The Elephants and the Hares
760 Words
Once upon a time, the elephants ruled the forest. But all the elephants were very unhappy. It had not rained for several years. All the lakes, tanks, ponds and water holes in the forest had dried up. So the elephants collectively went to their king.
'O mighty king, they said, 'there is no water in the forest to drink. Most of our young ones are about to die of thirst. Please arrange for some water and save us.'
I know of a hidden lake that is always full of water, the elephant said. 'Let us go there to save ourselves.'
All the elephants of the forest then set off for the hidden lake. They marched for five nights and reached the great lake. They occupied the land around the lake and enjoyed bathing and other elephant-sports in the newly found water,
Now, a group of hares lived on the way that led from the forest to the lake. Every day, the elephants frampled upon the hares as they marched to the lake. Hundreds of hares died and thousands were injured.
One day, the hares called a meeting to discuss various ways of saving themselves from the elephants. "These rash elephants', said an older hare, 'will keep marching down to the lake every day. We have to solve this problem or we shall all die.
A wise hare said, "The elders have said that it is better to sacrifice the interest of an individual to save the entire community; the interest of one commu- nity to save a village; and the interest of one village to save the country. A wise king should be ready to leave ruling a productive land if it is for the good of his people.
'How can we leave our homes and go?' the other hares protested. 'We have been living here for so long. We must find some other solution. Can we scare the elephants in any way?' 'Oh! I know of a trick that always works with elephants,' said one of the hares. However, do we
have a highly intelligent person to carry it out?" All the hares asked him to reveal his plan at once. We all know that our ruler lives on the moon,
I suggest we send a messenger to the elephant king. The messenger will inform him that the moon does not approve of the elephants visiting the lake because they are harming the hares. He will also say that the moon has, therefore, declared that elephants are por permitted to go to the lake again. Now tell me, is there any intelligent hare who can be the perfect
messenger?' "Yes, the others agreed. 'We have an intelligent hare. He is the right person for this task.
The hares decided to send the intelligent hare to the elephant king. The hare readily went off to the elephant king, to save his people.
"O merciless king, the intelligent hare said to the elephant king, 'I live on the moon. I am the moon's messenger. This lake belongs to the moon and he does not wish you to drink water from it. He thinks, if you are wise, you will leave at once.' I wish to speak with your lord. Where is het asked the elephant king.
"My Loed lives in the lake. You can see him every night, said the intelligent hare. He is here to take care of his hates, who have been injured because of you elephants.
I would like to meet him, the elephant king challenged the intelligent hare. Come alone with me at night, then." I will meer you here at night,' said the elephar
It was a full moon night. The intelligent hart pointed out the moon's reflection to the elephant king "There he is, our king, the moon," he said. "Hei deep in thought. Move very quietly and just salume him. Do not disturb him in any way or else he will be very angry with you."
Believing that the intelligent hare spoke the truth, and taking the reflection to be the real moon, the elephant king bowed with great respect and quietly left the place. The hares felt relieved and lived happily ever after.
The crow now spoke to the birds who had gathered to elect a leader.
Listen to this story of how a hare and a sparrow destroyed themselves because they chose a wicked judge, he said. "That is the reason it is important to choose only a wise and experienced person as your
The birds listened to the story with interest.
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