Elephant by the Water
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Maximilian sat by the lake, grooming his whiskers in the reflection of the pristine waters. The sun had just set and it was quiet for the watering hole. Usually all sorts of animals came for a drink. The lake was arguably Maximilian's favorite place, especially when it was quiet. However, when there were others about, he had the pleasure of animal watching. It appeared that he would have both tonight; there was a herd of elephants approaching from the distance.
When the elephants arrived, they nosily slurped up the water until they had their fill. One by one, as they finished drinking, they meandered off to a patch of grass where they gossiped and ate the vegetation. Finally, there was just one elephant left drinking water.
On the other side of the lake were a group of hares that had shown up around the same time as the elephants had. Maximilian could see that they were growing increasingly perturbed by the elephants. With such large ears, the elephants' ruckus was particularly disturbing for the rabbits. Finally, one of the hares decided to get rid of the elephants. He hopped over to the lone elephant.
"Listen to me oh Elephant, I am the hare in the moon, and I have come to warn you against disturbing the moon. Leave here at once!"
Since the moon was behind the clouds, the elephant did not pay much attention to the hare.
"The moon's wrath will destroy you!"
The hare dipped his toe into the water as the moon appeared from behind the clouds. The elephant looked up and saw the moon reflecting up at him. Suddenly, because of the waves caused by the hare, there were multiple reflections of the moon in the water. When he saw the moon split into multiple pieces to attack him, the elephant rumbled backwards and retreated as fast as he could.
Maximilian felt sorry for the poor elephant and he went over to comfort him and invite the beast to a luncheon he was planning for tomorrow. When he reached the elephant his fur shimmered in the moonlight. The elephant thought that Maximilian was a piece of the moon that had come to attack him. But when he saw how little the shimmering mouse was, he decided that he could easily squash the tiny piece of moon.
Just before Maximilian was about to speak and invite the elephant to his party, the giant beast tried to squash him. Goodness! thought Maximilian. He scrambled behind the elephant and leapt up on his back. The other elephants, saw the tiny mouse and thought that he was holding the great elephant to the ground by some magical force. With this realization, they became afraid and stampeded off as fast as they could go. Even today, elephants are still afraid of mice.
Author's Note: This story is a combination of The Hare in the Moon and The Elephant-Fighting Hare, both from Devi's Fables and Folklore. The first part of the story, when the hare uses the moon to scare off the elephant, is very similar to the original Hare in the Moon story. However, for the second part of the story, I wanted to explain why elephants are afraid of mice. Instead of a hare that sits atop the elephant, as in The Elephant-Fighting Hare, I had the mouse sit on the elephant's back.
Bibliography:
"The Hare in the Moon" by Shovona Devi, from Fables and Folklore (1919). Web source: Indian Epics Reading Guides.
"The Elephant-Fighting Hare" by Shovona Devi, from Fables and Folklore (1919). Web source: Indian Epics Reading Guides.
This was a great story! I read "The Hare in the Moon" in another book, Twenty Jataka tales, so I thought it was really cool that you incorporated that story into yours. That was also really clever the way you incorporated the mouse’s character as a back story for the reason why elephants are so afraid of mice, all while he was just trying to be nice and comfort the elephant. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Carey. I think you did a really good job with this story. The story of the elephants being afraid of mice is something that you hear about a lot growing up, so I think this was a story that most people could relate to. I like how you combined two stories into one. It made the story more active and energetic. Great job.
ReplyDeleteCarey,
ReplyDeleteI really love how you told the story. I felt as if I was a little kid again while reading your story. I remember learning about the elephant who was afraid of the mice in a movie. I think that this story was really relatable and easy to read. I didn't find any grammatical errors. Really great job on your post.