one or two of the bananas. Then he poked at the stalk of the bunch, but the end of the bamboo slipped off it, as there was nothing on the bamboo to grip the stalk with.
So he drew back the bamboo and looked at that end of it, to see why it did not grip the stalk. Of course the end of the bamboo was all smooth, and could not grip anything at all.
Then at last another thought seemed to come into the wise old elephant's head. He put that end of the bamboo into his mouth and began tochewit; for an elephant has very strong teeth at the back of his mouth. As his mouth was very big, that clever elephant chewed as much of the end of the bamboo as his mouth would hold—and that was as long as your arm. So the end of the bamboo became like fibers, that is, like a bunch of hair, only very thick and rough.
Elephant Pulling Bananas out of a Tricky TrapElephant Pulling Bananas out of a Tricky Trap
Then that cunning elephant sat down on the ground and pushed the bamboo along the ground straight before him toward the bananas. When the hairy end of the bamboo reached the stalk of the bananas, he began totwistthe other end of the bamboo with the tips of his trunk; foran elephant can use the tips of his trunk in the same way that you use your fingers.
He twisted and twisted many times, taking care to keep the hairy end of the bamboo pressed against the stalk of the bananas.
In this way the hairy end of the bamboo got knotted around the stalk. That was just what the wise old elephant wanted.
Then he pulled the bamboo slowly along the ground, as you see in the picture, taking care to give one or two more twists in case the knots came undone. He pulled the bamboo lap by lap; that is, he pulled the bamboo for about a yard, then he let go and took hold of the bamboo farther up; he pulled again for another yard, and so on. In this way he at last pulled the bunch of bananas quite out of the trap.
I need not tell you how he and Salar enjoyed that feast!
And the hunters, who were hiding in the treesaround, laughed and laughed at the trick the wily old elephant had played on them! For, as you see, he got the bananas and yet escaped from that trap! He beat the men at their own game!
But now I must tell you about other animals,—first about buffaloes. They are the brave knights who helped that timid little lady, the blue deer. They are just as wonderful as the elephants, in their own way.
There are three or four kinds of buffaloes that live in different countries. The kind that lives in America you may have already heard about. I am sorry to say that hunters have killed so many of them, that there are very few buffaloes left in the United States now; and these few are kept in parks.
So in this book I shall tell you about another kind of buffalo, that lives in the jungles of India. These are the buffaloes that have to live in herds just because they have to guard themselves from the tiger. Yet they are much bigger than all other kinds of buffaloes in the world. Many of them are more than ten feet long, and a span taller than a tall man.
They have two huge horns which stand outward, one from each side of the head. Each horn is at least a yard long; and there are some buffaloes that have horns two yards long! (See the picture facing the next page.)
So you can understand that this kind of buffalo is a strong and mighty animal. But still, if just one buffalo tried to fight a tiger, the tiger could kill him every time. Why?
Because the tiger is muchquickerthan the buffalo. The tiger could jump to the side to escape the buffalo's horns. Then the tiger could turn quickly, and strike the buffalo on the neck from behind. And though the buffalo's neck is very thick, the tiger himself is so strong that he could break the buffalo's neck at one blow.
So, to guard against the tiger, the buffaloes have to live together like a band of soldiers, so that the tiger never gets the chance of catching just one buffalo alone.
Now I shall tell you how these buffaloes live. They live in a part of the country where there is plenty of water, and lots of trees and grass. There is sure to be a stream or two in the jungles there, like the one where we saw the buffaloes drinking at midnight.
When the buffaloes are feeding in the jungle, and wandering here and there to find good grass to eat, they always try to remain somewhere near one of these streams.
Why do they do that? To drink, of course.