Legend how the Elephants got a trunk
There is a story about how the Elephant got his trunk, a favorite South African children’s bed-time animal story.
The Elephant used to have a small snout in the Beginning. This didn’t bother him too much, in fact he was rather proud of his small nose because it never got in the way of feeding and drinking. Because of his great size, mealtimes were very important to Elephant, and he had to eat and drink a great deal to keep his great strength up. However, he did find it uncomfortable, because he had to go down on bended knees to reach anything. One day, Elephant was at the river, and was kneeling down drinking from the fresh water. Crocodile swam past, and saw Elephant at the water’s edge. Crocodile was very hungry, and saw an opportunity for a nice big meal. Crocodile swam stealthily up to where Elephant was, and suddenly lunged out of the water and grabbed Elephant by the nose. Elephant was surprised, and tried to pull away, but Crocodile had a firm grip on his nose. Crocodile used all his weight and strength to try to pull Elephant into the water. However, Elephant was also very strong, and he dug his feet into the bank and fought back. They battled for hours, and with every pull and tug, Elephant’s nose stretched a little more. Eventually, Crocodile became too tired to pull any more, and let go Elephant. Elephant ran off, with his now very long nose hanging down in front of his feet. He was distraught, and hid in the bush as he was too embarrassed to face the other animals. Soon, Elephant realised that his new stretched nose was more useful than his before small snout. He was able to reach food and drink without kneeling any more, and could even reach high branches and pull them down to eat the fruit and leaves. All the other Elephants soon realised the benefits of having a long trunk, and one by one they too visited the river and taunted the Crocodile to try to pull them into the water. The Elephants always won wars, and all ended up with stretched snouts, but Crocodile remained hungry. To this day, Elephants have their long trunks and not a small snout, and Crocodiles have learnt that it is a waste of time and energy attacking Elephants when drinking at the water’s edge.
The Elephant used to have a small snout in the Beginning. This didn’t bother him too much, in fact he was rather proud of his small nose because it never got in the way of feeding and drinking. Because of his great size, mealtimes were very important to Elephant, and he had to eat and drink a great deal to keep his great strength up. However, he did find it uncomfortable, because he had to go down on bended knees to reach anything. One day, Elephant was at the river, and was kneeling down drinking from the fresh water. Crocodile swam past, and saw Elephant at the water’s edge. Crocodile was very hungry, and saw an opportunity for a nice big meal. Crocodile swam stealthily up to where Elephant was, and suddenly lunged out of the water and grabbed Elephant by the nose. Elephant was surprised, and tried to pull away, but Crocodile had a firm grip on his nose. Crocodile used all his weight and strength to try to pull Elephant into the water. However, Elephant was also very strong, and he dug his feet into the bank and fought back. They battled for hours, and with every pull and tug, Elephant’s nose stretched a little more. Eventually, Crocodile became too tired to pull any more, and let go Elephant. Elephant ran off, with his now very long nose hanging down in front of his feet. He was distraught, and hid in the bush as he was too embarrassed to face the other animals. Soon, Elephant realised that his new stretched nose was more useful than his before small snout. He was able to reach food and drink without kneeling any more, and could even reach high branches and pull them down to eat the fruit and leaves. All the other Elephants soon realised the benefits of having a long trunk, and one by one they too visited the river and taunted the Crocodile to try to pull them into the water. The Elephants always won wars, and all ended up with stretched snouts, but Crocodile remained hungry. To this day, Elephants have their long trunks and not a small snout, and Crocodiles have learnt that it is a waste of time and energy attacking Elephants when drinking at the water’s edge.
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