The Elephant’s Child

Long ago, elephants had only short, bulgy noses, and one curious Elephant’s Child wanted to know what the Crocodile has for dinner. At the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River the Crocodile caught him by the nose, and pulled and pulled until it stretched into the very first trunk.

Scene 1: ’Satiable Curtiosity

The Elephant’s Child. In the High and Far-Off Times, O Best Beloved, the Elephant had no trunk. He had only a blackish, bulgy nose, as big as a boot. One Elephant’s Child was full of ’satiable curtiosity. He asked ever so many questions. He asked the tall Ostrich, the tall Giraffe, and all his aunts and uncles. And they were all very cross with him!

Scene 2: What Does the Crocodile Eat?

One fine morning, he asked a new fine question: “What does the Crocodile have for dinner?” Everybody said, in a loud and dretful tone: “Hush!” But Kolokolo Bird, in a wait-a-bit thorn-bush, said with a mournful cry: “Go to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees, and find out.”

Scene 3: Seventeen Melons

The very next morning, off he went with seventeen melons, the greeny-crackly kind. He ate melons all the way, and threw the rind about, because he could not pick it up. At last he came to the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees.

Scene 4: A Log by the River

First he met a Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake, curled round a rock. He asked about the Crocodile, but the Python only flicked his scalesome, flailsome tail. So on he went, till he trod on what he thought was a log. But it was really the Crocodile, O Best Beloved! And the Crocodile winked one eye, like this!

Scene 5: Come Hither, Little One

The Elephant’s Child knelt down and asked most politely: “Will you please tell me what you have for dinner?” The Crocodile said: “Come hither, Little One, and I’ll whisper.” So he put his head down close, and the Crocodile caught him by his little nose! The Crocodile said, between his teeth: “I think today I will begin with Elephant’s Child!”

Scene 6: Pulled, and Pulled, and Pulled

The Elephant’s Child said, through his nose: “Led go! You are hurtig be!” He sat back and pulled, and pulled, and pulled. And the Crocodile pulled, and pulled, and pulled. And the little nose stretched longer and longer! The Elephant’s Child cried: “This is too butch for be!” Then the Python knotted himself round the Elephant’s Child’s hind legs, and they pulled hardest of all. At last the Crocodile let go, with a plop you could hear all up and down the Limpopo!

Scene 7: A Really Truly Trunk

He hung his poor nose in the cool river, waiting for it to shrink. But it never grew any shorter. It was a really truly trunk, same as all Elephants have today! With it, he swatted a fly, plucked some grass, and made himself a cool mud-cap. And ever since, O Best Beloved, all the Elephants have trunks just like his. So keep asking What and Where and When, and How and Why and Who!

Moral: Keep asking What and Where and When, and How and Why and Who: curiosity can lead to something wonderful.

Questions about The Elephant’s Child

More stories to read aloud

• How the Camel Got His Hump — In the beginning of the world, a lazy Camel answers the Horse, the Dog and the Ox with nothing but “Humph!”, so they must do his work as well.
• How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin — A rude Rhinoceros upsets the Parsee's stove and eats his cake.
• The Lion and the Mouse — A Lion catches a little Mouse but laughs and lets her go when she promises to repay him.