Children's Story: The Elephants' Homesickness

Bozo the elephant was the idol of the children at the zoo: he danced the waltz and all the acrobatic dances, went to sleep whenever he was ordered to, and at the end of the shows he would conduct the band with the flag in his hand.

Then suddenly things changed: three times he tried to kill his keeper. He would bellow furiously in the children's faces, and no one succeeded in restoring him to his calm, and the matter ended with his owner being given notice that the elephant would have to be killed.

In those days the societies for kindness to animals had neither power nor influence, so no one protested when his owner resolved to kill him at a grand show, hoping to make up something of the loss that would befall him after losing the animal.

People gathered around the circus, among them a number of soldiers armed with rifles. Bozo kept turning and turning and bellowing in unbroken agitation, as if he knew what awaited him.

While his owner was preparing to give the signal for the execution, a short man stepped up to him and asked:

— Wouldn't you rather let him live?

His owner answered:

— That is impossible; this elephant has become dangerous, and there is no hope left for him.

— Allow me to enter the cage, and in two minutes I will give you proof that you are mistaken.

— In three minutes you will be a lump the size of sausage meat.

— I knew beforehand you would answer so! And I have written for you on this paper what relieves you of all responsibility for what I do.

The elephant's owner accepted what was offered him, and the man said:

— Now open the cage door.

The elephant turned when he heard the sound of the locks and looked toward the door with eyes the color of blood — and the stranger entered unarmed and shut the door behind him, while the elephant bellowed in wild alarm. He drew near him and began to speak to him gently, and he had hardly uttered a few words when the elephant listened, calm and peaceable. The crowds understood nothing of the stranger's speech — only Bozo: it was plain that he alone understood. Then

his huge body ceased its trembling, and he stood motionless as a statue while the strange, tender voice hummed in his ear — and suddenly he murmured in a weak, sad voice like a child's complaint, and began tilting his head right and left.

The stranger drew closer and patted with his hand the trunk, which curled around the caressing hand, and the two walked together about the cage amid the cheers of the crowds.

The stranger left the cage and said to the elephant's owner:

— Nothing frightening has happened to Bozo — he is only complaining of homesickness! I spoke to him in the Hindi tongue he heard from his infancy; that is all, as you see.

And the strange man went away; as for the elephant's owner, he read over again the paper in his hand, and there at the bottom was the signature: Rudyard Kipling!