How The Elephant Got its Trunk

How The Elephant Got its Trunk, a folktale with great similarities to "The Elephant's Child" by Rudyard Kipling (1902)

In the beginning, Elephant had a very small snout. This didn't bother him unduly, in fact he was rather proud of his small nose because it never got in the way of feeding and drinking.

Mealtimes were very important to Elephant, who had to eat and drink a great deal in order to maintain his great size. Being so big meant having to go down on his knees to reach anything, however.

One day Elephant was at the riverside, kneeling down to drink the cool fresh water. Crocodile swam past and saw Elephant at the water's edge… feeling hungry, she saw an opportunity for a good meal.

Crocodile swam stealthily up to where Elephant was drinking. She suddenly lunged out of the water, and with one snap of her toothy jaws she had Elephant by the nose!

Elephant was startled and tried to pull away. Crocodile used all her strength to try and pull Elephant into the water, but Elephant was also very strong and he dug his feet into the muddy riverbank.

The two 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 she released her grip on Elephant’s nose.

Elephant ran off, with his now very long nose hanging down in front of him. He was distraught and ashamed, and he hid in the bush as he was too embarrassed to face the other animals.

Then Elephant realized his new stretched nose could be very useful. He didn’t need to kneel anymore and he could reach high branches, pulling them down to eat the ripe fruits and tender new leaves.

The other Elephants were watching and soon, they too visited the river. One by one, one after another, they taunted Crocodile to bite their snouts and try and pull them into the water.

The Elephants always won these tug-of-wars, and all ended up with lovely stretched snouts while poor Crocodile remained hungry.

To this very day, Elephants have long trunks instead of small snouts. Crocodiles, meanwhile, have learned it’s a waste of time and energy attacking Elephants when they drink at the water's edge.

(adapted, via Travel Butlers)

(image via Reptile's Story)