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diff --git a/24460-h/24460-h.htm b/24460-h/24460-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..93a8317 --- /dev/null +++ b/24460-h/24460-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2644 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kari the Elephant, by Dhan Gopal Mukerji</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + a[name] { position: static; } + a:link {color:#0000ff; text-decoration:none; } + a:visited {color:#0000ff; text-decoration:none; } + a:hover { color:#ff0000; } + + table { width:80%; padding: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + .tocch { text-align: right; vertical-align: top;} + .tocpg {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;} + + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; background-color:#FFFFFF; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style:normal; + } /* page numbers */ + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} +.f1 { font-size:smaller; } + + .caption {font-weight: bold; + font-size: smaller; + } + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-top: + 0.25em; margin-right: 0.25em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Kari the Elephant, by Dhan Gopal Mukerji, +Illustrated by J. E. Allen</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Kari the Elephant</p> +<p>Author: Dhan Gopal Mukerji</p> +<p>Release Date: January 30, 2008 [eBook #24460]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KARI THE ELEPHANT***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Sankar Viswanathan, Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="Pic_1" id="Pic_1"></a> +<img src="images/image_01.jpg" width="500" height="735" alt="KARI AND KOPEE AND I" /> +<span class="caption">KARI AND KOPEE AND I</span> +</div> + +<p> </p> + +<h1> +KARI<br /> +THE ELEPHANT</h1> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>DHAN GOPAL MUKERJI</h2> +<p> </p> +<h3>Illustrated by</h3> +<h2>J. E. ALLEN</h2> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/image_09.jpg" width="150" height="211" alt="Seal" /> +</div> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h4>New York</h4> +<h3>E. P. DUTTON & CO., Inc.</h3> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h5>Copyright, 1922,</h5> + +<h4>By E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY</h4> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<h3>DEDICATED TO</h3> +<h3>MY ELDEST BORN</h3> + +<h2>Nahra Gopal</h2> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="Contents"> +<tr><td class="tocch f1">CHAPTER</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td class="tocpg f1">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">I.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Bringing Up Kari</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">II.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">How Kari Saved Our Lives in the +Jungle</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">III.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">Kari Goes to Town</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">IV.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Kari's Adventure in Benares</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">V.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">The Jungle Spirit</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">VI.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Kari's Story</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">VII.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">The Tiger Hunt</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">VIII.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Kari and the Quick-sand</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">IX.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Kari's Travels</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">X.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Kari in the Lumber Yard</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<table summary="Illustrations"> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#Pic_1">Kari and Kopee and I</a></span></td><td class="tocpg"><i><a href="#Pic_1">Frontispiece</a></i></td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td class="tocpg f1"><span class="smcap">FACING PAGE</span></td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#Pic_2">Kari Punishes Sudu</a></span></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#Pic_3">One Day I Took Them to the Bazaar</a></span></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#Pic_4">That Very Instant the Up-Raised Foot of +the Elephant was On His Head</a></span></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#Pic_5">The Tiger Had Found His Kill</a></span></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#Pic_6">If You Took a Flute and Played Certain +Tunes On It, All the Snakes Would +Come Out of Their Holes and Dance +to the Music</a></span></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#Pic_7">Without Any Warning the Magistrate Fired</a></span></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#Pic_8">In His Madness He Must Have Gone Back +to the Jungle</a></span></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="KARI_THE_ELEPHANT" id="KARI_THE_ELEPHANT"></a>KARI THE ELEPHANT</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h2>BRINGING UP KARI</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_k.jpg" alt="K" width="50" height="52" /></div> +<p>ari, the elephant, was five months old when he was given to me +to take care of. I was nine years old and I could reach his back +if I stood on tiptoe. He seemed to remain that high for nearly +two years. Perhaps we grew together; that is probably why I never +found out just how tall he was. He lived in a pavilion, under a +thatched roof which rested on thick tree stumps so that it could +not fall in when Kari bumped against the poles as he moved about.</p> + +<p>One of the first things Kari did was to save the life of a boy. +Kari did not eat much but he nevertheless needed forty pounds of +twigs a day to chew and play with. Every day I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> used to take him +to the river in the morning for his bath. He would lie down on +the sand bank while I rubbed him with the clean sand of the river +for an hour. After that he would lie in the water for a long +time. On coming out his skin would be shining like ebony, and he +would squeal with pleasure as I rubbed water down his back. Then +I would take him by the ear, because that is the easiest way to +lead an elephant, and leave him on the edge of the jungle while I +went into the forest to get some luscious twigs for his dinner. +One has to have a very sharp hatchet to cut down these twigs; it +takes half an hour to sharpen the hatchet because if a twig is +mutilated an elephant will not touch it.</p> + +<p>When one goes into the jungle, one must remember that there are +laws one cannot break. Do you know that anyone who is afraid or +who hates one of the animals of the jungle gives out an odor +which attracts tigers and wolves? Every day that I was afraid to +go into the jungle, I did not dare to stay on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> ground for +fear lest the tigers would smell my presence and attack me. I +climbed a tree instead, because when one is in a tree the odor of +one's body does not go into the forest, and the animals cannot +tell whether one is afraid or not.</p> + +<p>It was not an easy job, as you see, to get twigs and saplings for +Kari. I had to climb all kinds of trees to get the most delicate +and tender twigs. As he was very fond of the young branches of +the banyan tree which grows like a cathedral of leaves and +branches, I was gathering some, one spring day in March, when I +suddenly heard Kari calling to me in the distance. As he was +still very young, the call was more like that of a baby than an +elephant. I thought somebody was hurting him, so I came down from +my tree and ran very fast to the edge of the forest where I had +left him, but he was not there.</p> + +<p>I looked all over, but I could not find him. I went near the edge +of the water, and I saw a black something struggling above its +surface. Then it rose higher and it was the trunk of my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +elephant. I thought he was drowning. I was helpless because I +could not jump into the water and save his four hundred pounds +since he was much higher than I. But I saw his back rise above +the water and the moment he caught my eye, he began to trumpet +and struggle up to the shore. Then, still trumpeting, he pushed +me into the water and as I fell into the stream I saw a boy lying +flat on the bottom of the river. He had not altogether touched +bottom but was somewhat afloat. I came to the surface of the +water to take my breath and there Kari was standing, his feet +planted into the sand bank and his trunk stretched out like a +hand waiting for mine. I dove down again and pulled the body of +the drowning boy to the surface, but not being a good swimmer, I +could not swim ashore and the slow current was already dragging +me down. I clutched at reeds on the shore but they broke and the +weight of the boy was tiring out one hand while the other was +already weak from excessive swimming and clutching at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> reeds. +Seeing us drift by in the current, Kari who was usually so slow +and ponderous, suddenly darted down like a hawk and came halfway +into the water where I saw him stretch out his trunk again. I +raised up my hand to catch it and it slipped. I found myself +going under the water again, but this time I found that the water +was not very deep so I sank to the bottom of the river and +doubled my feet under me and then suddenly kicked the river bed +and so shot upwards like an arrow, in spite of the fact that I +was holding the drowning boy with my hand. As my body rose above +the water, I felt a lasso around my neck. This frightened me; I +thought some water animal was going to swallow me. I heard the +squealing of Kari, and I knew it was his trunk about my neck. He +pulled us both ashore.</p> + +<p>As the boy lay stretched on the ground I recognized the cowherd. +He had gone to bathe in the river, had slipped too far out, and +not knowing how to swim had almost been drowned. I put him flat +on his face on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> sand and the elephant put his trunk about his +waist and lifted it gently up and down, and then up again. After +doing this three or four times, the water began to come out of +the boy's mouth and, not knowing what else to do because his body +was cold, I slapped him very hard all over. After that I propped +him up against the elephant's leg. Then the boy slowly came to.</p> + +<p>In the meantime all his cows had wandered away in different +directions. As I thought some had gone into the jungle, where I +was afraid they might be eaten up by tigers, I sent Kari to bring +them back to the river bank. But Kari got lost himself; so when +the cowherd had recovered entirely, I went to look for his cows +and my lost elephant. Where do you think I found him? He had gone +right into the forest where I had left the saplings and the twigs +and had buried his trunk into the heap and was eating the best of +them, without any concern for the cows, the cowherd or myself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + +<p>But I could not punish him that day because he had done his duty +by saving the life of the boy.</p> + +<p>Kari was like a baby. He had to be trained to be good and if you +did not tell him when he was naughty, he was up to more mischief +than ever.</p> + +<p>For instance, one day somebody gave him some bananas to eat. Very soon +he developed a great love for ripe bananas. We used to keep large +plates of fruit on a table near a window in the dining-room. One day +all the bananas on that table disappeared and my family blamed the +servants for eating all the fruit in the house. A few days later the +fruit disappeared again; this time the blame was put on me, and I knew +I had not done it. It made me very angry with my parents and the +servants, for I was sure they had taken all the fruit. The next time +the fruit disappeared, I found a banana all smashed up in Kari's +pavilion. This surprised me very much, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> I had never seen fruit +there, and as you know, he had always lived on twigs.</p> + +<p>Next day while I was sitting in the dining-room wondering whether +I should take some fruit from the table without my parents' +permission, a long, black thing, very much like a snake suddenly +came through the window and disappeared with all the bananas. I +was very much frightened because I had never seen snakes eat +bananas and I thought it must be a terrible snake that would +sneak in and take fruit. I crept out of the room and with great +fear in my heart ran out of the house, feeling sure that the +snake would come back into the house, eat all the fruit and kill +all of us.</p> + +<p>As I went out, I saw Kari's back disappearing in the direction of +the pavilion and I was so frightened that I wanted his company to +cheer me up. I ran after him into the pavilion and I found him +there eating bananas. I stood still in astonishment; the bananas +were lying strewn all around him. He stretched out his trunk and +reached for one far away<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> from where he was standing. That +instant the trunk looked like a black snake, and I realized that +Kari was the thief. I went to him, pulled him out by the ear and +joyously showed my parents that it was Kari and not I that had +eaten all the fruit these many weeks. Then I scolded him, for +elephants understand words as well as children, and I said to +him, "Next time I see you stealing fruit, you will be whipped." +He knew that we were all angry with him, even the servants. His +pride was so injured that he never stole another thing from the +dining-room. And from then on, if anybody gave him any fruit, he +always squealed as if to thank them.</p> + +<p>An elephant is willing to be punished for having done wrong, but +if you punish him without any reason, he will remember it and pay +you back in your own coin.</p> + +<p>Once I had taken him to bathe in the river; this was summer +vacation and several boys came with me to help. Kari lay on the +bank and we rubbed him all over with sand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> Then he went into the +water and most of us began to play. As Kari came up from the +water, one of the boys, named Sudu, was standing on the bank. For +no reason at all he hit the elephant three or four times with his +whip. Kari squealed and ran away. I brought him home.</p> + +<p>The next summer Kari had grown so big and fat that I could not +reach his back even when I stood on tiptoe. We used to take him +out wherever we went, sometimes one riding on his back, sometimes +all walking along with him. We gave him luscious twigs if he +behaved well and sometimes delicious fruit. Once in a great while +as a special treat we would massage his chest with straw and he +would squeal with joy and lie on his back as best he could with +his fat legs, staring at the sun.</p> + +<p>One day Sudu was standing on the river bank where I had just +taken the elephant to give him his bath. That day Kari had been +very good, so we prepared a straw massage for him. As it was very +hot, however, we plunged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> into the river ourselves before giving +him his bath, leaving Sudu and the elephant on the bank. Without +warning, Kari rushed at him like a mad bull, threw his trunk +about Sudu's neck, flung him into the water, and held him there +for a long, long time. When Sudu was finally pulled out of the +water and stretched on the ground, he was nearly senseless.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="Pic_2" id="Pic_2"></a> +<img src="images/image_02.jpg" width="600" height="522" alt="KARI PUNISHES SUDU" title="" /> +<span class="caption">KARI PUNISHES SUDU</span> +</div> + +<p>When Sudu asked me whether I would punish Kari for having +disgraced him in public like that, I answered that the elephant +was not rude. When Sudu asked me why, I said, "Don't you remember +about a year ago you whipped him for no reason at all, almost on +the exact spot where he has just punished you?" Sudu felt so +ashamed of himself that he got angry with all of us and went home +alone. But by the next day, we had made it all up and the +elephant had forgiven him. As a proof of friendship, when we went +to the jungle on a picnic, Kari carried Sudu on his back. Since +that day Sudu has never hurt a living creature.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> + +<p>An elephant must be taught when to sit down, when to walk, when +to go fast, and when to go slow. You teach him these things as +you teach a child. If you say "Dhat" and pull him by the ear, he +will gradually learn to sit down. Similarly, if you say "Mali" +and pull his trunk forward, he will gradually learn that that is +the signal to walk.</p> + +<p>Kari learned "Mali" after three lessons, but it took him three +weeks to learn "Dhat." He was no good at sitting down. And do you +know why an elephant should be taught to sit down? Because he +grows taller and taller than you who take care of him, so that +when he is two or three years old, you can only reach his back +with a ladder. It is, therefore, better to teach him to sit down +by saying "Dhat" so that you can climb upon his back, for who +would want to carry a ladder around all the time?</p> + +<p>The most difficult thing to teach an elephant is the master call. +He generally takes five years to learn it properly. The master +call is a strange hissing, howling sound, as if a snake <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>and a +tiger were fighting each other, and you have to make that kind of +noise in his ear. And do you know what you expect an elephant to +do when you give him the master call? If you are lost in the +jungle and there is no way out, and everything is black except +the stars above, you dare not stay very long anywhere. The only +thing to do then is to give the master call and at once the +elephant pulls down the tree in front of him with his trunk. This +frightens all the animals away. As the tree comes crashing down, +monkeys wake from their sleep and run from branch to branch—you +can see them in the moonlight—and you can almost see the stags +running in all directions below. You can hear the growl of the +tiger in the distance. Even he is frightened. Then the elephant +pulls down the next tree and the next, and the next. Soon you +will find that he has made a road right through the jungle +straight to your house.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h2>HOW KARI SAVED OUR LIVES IN THE JUNGLE</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_w.jpg" alt="W" width="65" height="50" /></div> +<p>hen Kari grew to be five years old, he was almost as high as the +ceiling. He was never trained for hunting. We never thought of +killing anything except snakes and tigers, and these we killed +when they came toward the village and injured men. So Kari never +had the training of a hunting elephant. Just the same, he was +very alert and steady in the face of danger, so when it was a +question of going into the jungle on the back of an elephant, we +generally took Kari with us. During such trips we did not put a +cloth of gold on his back or silver bells on his sides. These +bells are made in certain parts of India where silversmiths know +how to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> melt and mix silver so that when the clapper strikes the +sides of the bell there will be a sound like rushing water. The +two bells are tied by a silver chain and slung over the +elephant's back, one dangling on each side of him. We never put a +<i>howdah</i> on the back of Kari. Very few Hindus put <i>howdahs</i> on +elephants.</p> + +<p>Do you know what a <i>howdah</i> is? It is a box with high sides +inside of which there are chairs for travelers. The <i>howdahs</i> are +generally for people who are not accustomed to elephants. They +need the high sides so that when the elephant walks they will not +fall from his back. They stay in their seats leaning on the edge +of the box and see very little, especially children who are not +tall enough to see over the sides. That is why Indian children +prefer riding bareback on an elephant to taking a <i>howdah</i>.</p> + +<p>One evening when my brother and I went out, we put a mattress on +Kari's back and tied it very tightly with cords so that it would +not slip, for it is not pleasant to slip and fall under an +elephant's belly and be stepped on. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> Kari was trained so that +he would not have stepped on us even if we had slipped under him. +We tightened the cords to the mattress, however, and lay down for +the night. Though we had bells, we lifted them up and silenced +the clappers, so that in walking through the jungle road they +would not ring and frighten the animals, for the forest is the +dwelling place of silence, and silence being the voice of God, no +man dares to disturb it. We lay on the back of Kari and looked up +at the stars. In India, the stars are so close that you can +almost pluck them with your hands and the velvet blue of the sky +is like a river of stillness running between banks of silver.</p> + +<p>As we lay there, unable to go to sleep right away, we heard +jungle sounds. The heavy tread of the elephant was like clouds +brushing the crests of the forest. Once in a while you could see +a tiger come out of the jungle, cross a road and disappear in the +distance, but Kari was so brave he never condescended to notice +the comings and goings of tigers. Once we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> heard the bark of a +fox very near us and then he came out of the jungle. Kari stopped +and the fox passed across the road, then we moved on again. In +the moonlight which made the road before us look like a river of +silver we saw squirrels leaping from branch to branch.</p> + +<p>You know, perhaps, that elephants can sleep as they walk. +Presently Kari's walk slackened into a slow pace, and we felt +quite sure that he was dozing. Then we remembered nothing, for we +too fell asleep. I cannot tell how much time passed before we +were startled out of our sleep by a terrible roar, a ghastly +trumpeting of the elephant and a terrible lunge of his body. We +had to hold on to his back very tightly to avoid being thrown +off. In a few seconds both of us had turned over—I do not know +how—and were lying on our faces, holding on to the cords that +held the mattress to Kari's back, while he broke into a run.</p> + +<p>Trees bent and broke, branches fell, and we could hear the +monkeys stampeding from tree to tree, and flocks of birds, +startled out of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> sleep, falling upon us, their wings +beating our faces. We shouted to Kari to be calm, but he went on +as if he were mad. We heard boars snorting, and running away, and +strange-looking horned creatures leaping and bounding off in all +directions. Then a tree in front of us fell, and the jungle +throbbed for a moment. It seemed as though a shiver ran through +Kari's body, and he stopped stock still. It was very difficult to +tell exactly what had happened until we got off Kari's back. I +spoke to him and he shook his head, then I spoke again and urged +him to put up his head. He obeyed and I climbed down by his +trunk. I felt it was very wet, however, and he shook me off with +pain.</p> + +<p>My brother spoke to me from above and said when I told him how +the trunk felt, "Now I know. You see, this is autumn when bears +eat Mohula in the moonlight under the thick shade of the trees. +As you know, Mohula intoxicates bears, and makes them sleepy. +Some bear had fallen asleep under the trees and Kari,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> who was +also asleep and consequently did not even smell him with his +trunk, must have come upon him without suspecting his presence. +Although all bears are brought up to respect elephants, this one, +no doubt, was so sleepy that he did not know who was upon him and +so I am sure he must have sprung up in his surprise and scratched +Kari's trunk."</p> + +<p>If Kari had been wide awake he would have killed the bear, but +being sleepy, the shock and the surprise of the attack and the +pain in his trunk frightened him so that he ran out into the +jungle mad with terror.</p> + +<p>I put my hand on the trunk again. Yes, it was bleeding; I could +see in the moonlight that it was not perspiration because my hand +was dark red. I spoke to Kari again; this time he did not shake +his head so furiously. He was rather willing to listen and I told +him I was very sorry about his trunk but could do nothing here, I +also told him to go back to the road. He shook his head—that +meant "No." Do you know why he did not want to go back to that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +road? You shall learn at the end of this story.</p> + +<p>I got upon his back again. "Since he won't go back to the road," +said my brother, "we must give him the master call so that he can +make a road through the jungle" and we gave him the master call.</p> + +<p>At this Kari lifted his bleeding trunk and smote down the first +tree, and then he struck down the next tree. He came upon a third +which his trunk could not pull down, so he turned around and +walked away from it. After taking a few steps he stopped and +slowly walked backwards and with one push of his back, knocked +this tree down.</p> + +<p>At this we could hear the flocks of birds flying in the air and +feel the stamping feet below as herds of animals ran in every +direction. We heard the vibrant jabber of monkeys from tree-tops, +and each time a new tree fell there was more jabbering and more +leaping away from tree to tree.</p> + +<p>We clung to the elephant's back with our nails and teeth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> + +<p>Soon we found ourselves on the road, three miles ahead of where +Kari had been frightened by the bear.</p> + +<p>Do you know why he did not go back to the same spot? Because no +animal ever likes to return to the place where he lost his pride. +For to be frightened is to lose one's pride.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h2>KARI GOES TO TOWN</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_w.jpg" alt="W" width="65" height="50" /></div> +<p>hen Kari was about five years old, another adventure befell him. +We took him to see the town, but before we had started, we tried +to train him to like dogs and monkeys. Elephants are proverbially +irritated by dogs. When an elephant goes through a village, every +dog barks at him, and while most elephants are too dignified to +pay any attention, there are some who get extremely annoyed and +try to chase the dogs. Sometimes, in fact, an elephant will chase +a dog so hard that he will lose his way in the village.</p> + +<p>Knowing that there were many unknown little hamlets between our +village and the city, we thought we would train Kari to like +dogs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> before we started, for we did not want to be led astray +into all sorts of little alleys while he chased the dogs who had +annoyed him.</p> + +<p>But as all the dogs of our village had seen Kari grow up they +never paid any attention to him, and that made it all the more +difficult to train Kari to like other dogs. He always thought the +dogs in our little village were the right kind since they did not +bark at him. Whenever a strange dog barked at him, he would chase +the poor creature through the whole village and waste hours in +finding his way back to the road.</p> + +<p>We tried to train Kari by taking him to villages that he had not +yet seen. There were no dogs in the first village we came to. We +went through it without any trouble. In the second village we +came across one or two dogs that barked a few times, then +disappeared in the distance. Then, as we were leaving this +village we heard terrible snorts and growls all around us and +were suddenly surrounded by a pack of angry mongrels, curs and +wild dogs. It was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> terrible to see Kari trying to chase them with +his trunk. Sometimes he would try to step right on the back of a +dog, but the dog would slip away from under him. Little by little +as the dogs began to bark all around him, he started to go round +and round in a circle, faster and faster till he was spinning +like a top.</p> + +<p>We had a hard time sitting on his back because we felt terribly +dizzy. We were almost falling off, when we heard a piercing yell +and saw the whole pack of tormentors running away. Kari had +stepped on one of the dogs and killed it and that frightened the +others away.</p> + +<p>We then brought Kari home, gave him his bath in the river and +offered him nice saplings and twigs, but he would eat none of +them.</p> + +<p>From that day on, Kari was never upset by the barking of dogs, +but went through strange villages without paying any attention to +them, no matter how hard they barked at his heels.</p> + +<p>Now that he had become immune to dogs, we tried to make him like +monkeys. Monkeys,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> as you know, are very annoying little +creatures. I had a pet monkey of my own named Kopee, who was +red-faced and tawny-coated. He never came near the elephant, and +Kari never thought of going near him. Whenever we went out, this +monkey used to sit on my shoulder, and if we passed through +bazaars where mangoes and other fruits were sold, it was very +difficult to keep Kopee from getting into mischief. In India +everything is shown in the open, and the mangoes lie in baskets +piled up one above the other like little hills. There were places +where oranges were heaped up like big burning rocks. Here and +there you could see brown men robed in white sitting near these +mountains of fruit, bargaining about the prices.</p> + +<p>Now it is very good to smell the fragrance of fruit, and one day +while going through the lane of a village, as the fragrance of +the fruit grew stronger, I forgot all about Kopee, and did not +realize that I was carrying him on my shoulder.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> + +<p>Somehow the little monkey always knew when I was not thinking of +him. At such moments he would invariably jump off my shoulder and +run straight for the oranges or mangoes, take one or two of them +and then make a dive for a sheltered spot. This upset the whole +bazaar. Hundreds of men would pursue him from tree to tree, +yelling and throwing stones till he vanished out of sight.</p> + +<p>Of course, I used to get terribly frightened, fearing that the +men would attack me for carrying such a mischievous monkey. I +would hurry out of the bazaar and make for home as fast as I +could go. Then in an hour or two I would find Kopee on the house +top, looking perfectly innocent and scratching himself. No one +could ever tell by his face that he had stolen fruit a short +while before.</p> + +<p>When the time came for me to go to town, I was anxious to take +Kopee and Kari with me, and I wanted the elephant to like the +monkey and the monkey to behave like a gentleman toward the +elephant. One day I brought the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> monkey on my shoulder and held +him tight with both hands in front of the pavilion where the +elephant was busy eating all kinds of saplings. Sometimes he +would take a strong twig and unravel the top into a soft, fluffy +tuft; then he would seize the other end of it with his trunk and +brush himself. The moment he saw the monkey, he snorted and +raised his trunk to grab him. With one wild scream the monkey +jumped off my shoulder, climbed up the pavilion post and +disappeared on the roof.</p> + +<p>I went to Kari and spoke to him. I said, "Kari, in order to like +dogs you killed one, now don't kill my monkey in order to like +monkeys." He was very displeased that I should ever want him to +like monkeys, because elephants are very much like some people +who don't like to associate with others who have come from +nowhere and whom they consider their inferiors. Elephants don't +like to associate with monkeys, for they came from nowhere. You +must remember, too, that elephants rarely see monkeys because +monkeys<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> are above the elephants most of the time, jumping and +squealing among the trees in a manner most annoying to a quiet +and sedate creature like an elephant.</p> + +<p>It did not take more than a week, however, to bring Kari and +Kopee together. One day there was a pile of fruit lying in the +open, and the elephant stood at one end eating and the monkey at +the other, both enjoying the feast. Of course, the elephant ate +faster than the monkey, and realizing this, Kopee began to eat +more quickly and soon had enormous pouches on each side of his +face. Before long all the fruit was gone and the two animals were +left facing each other. The monkey trembled with fear. He was +almost on the point of running away to a tree-top, but, no one +knows why, the elephant turned away from him and went into his +pavilion. This gave the monkey great courage, so he went straight +up to the roof of the pavilion, and peering down through the +eaves, found out that the elephant lived on twigs and fruits and +saplings just like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> himself. Having watched all this, I then got +up on Kari's back and whistled to the monkey. He leaped down from +the tree onto my shoulder. The elephant shivered for a moment and +then was absolutely still. When I ordered him "mali," he walked +on.</p> + +<p>One day I took them to the bazaar, I on the elephant and the +monkey on my shoulder. When we had reached a mountain of mangoes +round the corner of a lane, the monkey jumped off and climbed up +to the top of the pile. At this the owner of the fruit chased him +away, yelling and shouting. The monkey climbed up the roof of a +house, followed by a crowd. Kari, however, put out his trunk and +helped himself to whatever fruits he liked, eating them with +great relish. The moment he heard the people coming back from the +monkey chase, he ran away—and you may be surprised to know that +when an elephant runs, he can go more than ten miles an hour. By +the time we reached home, Kopee had buried his face in an +enormous mango and was covered with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>juice. And you know +that mangoes taste very much like strawberries and cream with +sugar on them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="Pic_3" id="Pic_3"></a> +<img src="images/image_03.jpg" width="600" height="498" alt="ONE DAY I TOOK THEM TO THE BAZAAR" title="" /> +<span class="caption">ONE DAY I TOOK THEM TO THE BAZAAR</span> +</div> + +<p>At last we set off for the city, Kari, and Kopee now the best of +friends. It was very interesting at night going through the +jungle country. The moonlight was intense, falling like white +waters on the land. You could see the tree-tops, and at midnight +almost clear down to the very floor of the jungle where the +shadows were thick like packs of wolves crouching in sleep. The +elephant went through these regions perfectly care-free. He did +not care who came or went or what happened.</p> + +<p>But not so the monkey. Monkeys, you know, are always afraid of +snakes, and do you know why? Snakes go up trees and eat birds and +their younglings. Monkeys also live by stealing eggs from +different birds' nests. Now it sometimes happens that the snake +eats all the birds' eggs in the nest and is resting there when +the monkey puts his hands in to grab the eggs, so the monkey +instead of getting the eggs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> is stung to death. As this sort of +thing has been happening for thousands of years, it is natural +that they fear snakes.</p> + +<p>Monkeys also get punished for using their hands too much. Now, if +you come across a snake, the best thing to do is not to touch it. +Monkeys, however, accustomed to using their hands continually, +grab a snake whenever they see one with the result that the snake +usually stings them to death. I have never seen a snake do this, +but I have seen dead snakes with marks on their bodies showing +that monkeys had twisted them like ropes, broken their backs and +thrown them down before the snakes could use their fangs. This, +however, is very rare.</p> + +<p>As we were going through the jungle that night, Kopee would +shiver with terror whenever there was a swish of a snake's body +in the grass below or in the leaves above, and I had to put my +hand on his back and whisper, "Don't be afraid, you are on the +elephant's back and nothing can touch you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> + +<p>Another thing that used to frighten him was the hooting of the +night owl. Any monkey that lives in the jungle is used to it, but +as Kopee was born among human beings and had always lived with +them, he had never heard jungle noises. When the owls beat their +wings and gave the mating call and hoot, it was like a foam of +noise rising over a river of silence. I, too, was alarmed when I +would suddenly hear the hooting in my sleep, but both Kopee and I +soon got used to it.</p> + +<p>About four o'clock in the morning Kari stopped and refused to go +a step further. Though I was asleep, Kopee began to pull me by +the hand, and instantly after being aroused, I heard, or rather +felt, as if clouds were passing by. The monkey's eyes were all +eagerness and burning with excitement, and I looked down where he +was looking. The honey-colored moon was casting slanting rays +into the jungle through dark moving clouds. We did not know what +we saw. It seemed as though two or three hundred wild elephants +in a herd were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> going through the jungle, or perhaps the clouds +were feeding on the leaves that night. No one knows what it was, +but we did know Silence walked by, telling us of the mysteries of +the jungle, and we could not understand.</p> + +<p>Then out of the stillness a bird's note fell through the jungle +and there was a gleam of whiteness. That instant Silence was +lifted, dawn began to sing through the jungle and you could hear +its flute-like call fading away in the distance, followed by a +momentary hush. Then the birds began to sing, and soon the sun +came leaping over the forest like a horse of flame. This must +have taken at least an hour and a half, but we did not even know +when the elephant resumed his walk.</p> + +<p>We soon came to a river where we stopped. I gave the elephant his +bath. The monkey went off in search of food from tree to tree. +Then I bathed myself and stood facing the East, saying these +words of prayer:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"O Blossom of Eastern Silence,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Reveal to us the face of God,<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span><span class="i0">Whose shadow is this day, and<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whose light is always within us.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lead us from the unreal to the Real,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From sound into Silence,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From darkness unto Light, and<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From death into Immortality."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In India every hour has its prayer and every prayer can be said +unconsciously anywhere. Nobody notices you if you kneel down on +the road to say your prayer, in spite of the fact that you are +blocking the traffic. Religion runs like singing waters by the +shores of every human life in India.</p> + +<p>I went to the forest nearby and got the elephant his food, and as +he started to eat I began to cook my own meal. When traveling, it +is better to cook one's own meal so that it will be clean and +uncontaminated. Very soon I saw a caravan coming. Apparently +Kopee had seen it from the tree-top as he was chattering with +great excitement to tell me it was coming. I told him to hold his +tongue because the elephant was getting restless.</p> + +<p>I decided to go with the caravan into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> town because the +caravan people knew the shortest way. I also preferred to travel +in human company rather than alone. No sooner had the caravan +reached us than our attention was drawn to the faces of the +camels probing the distance. You know how a camel examines the +air as he goes along—he is continually stretching forth his head +and smelling the air, and he can do this easily with his long +neck. As camels live in the desert they must keep smelling the +air to find out its humidity. Every time the air is very humid +they know that water is nearby. That is why we call camels the +examiners of space; in your country you would call them animal +barometers.</p> + +<p>The moment Kari saw the camels he snorted in anger, though the +monkey was excited and thrilled. You see, elephants are the +aristocrats of animals, while camels are snobs. You can easily +tell a snob, he holds his head in a very supercilious way, always +looking down on everyone, and don't you think if you put a +monocle on a camel's eye he would look like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> any snob that walks +down the avenue? Nevertheless, I made my elephant join the +camels. That is to say, we kept about one hundred yards behind +them because I could not let the monkey bound from camel hump to +camel hump, and it would not do to let the elephant put his trunk +about the camels' necks and twist them.</p> + +<p>Toward midday the whole caravan stopped and all the animals were +tied under different trees for two or three hours to rest. As we +knew we could easily reach the city by sun-down, we all enjoyed +our siesta. About half-past three, the doves began to coo, and +that made the monkey sit up and listen. Being a dweller of the +trees by birth, Kopee was always sensitive to tree sounds. Soon a +cuckoo called from the distance and in a few moments the caravan +was ready to move on. Nothing exciting happened the rest of the +journey.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h2>KARI'S ADVENTURE IN BENARES</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="50" height="50" /></div> +<p>s the sun went down in the gathering silence of the evening, we +entered the city of Benares, the oldest city in India. For three +thousand years stone has been laid on stone to keep this city +with its haughty towers and sombre domes above the rushing and +destroying currents of the sacred river. The river like a liquid +ax is continually cutting away the foundations of the city. At +night you can hear the whispering Ganges gnawing at the stone +embankments. And that is why all the tall towers of Benares lean +slightly over the water's edge. Their roots are being cut as +beavers cut the roots of trees. And any Hindu who comes into +Benares feels the age of India; she has lived very long—indeed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +too long, and it seems time no more clings to her than the +morning dew clings to the lion's mane.</p> + +<p>We went through Benares in a long, narrow file. The camels went +first, and the monkey, who had jumped off my shoulder, was +leaping from roof to roof following the tide of the caravan. +Sometimes he would run ahead and chatter; and then suddenly +disappear among roofs and walls. Then he would rush back to talk +to me. I fastened two silver bells dangling from silver chains to +the elephant's sides, and the cool sound of the bells sank into +the cooler serenity of the Indian evening. People were walking +about in purple and gold togas; on the house-tops were pigeons +whose throats shone like iridescent beads. Through latticed +balconies you could see the faces of women with eyes warm and +tranquil as the midnight.</p> + +<p>We had not gone very far when Kari put out his trunk and took a +peacock fan out of a lady's hand as she leant against the railing +of a balcony. He then proceeded to give it to me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> I made him +stop and give it back to its owner. The lady, however, would not +take it. "Oh, little dreamer of the evening," she said, "cool +thyself with my peacock fan. Thy elephant is very wise, but I am +afraid he is no worse a scamp than thou art."</p> + +<p>I took the fan, made my bow to the lady and went on. Hardly had +we gone two more blocks when the screaming and jabbering monkey +fell upon us. Behind him on the roof of one of the houses we saw +a man with a long cudgel which he shook at the monkey. I stopped +the elephant again and said to the man, "Why art thou irate when +the evening is so cool, little man of the city?"</p> + +<p>"That monkey! Ten thousand curses upon him!" he said. "He has +been teasing my parrot in its cage, and has plucked so many of +its feathers that it now looks like a beaked rat."</p> + +<p>"I shall indeed punish this wayward monkey," I answered. "But +thou knowest that monkeys are no less wayward than thou and I."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + +<p>At this the man on the roof got very angry and began to hurl all +kinds of abuses at me, but I prodded the elephant with my foot +and he walked on, while the swearing and cursing of the little +man of the city resounded in the stillness of the night. Nothing +befell us that night as we took shelter in the open grounds +outside of the city.</p> + +<p>The following morning long before day-break, I heard nothing but +the beat, beat, beat of unknown feet on the dusky pavement of +Benares. It seemed as though the stillness of the night were +hurrying away. I left my animals where they were and went in +quest of these beating feet. There is something sinister in this +walk of the Hindu. The Hindu walks with a great deal of poise, in +fact, very much like an elephant, but he also has the agility of +the panther. I did not realize it until that early morning when I +heard the moving feet, as one hears dogs on the hurrying heels of +a stag.</p> + +<p>Soon I reached the river bank where I saw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> thousands and +thousands of pilgrims crowding the steps of the Ghaut, the +staircase leading to the river, bathing and waiting to greet the +dawn. As I followed their example and took my bath, there arose +over the swaying crowd and the beating feet, a murmur like the +spray of foam on the seashore after the breakers have dashed +against the beach. Then the day broke like two horses of livid +light rushing through the air. In the tropics the day-break is +very sudden. Hardly had those streaks of light spent themselves +through the sky and over the waters, when a golden glow fell upon +the faces of the people and they raised their hands in a gesture +of benediction, greeting the morning sun which rose like a +mountain of crimson under a tide of gold. All of us said our +morning prayer, thousands of voices intoning together.</p> + +<p>I could not stay at the Ghaut very long, however. I knew my +animals would be looking for me, so I hastened back. Lo and +behold, this sight greeted me! The monkey was sitting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> on the +neck of the elephant, and Kari, who had never been accustomed to +that sort of thing was running all around, raising his trunk and +bending it backwards to reach the monkey in frantic efforts to +shake him off. The one spot that an elephant cannot shake, +however, is his neck, so the monkey stayed there perfectly calm, +looking into space, secure in his seat.</p> + +<p>I shouted to Kari to stop, and seeing me, he came rushing towards +me, trembling. He made an effort to shake Kopee off, but the +monkey was glued to his neck. I swore at Kopee and told him to +get off. He looked down at me as if nothing had happened. I, too, +was very irritated, for even I had never seen a monkey on an +elephant's neck. That is considered very improper. I threw a +stone at the monkey and he jumped from the elephant's neck, went +straight up a tree and stayed there. I patted Kari's back and +tried to soothe him. Then I took him by the ear and we walked +into town.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> + +<p>Kari loved human beings; the more he saw them, the happier he +felt. He glided by them like a human child. I was very proud of +him and his behavior. As we went on our way, a mouse ran out of a +hole in the foundations of a house in front of us. Kari turned +around, curled up his trunk, put it in his mouth and ran. You see +elephants are not afraid of anything except mice, for a mouse can +crawl into an elephant's trunk and disappear in his head. I was +humiliated beyond measure at Kari's behavior. He did not stop +till he reached the open ground which we had left half an hour +before. The monkey was still sitting in the tree. Seeing us, he +shook a purse at me. He had stolen somebody's purse and was +holding it in his hands waiting for it to be ransomed.</p> + +<p>Monkeys are very much like bandits. Once, I remember, my little +sister who was two months old, was lying in a basket on the +veranda. Suddenly we heard her crying, and going out on the +veranda found that she was not there. Basket and all had +disappeared.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> Then we looked up at a tree and there was an +enormous baboon looking down at us, while with one hand he held +the basket, which was resting on a branch. My father, however, +knew what to do. He sent a servant at once to the bazaar, and in +the meantime brought all of the fruit in the house and spread it +on the floor of the veranda. The monkey shook his head, meaning +that was not ransom enough for him. Very soon the servant +returned with an enormous quantity of bananas. The baboon +immediately came down, and it was remarkable how he brought down +the basket without upsetting it.</p> + +<p>My mother, all this while, was weeping silently, leaning against +the door. But now her grief was turned to gladness, for lo, and +behold, there was the baby asleep in the basket on the veranda, +while the baboon sat on a pile of bananas giving a strange monkey +call to other monkeys.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had we taken the baby into the house and shut the glass +doors of the veranda,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> when we heard monkeys hooting and calling +from all directions, leaping from tree to tree and falling with a +great thud on our roof. In ten minutes the veranda became a +regular parliament of monkeys chattering over their dinners. +After this we were very careful about the baby. Every time she +was put out, a man or woman with a stick always watched over her.</p> + +<p>Remembering now what had happened to my sister years ago, I +called to the men of the caravan who had not yet started and told +them the monkey had the purse. True enough, one of them was +accusing his servant of having stolen his purse. I told them to +buy some bananas and leave them under the tree, and in the course +of the day the monkey would come down, leave the purse and take +the bananas. I had been humiliated by my elephant, and now being +disgusted with my monkey, I took Kari into town again. This time +I had my <i>ankus</i> with me, so that in case he should run away +again I could prick his neck and make him behave.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> + +<p>We went by jewelers' shops where they were cutting diamonds, and +stopped in front of the goldsmith's door. Seeing us wait there, +the smith came out. "What do you want, do you want gold rings for +your elephant's tusks?" You know they put rings on elephant's +tusks as human beings put gold in their teeth.</p> + +<p>"His tusks have just begun to sprout; they're too beautiful to +spoil with rings yet," I answered.</p> + +<p>"But my rings always make tusks more beautiful," was his retort.</p> + +<p>I answered, "All the city folk think that what they do makes +everything beautiful. Why don't they make their dirty city +beautiful?"</p> + +<p>The smith was angry. "If thou be not a buyer of gold, nor a +vendor of silver, tarry not at my door; I have no time for +beggars."</p> + +<p>As we trotted off, I called back, "I do not sell silver, nor do I +buy gold, but when my elephant grows up, he will have such tusks +that you will cast eyes of envy on them. But this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> elephant will +live more than one hundred and twenty-five years and thou shalt +be dead by then, and so there will be no chance of soiling his +ivory by buying thy gold."</p> + +<p>We walked on very silently through the city, and then of a sudden +a pack of dogs were upon us. We knew not whence they had come. +Kari was as dignified as a mountain; he never noticed them, but +the less attention he paid to them, the more audacious the dogs +grew. They came after us and I did not know what to do, as I did +not even have a stone to throw at them. In a few moments, we were +hemmed in by packs of dogs. Quickly now, Kari turned round and in +an instant lifted a dog into the air with his trunk. As the dog +would have been dashed into bits, I yelled into his ear, +"Brother, brother, do not kill him, but let him down gently, he +will not bite you."</p> + +<p>At this moment the dog gave such a terrible cry of pain as the +trunk was coming down that Kari stopped and slowly brought him to +the ground. The dog, however, was already dead;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> the pressure of +the trunk had killed him, and the other dogs, seeing his fate, +had already run away.</p> + +<p>Kari walked rapidly out of the city and I was heart-sick. He went +straight to the river bank and with great difficulty walked down +the steps of the Ghaut and buried all except his trunk in the +water. He stood there knowing that I knew that he had done +something wrong and he was trying to cleanse himself of it. I, +too, took my bath.</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon, we went back and found Kopee still sitting +on the same tree and looking for us, as the caravan had left long +ago. Judging by the banana peels under the trees, we realized he +had had his dinner. Kari and I, however, were very hungry and we +were both sick of the city. We did not want to see it again, so I +called to the monkey to follow and urged the elephant to go on to +the nearest forest. Kopee, with one leap, jumped on my neck as I +sat on the elephant's back.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> + +<p>This ended Kari's expedition to the city. It is better for +animals to be where the jungle is, for the jungle is sweeter and +kinder than that wilderness of stones—the city.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h2>THE JUNGLE SPIRIT</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> +<p>t took us much longer to return home. We lost nearly twenty-four +hours in a jungle where we had the strangest experiences of our +lives. We had already covered half the distance when one day at +noon we reached the river across which lay the jungle. It was so +hot that Kari would not go any further. The moment he smelled the +moist earth of the river bank, he literally ran into the water +and lay there. Kopee and I had to sit on his back, while the +waves of the river played around us as the waves of the sea play +around an island. Kari kept his trunk above the water, and when +he moved we almost fell off his back. The monkey clung to me, +for, as you know, monkeys do not know how to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> swim. There are two +reasons why monkeys are afraid of the water; not only are they +unable to swim because the fingers of their hands are not webbed +together as are ducks' toes, but being accustomed to go through +the air by leaping from branch to branch, they think that they +should leap from place to place in the water.</p> + +<p>Seeing that the elephant was wayward, I told Kopee to hold on to +my head. Then I swam ashore and waited for the elephant to come +out. Now that we were off his back, he raised himself a little +above the water and began to draw vast quantities of water up his +trunk and snorted it out at the monkey who was running up and +down the shore, chattering fiercely and keeping at a safe +distance to avoid being drenched.</p> + +<p>This shows that elephants have a sense of humor. They always know +where to keep a monkey, and it is the monkey's business to know +when the elephant is going to indulge in humor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> + +<p>As elephants do not know that monkeys cannot swim, I was afraid +that if Kopee was not careful, Kari might throw him into the +river for fun, and that would have been the end of him.</p> + +<p>I soon forgot the elephant and the monkey, however, and fell +asleep on the river bank. I was awakened by a terrible cry from +the monkey and a trumpeting from the elephant. I sat up with a +start and I saw Kopee sitting on the ground shivering with +terror, and Kari standing in front of him, waving his trunk in +the air and trumpeting for all he was worth. I lay on the ground +and lifted myself on my elbows. Through the elephant's legs I saw +a great snake, right under him, held almost between his +fore-legs. My blood congealed in terror. Of course Kari was five +years old; his skin was so thick that the cobra could never bite +deep enough to bury its poisonous fangs in his arteries. The +monkey was hypnotized with fear, but he could neither run away, +nor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> go forward, nor come to me. He sat there shivering with +terror.</p> + +<p>I crept slyly around the elephant and approached Kopee. I knew +that if I touched him, he would turn around and bite me. He was +so frightened that anything that touched him would mean to his +excited brain only the sting of the snake. The idea that he would +be stung to death had taken possession of the whole animal.</p> + +<p>I could now see what had happened. The elephant had stepped on +the middle of the snake. Its back was broken and it could not +move, but there was life in the rest of its body and it was +standing erect like a sharp column of ebony, its black hood with +a white mark on it spread out as large as the palm of a man's +hand. Of course, it could not stay in that position long. It +swayed and almost fell to the ground. The moment that happened, +Kari raised his foot and put it down on the snake's neck. But the +snake lifted up its head in such a way that whenever there was a +chance for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> elephant to put his foot on its head it would +immediately raise itself on its broken back. Its agony must have +been great, yet it would not give in for a long time.</p> + +<p>As the snake could not move with its back broken and the foot of +the elephant still on it, I knew I had better go and kill it with +a stick. As I approached it with my stick, the monkey's eyes +which had been fixed on the snake, suddenly moved. He looked at +me and bounded off with a piercing, chattering yell towards the +nearest tree. The spirit of terror that had held him hypnotized +so long was broken at last, for he had seen someone who could +kill the snake.</p> + +<p>The moment the monkey bounded off, the snake stung the elephant's +toe nails, those horny plates around his feet. This is a vital +spot, as the arteries come very near the surface. Knowing this, +Kari raised his foot. Evidently he was not hurt, but I was not +sure how long he could stand on three legs. I was also afraid +that he would fall and bring his trunk near the snake, and any +snake can poison an elephant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> by stinging the end of his trunk. I +hit the snake on the head with my stick, but instead of striking +his head, the stick slipped down that ebony column which was +still standing erect. Fortunately, in order to avert the next +blow, the snake fell on his side. That very instant the up-raised +foot of the elephant was on his head.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="Pic_4" id="Pic_4"></a> +<img src="images/image_04.jpg" width="600" height="454" alt="THAT VERY INSTANT THE UP-RAISED FOOT OF THE +ELEPHANT WAS ON HIS HEAD" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THAT VERY INSTANT THE UP-RAISED FOOT OF THE +ELEPHANT WAS ON HIS HEAD</span> +</div> + +<p>Kari walked away and pawed the sand with his feet to cleanse +them. I thought of calling to Kopee who had taken refuge on a +tree-top, but I was so anxious to know whether the elephant's +foot was hurt or not, that I followed him about until he let me +look at it. I was relieved to see that the skin of his foot had +not been broken.</p> + +<p>Then I called to the monkey to come down from the tree. He shook +his head. I knew he was so ashamed of being afraid that he +preferred to be alone in the privacy of the tree in order to +gather his forces together.</p> + +<p>The sun was beginning to sink. The jungle <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>was not very far off +and I was certain that the breeze blowing across the river had +taken the scent of human beings into the depths of the forest.</p> + +<p>The twilight came swiftly. The bars of gold and light vibrated +over the tawny waters, and darkness fell like a black sword, +cutting the day from the night. The voices of the birds from the +tree-tops, here and there died down, and as if to enhance the +silence, insect voices came from under the grass. I got on my +elephant's back and sat there quietly, for as the evening Silence +goes by, each man must make his prayer. As the Silence walked on, +I could see the grass waving in zig-zag curves across the river. +It was always making half the figure eight in the undergrowth of +the jungle.</p> + +<p>Gradually all grew still and then over the river came the +terrible hunger wail of a tiger. That instant its tawny face +scarred with black emerged from behind green leaves. He saw I was +across the river. The tiger's body is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> marked with the same +stripes and curves as he makes in the grass when he walks, and +people in the jungle can always tell by the wave of the grass +which animal has passed that way.</p> + +<p>Throughout the country-side, wherever the echo of the wail was +heard, a tension fell upon everything. Even the saplings were +tense, and you could almost hear the cracking of the muscles of +the animals holding themselves together and watching which way +the tiger would pass. It was as if the horn of the chase had +sounded and blown; each one had to take to cover.</p> + +<p>Night came on apace. I wanted to tie Kari to a big tree, but he +refused to be tied up that night. He paced up and down the shore +without making the slightest noise. Then he would suddenly stand +still and stop the waving of his ears in order to listen very +intently to shadows of songs that might be passing. I stayed on +his back, intent on knowing what he was going to do. Soon, very +soon, the river<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> became silver-yellow and over the jungle a +quickening silence throbbed from leaf to leaf.</p> + +<p>Then swiftly the terrible face of the moon was upon us. Kari +snorted and stepped backwards. I, too, was surprised because this +was another moon, very rarely seen by men. It was the moon +bringing the call of the summer to the jungle. It was the call +for hunt and challenge, when elephants kill elephants to win +their mates. And under the moon lay a great sinister figure like +the terrible face of a dragon.</p> + +<p>The July cloud was hovering in the distance, and between the +cloud-banks and the moon I saw strange things, as if throngs of +white animals were going from sky to sky—I don't know why—no +one ever knows. These are the spirits of the jungle, the dead +ancestors of the animals now living.</p> + +<p>Without warning, Kari now plunged into the river. I spoke to him, +scratched his neck with the <i>ankus</i>, but he would not stop. He +forded the river, at times almost drowning,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> and charged madly up +the other shore, where we were lost in the darkness of leaves and +vines. No moonlight fell on us, not even the knowledge that the +moon was up could be vouched for in this thick black place.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h2>KARI'S STORY</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> +<p> cannot tell how many hours passed. I think I fell asleep, but +perhaps I saw this waking—I cannot tell. Suddenly Kari's face +changed. He moved his eyes forward, looked at me, and said:</p> + +<p>"Brother, this is the night of the jungle and I want you to hear +a tale that my mother told me when I was four months old, and +still roaming in the jungle. That was a short time before she and +I were captured by men. I was born near the foot-hills of the +Himalayas, for the snow-covered mountains could be seen in the +distance, but we elephants were so proud of our own height that +we never bothered about the hills. I once asked my mother, 'Why +do tigers smell like this? Wherever a tiger goes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> he brings a +terrible stench with him.' This is what she told me:</p> + +<p>"'Every animal that lives in the jungle is born to one kind of +food or another. He either eats meat or he lives on herbs and +fruits. Those who eat herbs never hate or fear, but those who eat +other animals are tainted with both. We elephants never fear +anyone or hate anyone and that is why we exude no stench, but a +tiger has to live by killing. In order to kill one must hate, and +in order to hate one must fear, and those spirits that you see +walking through the air have taught all animals the secret of the +jungle.</p> + +<p>"'Now the secret of the jungle is this—the animal that lives by +killing is diseased. He carries a strange, festering sore within +him and that poisons his whole blood. Wherever he goes the stench +of that poison reaches other animals, and this mother of us all +who loves tigers, as well as the antelopes they kill, is so wise +that animals that kill must be branded so that their victims will +be able to take shelter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> For this reason wherever the tiger goes +his stench precedes him, and knowing this the fox comes out of +his little hole and calls through the jungle that the tiger is +out. Hence, here in the night when the moonlight falls on the +thickest gloom, following the plaintive cry, the cunning fox, the +servant of our mother, threads its way through the jungle giving +the warning to all animals.'</p> + +<p>"Very soon one sees the black form of a tiger moving in the +moonlight without the slightest sound. He never attacks +elephants. After he passes, the horrible smell of carnage grows +less and less, and then another fox gives the call throughout the +jungle, telling the animals that the tiger has passed.</p> + +<p>"If on the morrow thou comest to the same spot where the tiger +and fox have passed, thou shalt not find a trace of their coming +and going for it is the law of the jungle that no animal leaves +the mark of his foot or the stain of his presence on leaves or +grass. The victims of the tiger dare not leave footprints for it +will give<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> away their whereabouts. The cheetah, the tiger, and +even the wild cats who live by killing, leave no trace behind. +And that is why the dwelling of men annoys me so; they cannot +even raise their heads without disturbing the air."</p> + +<p>In my dream, I asked him, "How did you live with your elephant +mother in the jungle?"</p> + +<p>"Our life was a playing and a toil," he answered, "but the toil +was a playing, and the playing was a toil. When the leaves began +to get crisp and colored and the sun called us to the South, we +would leave the foot-hills of the Himalayas and follow the sacred +river bed through vast forest lanes, going further and further +south. Time and again we would come to dwellings of men. How +wretched are men! Wherever they go they murder trees and +slaughter forests! And in these comings and goings, I saw strange +things.</p> + +<p>"One winter we came to jungles on the seashore where I saw +crocodiles lying on the banks of the Delta in the daytime, with +their mouths open and little birds going in and out of them,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +cleaning their teeth, and eating all the insects that poison +their gums. It is a pity we elephants have no birds to clean our +teeth. And, there too, even in the water you could smell animals +that lived on other animals.</p> + +<p>"When we traveled, the old male masters went first, then the +children, then babies and the mothers, and in the rear all the +maidens and young fathers. When we went to sleep at night, the +old ones made a ring of tusks, within which the young maids and +the males each made rings, and in that triple ring we children +slept guarded by elephants and stars. In my sleep in the jungle I +have seen elephant ghosts in the sky shaking their tusks of +lightning, roaring in anger and battling with the moon. These +elephants of the sky are our dead ancestors watching over us. You +know, in the beginning, elephants ruled over all other animals, +and hence, men and monkeys and snakes and tigers were created."</p> + +<p>"Who made the rhinoceros?" I asked in my dream.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The rhinoceros," Kari answered, "is a wayward elephant. Once +when our ancestors were making a very beautiful animal they fell +asleep. They had already completed the thick hide and the small +legs, when some malicious spirit completed the head and instead +of putting a trunk put a horn on it, and that is why the +rhinoceros goes through the jungle like a spirit of evil. Dost +thou not hear him coming tonight? The trees are falling and the +saplings are cracking. The rhinoceros is snorting. That is the +way of his coming; wherever he goes he carries destruction before +him and he is not afraid to leave a trail behind, for no animal +could kill him and tigers do not want to kill him because they +cannot get beyond his hide."</p> + +<p>That minute a tall tree fell in front of us and the raging +rhinoceros went by.</p> + +<p>"Why does he walk straight?" I said to Kari. "Most animals do +not."</p> + +<p>"Only the well-born go round," Kari said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> "The ill-bred find the +shortest road to everything."</p> + +<p>Just then there was a stillness in the jungle and from nowhere, +like marching clouds, came herds of elephants, silent and slow. +Above there was no light. A vast blackness had been spread over +the stars and moon, and throughout the gloom beyond there was a +singing and an eagerness.</p> + +<p>"Go up the tree," Kari said to me. "I want to be rid of you +tonight."</p> + +<p>Sleeping or dreaming—I do not know—I did his bidding and then +saw Kari stand and give a call and the whole elephant herd +stopped. I could understand everything they said; and when they +looked at him some of the young elephants laughed, "Look, he has +the mark of a chain on his ankle; he bears the slavery of man."</p> + +<p>Kari raised his trunk and silenced their silly chatter by +trumpeting. Then he said, "I want a mate tonight. How many of you +free-born want to test my strength?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> + +<p>One of the young elephants said, "How old are you?"</p> + +<p>"There is no age to a hero," answered Kari.</p> + +<p>One of the elephants, the leader of the herd, shook his head. "We +have amongst us younglings who have taught tigers humility; we +have amongst us younglings who have broken hillocks with their +fury, and pulled down the thickest trees of the jungle. So thou, +man lover, temper thy speech to humility; it is not meet for thee +to seek a bride amongst the free-born."</p> + +<p>Kari snorted and said, "Give forth the challenge, I accept." And +one of the elephants with two small tusks just coming out of his +mouth stood out from the herd and trumpeted. Kari stood and a +quiver ran through his muscles and I could see his body throb. +"Don't be afraid," I whispered to him. "We have taught you the +tale of man; he does not know it."</p> + +<p>He waved his trunk at me and then plunged into the other +elephant. The whole herd stood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> around and watched the fight. In +a few moments a young girl elephant stood apart from the herd, +watching the fight, and I knew she was the prize of this battle. +First they put their trunks together and bellowed. Then the two +mountains of flesh bounded at each other as if hills were +striking hills. As I have said before, Kari's tusks were not long +enough to be of any use, so every time they crushed against each +other Kari had to be very careful to avoid the other's tusks.</p> + +<p>At last their trunks came together and their bodies were tightly +pinioned. They looked like a great mountain spinning round and +round. There was a pause and Kari rose on his hind legs and held +his front legs up. That instant the wild elephant let go of his +trunk and leapt to cut Kari's trunk with his tusks, but before he +could do that, Kari struck him on the head and he went reeling +into the distance. He would have fallen if he had not struck +against a tree, and if an elephant falls, that is the end of the +battle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> + +<p>As Kari thought he had struck his opponent down, he stood there +feeling victorious and I could see a shiver of relief going +through his body. The other elephant, however, gauged the +distance and came upon him again with great momentum. Before Kari +realized what had happened, the elephant gored him with his +tusks. Kari gave a painful yell, and walking backwards drew his +neck from the tusks of his opponent. I could feel a quake go +through him as a tree which has just been cut throbs before it +falls.</p> + +<p>The herd yelled, and shook their heads with great glee, +whispering, "We have won." Then Kari began to walk in a circle. +The other elephant did likewise and they faced each other. Now +and then they would come close together; their trunks would +strike each other, then they would separate and go around again.</p> + +<p>By this time the sky was black and the livid tongue of the +lightning flickered on the crest of the clouds. But the rumble of +the thunder<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> could not be heard because the two elephants were +trumpeting so loudly.</p> + +<p>Again they locked trunks and bodies and spun around. Quickly Kari +released his trunk and stood aside, leaving the other elephant to +go spinning against the herd. That instant Kari ran forward and +struck the side of the other elephant, giving him a broad-side +blow and throwing him on the ground. The herd scattered and a +clamor of wonder spread from elephant to elephant. Kari rose on +his hind legs and fell upon his opponent with his forefeet, as he +started to rise. The oldest elephant said, "It is done." At this +the herd slunk away slowly and the beaten elephant was seen no +more.</p> + +<p>The female who was waiting for the end of this battle came up to +Kari and they put their trunks together. A deafening crash of +thunder fell upon the forest and the lightning was striking trees +far and near. A terrible deluge of rain came and blotted +everything out of sight. I clung to the branch of my tree for +fear I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> might be washed down to the ground. I do not know how +long it rained. When I looked up, I could see that there was a +white light above, but the rain was still falling on me. Then I +realized that the foliage above my head was so thick that the +raindrops were caught in it and were still coming down. I did not +dare to go up further into the tree, for the branches were very +slippery, so I stayed until every drop of water had fallen.</p> + +<p>The moon set and I could hear all kinds of noises. Many animals +were moving about. From the tree-top I heard the shaking of the +coats of the monkey, and below on the ground I felt the heaving +of hoofs on the wet grass. Then all this stopped and on the wet +undergrowth again there was a movement like the zig-zag stripe of +the tiger's skin.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="Pic_5" id="Pic_5"></a> +<img src="images/image_05.jpg" width="500" height="633" alt="THE TIGER HAD FOUND HIS KILL" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE TIGER HAD FOUND HIS KILL</span> +</div> + +<p>Suddenly, there was a bark followed by a deafening roar and then +the thud of a leaping body falling on the ground. The tiger had +found his kill. You know the tiger has three different calls—the +hunger wail which is like a terrible sound cutting the jungle +with hate; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>then the snorting bark of the tiger which means +that he is nearing his prey; and then through the stillness of +the jungle, one hears his third call, the triumphant roar of the +kill, which means that he has found his prey. This roar has a +terrible effect on the victim; it paralyzes him with terror, and +like a lightning flash, along with the roar, the tiger falls upon +his prey. This is just what was happening now a short while +before sunrise. The tiger growled now and then to announce that +he had had his dinner and then other small animals came up and +fell upon the prey after he had left it.</p> + +<p>All the animals who had taken shelter in their lairs and holes +during the rain were now beginning to come out. This morning +there was no silence in the jungle; in the small hours all the +animals were eager to get something to eat, so that by day-break +they could go to sleep with something in their stomachs. When the +dawn came, I saw Kari standing under the tree in the thick +twilight under the foliage. I came down on the ground to find +traces of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> struggle of the night. The rain had washed it all +away, but as I got up and touched Kari's neck, he winced and I +knew that the marks he bore were the only testimony of the +battle.</p> + +<p>We went back across the river, and found Kopee there, wet and +miserable. He was glad to get down from the tree and get on the +elephant's back and feel the sunlight on his skin. I urged Kari +to get him something to eat, but he would not hear of it, so we +hastened back toward the village. On our way home, I verified the +law of the jungle, for Kari had really developed a slight stench. +You may say that it was the wound that gave the odor, but I do +not think so. When he went to war and battled with another +elephant, he must have hated as well as feared, and the smell of +fear and hate was upon him. It took nearly a fortnight to wash +the stench away from him, and you must remember that it was not +the bathing in the water that did it. It was in the gentle care +and friendship of the village that Kari gradually forgot to hate +his enemy.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h2>THE TIGER HUNT</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> +<p> have told you that Kari was not a hunting elephant. After that +experience in the jungle, however, he seemed to be above all fear +and surprise. On many occasions he showed such dignity and +composure that one could not recognize in him the old, nervous +beast. Apparently that battle with the wild elephant gave him +such confidence in his own strength that from that time on no +incident could surprise him.</p> + +<p>You do not know what music can do for animals. If you took a +flute and played certain tunes on it, all of the snakes would +come out of their holes and dance to the music! There is supposed +to be a kind of flower, like a sensitive plant, that can be put +to sleep by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> the playing of a very delicate tune. I have seen +with my own eyes how fond the deer are of music. Sometimes in the +middle of the afternoon, if you stand on the edge of the forest +and play your flute and slowly strike the notes which sound like +the whistling call of the antelope, you will see a strange +phenomenon. The deer generally bark, but they also give a +whistling call.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="Pic_6" id="Pic_6"></a> +<img src="images/image_06.jpg" width="600" height="538" alt="IF YOU TOOK A FLUTE AND PLAYED CERTAIN TUNES ON +IT, ALL OF THE SNAKES WOULD COME OUT OF THEIR HOLES AND DANCE TO +THE MUSIC" title="" /> +<span class="caption">IF YOU TOOK A FLUTE AND PLAYED CERTAIN TUNES ON +IT, ALL OF THE SNAKES WOULD COME OUT OF THEIR HOLES AND DANCE TO +THE MUSIC</span> +</div> + +<p>As I was playing my flute one afternoon, I remember distinctly +that nothing happened for a while. I stopped and tried another +tune. I heard a strange rustle in the leaves of the small plants +of the jungle; but nothing came of it. Again I changed my tune +and played on. This time even the leaves did not move, so I was +sure my flute was not catching the ear of any animal. I was +heart-broken. I had gone to test my knowledge of flute-playing, +but I found out that I could not attract any animal.</p> + +<p>It was getting late; the darkness of the jungle became thicker +and thicker, though the April sun was still scorching the open +meadow. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>At last in desperation, I tried my only remaining +tune, not being very proficient on the flute. For a while nothing +happened. I played so intently that I paid attention to nothing +else and was greatly startled to hear a noise as if someone were +pulling on a rope. I looked up and there was a stag whose +nostrils were quivering with excitement as if he scented the +music. His beautiful forked horns were caught up in a creeper +hanging from a tree, from which he was trying to free himself. I +kept on playing, but did not take my eyes from him. At last he +freed himself from the vine, but a tendril still clung to his +horns like a crown of green. He came nearer and stood still.</p> + +<p>I kept on playing, and one by one more golden faces began to come +out from behind the foliage of the jungle. The spotted fawn, the +musk-deer, gazelles and antelopes, all seemed to answer the call +of the music. I stopped playing. That instant a shiver went +through the herd; the stag stamped his foot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> on the ground and as +swiftly as the waving of a blade of grass in the breeze they all +disappeared in the forest. I could feel in the distance the +shiver of the undergrowth of grass and saplings indicating the +way the animals had passed.</p> + +<p>Knowing this power of music over animals, I wanted to train Kari +and Kopee to follow the tunes of my flute. Kopee was such a +monkey that I could not make him listen. Whenever I began to play +the flute, he would go to sleep or run up a tree. Monkeys have no +brains.</p> + +<p>Kari, on the contrary, though much worse at first, was more +sensible. He paid no attention to any tune that I played, but +once in a while, I would strike a note that would make him stop +still and listen, and I could tell by his manner that this tune +went home. Those long fanning ears of his would stop waving and +the restless trunk would be still for a moment. Unfortunately, +the notes that really reached his soul were very few—I could +hardly sustain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> them for more than a minute and a half. Weeks +passed before I could get them back again.</p> + +<p>One day after the battle with the wild elephant in the jungle, I +took up the flute again and began to play for him. I tried many +notes and chords. At last I could sustain the tones he liked for +more than three minutes. By the end of August, I could make Kari +listen to my music for ten minutes at a time. When another winter +had passed and summer came again, I could really command him with +my music. I could sit on his back, almost on his neck, and play +the flute, never saying a word, and guide him for days and days.</p> + +<p>This summer a very daring tiger visited our village. His head +looked like a tower and his body was as large as that of an ox. +At first he came in the night and killed oxen or buffaloes, but +one night he killed a man, and after that he never killed +anything but men, for the tiger is as fond of human meat as we +are of chicken.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + +<p>Our house was very near the jungle; all our windows were barred +with iron. Nothing could go in or out through them except +mosquitoes or flies. One evening I was sitting at my window at +about eight o'clock. I heard the cry of the Fayu, the fox which +goes ahead of the tiger, giving the warning call to all the other +animals. Then, as the darkness that night was not very intense, I +could see the fox go by. Soon I could actually inhale the odor of +a tiger.</p> + +<p>In a few moments an enormous black creature came and stood in +front of the window. As he sat down, the call of the fox in the +distance stopped. After a while the tiger stood up and walked +toward the window. That instant, the fox in the distance began to +call. I was very frightened, but as I wanted to see the tiger +clearly, I lit a match. He was so frightened by the sight of fire +that with one growl he bounded off.</p> + +<p>After that the tiger took to coming early in the afternoons. One +day about four o'clock, we saw him standing on a rock across the +river,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> looking at the village. The river was very shallow, +hardly five inches deep, but it was very broad and full of sand +bars. He stood looking at the village and growling with great +joy. In India the government does not allow the people to carry +rifles of any sort, so whenever a tiger or a leopard makes a +nuisance of himself around the village you generally have to send +for a British official to come and kill him. Word was sent to the +magistrate of our district. In a few days a chubby-faced +Englishman appeared. In the Indian sun the red face of the +Westerner looks even redder.</p> + +<p>There are certain rules by which men hunt in India. You never +shoot an animal weaker than yourself, and if you want to shoot a +tiger or a leopard, you give it a warning. If you do not do so, +you generally pay for it. After the British official appeared, I +was allowed to take him on my elephant and go out in the open to +show him that Kari was fit for hunting. He fired a number of +shots and killed several birds. Kari, who had never heard a shot +before, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> whom everyone expected to be frightened, did not pay +the slightest attention to all the clamor of flying bullets. He +knew at heart he was the master of the jungle, and hence nothing +could surprise him. It is said in India that the mark of a +gentleman is that he is never surprised. That shows that Kari's +ancestors were undoubtedly very gentle elephants.</p> + +<p>After killing some more birds, the magistrate became quite +convinced that Kari would do for the hunt, so one morning about +four o'clock we started out. I sat almost on the neck of my +elephant playing my flute, and the magistrate sat in the <i>howdah</i> +which had been especially prepared for him, since he was not +accustomed to riding elephants any other way. We crossed the +river and went far into the jungle. Beaters had gone ahead in +large groups to stir up the jungle from all directions. It was +very difficult to go through the jungle with the <i>howdah</i> on the +elephant's back, and we had to edge our way along between +branches and trees.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> + +<p>After riding for at least two hours, we came to an open space and +it was agreed that the beaters should drive all the animals to +this clearing. This morning the sunrise was full of noise and +without any of the soft and delicate silences which usually mark +day-break in the jungle. I felt quite out of humor and apparently +Kari was bored to death. He kept on pulling at one twig after +another with his trunk, nibbling and wasting everything. Our +passenger did not know any language but English, and as I knew +nothing of English at that time, we spoke very little and only by +signs.</p> + +<p>The first animals to come before us were a herd of antelopes +which dashed towards us like burnt gold flashing through emerald +water. After they had passed, a lull fell on the scene, which was +soon broken by the grunt and snort of a rhinoceros. He rushed +forward in a straight line, as usual, breaking and tearing +everything. Kari averted his gaze because elephants are always +irritated by the ostentatious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> bustle of a rhinoceros. Then, soon +after him we saw a horned boar rushing like a black javelin +through the air, followed by many animals, weasels and wild cats, +and once in a while a cheetah with its spotted skin. They refused +to come out in the open, however, but always went behind the +screen of foliage and grass, for they had smelled the danger +signal, man and elephant.</p> + +<p>Every little while we heard a passionate and angry growl. When +this sound reached our ears, the magistrate would sit up with his +rifle to take aim. Then there would be a lull. Now we could hear +the cry o£ the beaters in the distance coming nearer and nearer. +Suddenly a herd of elephants passed. They made no noise and left +no trace, but passed by like walking cathedrals.</p> + +<p>Again the angry growl fell on the jungle, but this time it was +ahead of us. The beaters cried out again close by, but all were +silenced by the roar of the approaching tiger. With one bound he +appeared in the clearing, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> immediately disappeared again. We +could see him passing from one bush to another; and when he +stopped we caught a glimpse of his hind legs. Without any warning +the magistrate fired and like a thunder bolt, the tiger leaped in +front of the elephant with one roar. Kari reared; he walked +backwards and stood with his back against a tree. The magistrate +could not shoot at the tiger without sending a bullet through my +head, so he had to wait.</p> + +<p>Then with a leap the tiger was by the side of the elephant, so +close to the <i>howdah</i> that there was not the distance of even a +rifle between him and the magistrate. I stopped my flute playing +to swear at the magistrate. I said, "You brother of a pig; why +did you not give him warning before you shot? Who has ever heard +of killing an animal without seeing him face to face? Can you +kill a tiger by breaking his hind leg with a bullet?"</p> + +<p>The man was livid with terror. He had the rifle in his hand but +the tiger was reaching over the <i>howdah</i> and stretching out his +paw to get<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> him. He did not know what to do. Kari shook himself +with all his strength but he could not shake the tiger off. He +trumpeted in great pain because the tiger's claws were cutting +into his flesh. He raised his trunk, swayed his body and bounded +against a tree behind him; but still the tiger could not be +shaken off. The nearer the tiger's paw came, the more the +magistrate tried to lean against the side of the <i>howdah</i>. Pretty +soon he moved towards the elephant's rear, and thus reached a +corner of the <i>howdah</i> which gave him almost as much space as the +length of a rifle. I saw the eye of the tiger turn first red and +then yellow, and heard the terrible snarl which he gives only +when he is sure of his prey. The quality of the snarl is such +that it paralyzes his victim.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="Pic_7" id="Pic_7"></a> +<img src="images/image_07.jpg" width="500" height="695" alt="WITHOUT ANY WARNING THE MAGISTRATE FIRED" title="" /> +<span class="caption">WITHOUT ANY WARNING THE MAGISTRATE FIRED</span> +</div> + +<p>Seeing that the Englishman could do nothing and feeling sure that +he would be killed, I knew I had to do something. I stopped +swearing and with one terrible yell gave the elephant the master +call. He went forward and put his trunk around a very thick +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>branch of a tree and pulled it down with a great crash. That +instant the tiger looked at the direction from which the noise +had come. His head was near me now, and he did not know whether +to attack me or go back to his former prey. It seemed as if hours +passed. I was petrified with terror, yet I knew that if I let my +fright get possession of me, I would be killed. So I controlled +myself. Kari was now trying to strike the tiger with this trunk, +but he could not get at him.</p> + +<p>Suddenly I realized that the Englishman not only had the rifle's +length between him and the tiger but was raising the rifle to +take aim. Knowing this, I took my flute and hit the tiger's +knuckles with it. He came toward me with his paw outstretched and +caught the shawl which was loosely tied around my waist. I was +glad to hear it tear because he had just missed my flesh. That +instant I saw the Englishman put the barrel of the rifle into the +tiger's ear. All I remembered was hot blood spurting over my +face. Kari was running<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> away with all his might and did not stop +until he had crossed the clearing and disappeared beyond the +trees. He was not hurt, except that his side was torn here and +there with superficial wounds. When the beaters came, I made the +elephant kneel down. We both got off. The Englishman went to see +how big the tiger was while I led Kari in quest of my broken +flute. Toward sun-down when they had skinned the tiger, they +found its length to be nine feet, not counting the tail.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h2>KARI AND THE QUICK-SAND</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hough elephants are very unselfish animals, they behave like +human beings when brought to the last extremity. The following +adventure will show you what I mean.</p> + +<p>One day, Kari and Kopee and I went to the river bank to help pull +a big barge up the river. The towmen could not pull the ropes +hard enough to make progress against the current. All that they +could do was to stand still without getting ahead at all. So word +was sent on to us and we three went to help out. I harnessed Kari +with the tow rope. It was very amusing, as he had never pulled a +weight in his life. At first he pulled very hard. The rope almost +broke and the barge swayed in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> water, almost toppled, and +then drifted to its previous position. The swift current was +going against it and the people in the barge were shaking their +hands and swearing at us as they were afraid that the vessel +would capsize.</p> + +<p>Kari did not care. After he had pulled the barge about two +hundred yards he stopped; the rope slackened and then the current +pulled against us. The rope became taut again and the men +shrieked from the barge. When you tug a boat, you must not jerk +at the rope but pull it gently, so I urged Kari to pull it +smoothly. In the course of an hour, he had actually drawn the +boat in, and at the end of our journey he had learned to pull +evenly.</p> + +<p>After that we went on playing on the river bank. Kopee jumped off +the elephant's back and ran along the shore. I urged Kari to +follow him, and as we kept on going, I lost all sense of +direction and trusted to the intelligence of the animals. The +monkey, however, had led us into a trap. We had run into +quick-sand and Kari began to sink. Every time he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> tried to lift +his feet he seemed to go deeper into the mud and he was so +frightened that he tried to take hold of the monkey with his +trunk and step on him as something solid, but Kopee chattered and +rushed up a tree.</p> + +<p>Then Kari swung his trunk around, pulled down the mattress from +his back, and putting it on the ground tried to step on it. That +did not help, so he curled up his trunk behind to try to get me +to step on. Each time he made an effort like that, however, he +sank deeper into the mud. I saw the trunk curling back and +creeping up to me like a python crawling up a hillside to coil +around its prey. There was no more trumpeting or calling from the +elephant, but a sinister silence through which he was trying to +reach me. He had come to the end of his unselfishness. In order +to save himself, he was willing to step on me.</p> + +<p>The monkey screamed from the tree-top and I, jumping off the +elephant's back, fell on the ground and ran. Kari kept on +trumpeting and calling for help, and by this time he was chest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +deep in the mud. The rear of him had not sunk so far, so he was +on a slant which made it all the more difficult for him to lift +himself.</p> + +<p>I ran off to the village and called for help. By the time we got +back with ropes and planks, he was holding his trunk up in order +to breathe, as the mud was up to his chin. There was only one +thing to do, and that was to lift Kari by his own weight, so we +tied the rope to the tree and flung it to him. He got it with his +trunk and pulled. The rope throbbed and sang like an electric +wire and the tree groaned with the tension, but all that happened +was that the elephant slipped forward a little and his hind legs +fell deeper into the mud.</p> + +<p>Now he was perfectly flat in quick-sand. But something very +interesting had taken place. Now that he was holding on to the +rope with all his mortal strength we knew that he would not let +go of it, so it was easy to go near him and put planks under him, +as the hind part of his belly had not yet sunk to the level of +the mud. At last he stopped sinking, but as we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> could not put the +planks under his feet it only meant that he would not go further +down and smother to death.</p> + +<p>Now that his head was lifted and there was an opening between him +and the mud, the question was how to lift the front part of his +body so that he could drag the rest of it out. Another elephant +had to be called in. It turned out to be Kari's mother who had +been given to the neighboring king. By the time she arrived, +however, dusk had fallen and nothing could be done. We trusted to +God and left him to his quick-sand for the night.</p> + +<p>The next morning we found Kari in the same position as the +previous evening. He had relaxed his hold on the rope but had not +sunk deeper. We had to put more planks all around him but he now +knew that he should not attack anyone because we were trying to +save him. After the planks had been tested, his mother went up to +him. She put her trunk around his neck and started to lift him, +but he groaned with pain for he was being smothered. He began<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> to +sink again and we just had time to put some more planks between +his chest and the mud.</p> + +<p>We had also slipped a rope under him, which some men in a boat +near the river bank came up and threw over his back. The hawser +was made into a loop around his body and the other end was tied +around the mother. Then she pulled with all her might, and her +strength was so great that his fore-quarters were lifted up and +his small legs dangled in the air. He was pulled forward quite a +distance, when the hawser broke and his fore-legs fell on the +plank. His hind legs now were sinking and we were terribly +frightened. We felt as if we had lost him again.</p> + +<p>The situation was not so bad as we thought, however, as it was +very easy to slip another hawser under him. This time we made a +double loop around him, and also made him hold on to the rope +around the tree with his trunk. He was very tired, but I urged +him to obey me. And now with the aid of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> mother, he managed +to lift the rear half of his body and put first one leg and then +the other on the plank. A great shout of joy went through the +crowd as Kari walked on to solid ground. That instant the monkey +jumped down from the tree and fell on Kari's neck; he was very +glad to see his friend safe again. But Kari was in no humor for +anyone's caresses and he shook Kopee off. The first thing I did +was to pull some branches from a tree which Kari devoured +hungrily. A hungry elephant is not to be bothered by anyone.</p> + +<p>I had learned my lesson. I would no longer take my elephant +anywhere and everywhere at the behest of the monkey, for monkeys +have no judgment.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h2>KARI'S TRAVELS</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_s.jpg" alt="S" width="36" height="50" /></div> +<p>ometimes Kari was used for travel. He and I went through many +distant places in India with camel caravans, carrying loads of +silver and gold, spices and fruits. They went from one end of +India to the other, passing through hot and deserted cities while +our accustomed way when not in their company led through populous +places and thick jungle regions. Elephants have an advantage over +camels in this respect—gangs of robbers may attack a camel and +his driver and rob him, but no one dares to attack an elephant. +As the animals of the jungle do not care to touch an elephant, +neither do wild men in desolate places. For this reason they +generally used Kari when they wanted to send<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> pearls and other +jewels from one place to another.</p> + +<p>Once, we were given the king's emerald to carry. It was as big as +the morning star, and burned when the glow of the noon-day sun +was upon it. Two epics were carved on it—on one side was the +story of the heroes, and on the other the story of the gods. We +left the city and passed into the jungle. Night came on apace and +we stopped.</p> + +<p>That night I watched the jungle as I had never watched it before. +It was about nine o'clock; everything was dark and the stars were +right on the tips of the trees. Below us in the foliage the eyes +of the jungle were looking upon us. Wherever I turned, I thought +I saw eyes. Kari swayed slightly from side to side and fell into +a doze. The first thing that I noticed was the faint call of a +night bird. When that died down, the hooting owl took it up. Then +it passed into the soft wings of the bats and came into the +leaves, and you could feel that noise shimmering down the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> trees +like water in a dream till, with gentle undulations, it +disappeared into the ground. The wild boar could be heard +grazing. Then there was silence again.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p><p>Out of the blackness then came the green eyes of the wild cat below me +and, as my eyes became more accustomed to the darkness, I saw small, +beaver-like animals burrowing their way through leaves and brushes. I +thought I saw weasels way below, and in the distance I felt the stag +disturbing the leaves of small plants. Then there was a snarl in the +jungle and these gently moving sounds and quivers ceased. An aching +silence came over everything, broken only by strange insect voices +like the spurting of water. Very soon the call of the fox was heard, +and then the groan of the tiger, but that passed. As I was above the +ground the odor of my breath went up in the air, and the animals never +knew there was man about. Men always disturb animals because they hate +and fear more than the animals.</p> + +<p>Little by little the sounds died down and stillness took +possession of the jungle. I saw herds of elephants go into the +water to bathe. They did not make the slightest sound; their +bodies sank into the water as clouds dip into the sunset. I could +see them curling their trunks around their mates and plucking +lilies from the water to eat. As the moon with its shadowy light +had risen, I seemed to be looking at them through a veil of +water. Close to the shore were the little ones stepping into the +water and learning how to breathe quantities of water into their +trunks and then snort it out slowly without the slightest sound. +Soon their bath was over, but the only way you could tell that +they had bathed was by hearing drops of water like twinkling +stars fall from their wet bodies and strike the leaves on the +ground.</p> + +<p>This proved too much for Kari; he wanted to follow them. I had a +hard time keeping him away from the herd, and despite all my +urging, he ran right into the river. His mattress and everything +that was tied to his back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> was wet through and through and I had +to swim ashore. If the emerald had not been tied to my neck, it +would have been lost in the water. I went up a tree and waited +for Kari to come out of the water.</p> + +<p>After I had sat on a branch a little while, I saw two stony eyes +watching me. I looked, and looked and looked; a cold shiver ran +up and down my back, but I was determined not to fear and hate. I +made myself feel very brave and I stared right back into the +shining eyes. They closed. In the moonlight I could distinctly +see the head of a cobra lying on another branch very near mine. I +had disturbed him going up. I knew if I moved a little he would +get up and sting me to death, so I sat very still.</p> + +<p>Soon there was a terrible hooting and calling in the jungle. I +heard hoofs stampeding in the distance. The noise grew louder and +louder and I could feel a vast warm tongue licking the cool +silence of the night. Then the cobra crawled along the branch to +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> trunk of the tree, and then on down to the ground. I, who +was holding to the trunk, had to sit still while his cold body +passed over my finger. But I was determined not to fear and I +could feel the silken coolness passing over my hot hand. In an +instant he was gone.</p> + +<p>Now I caught sight of Kari snorting before me. As I knew +something had taken possession of the jungle, I jumped on his +back. While we hurried along we heard the whining snarl of a +tiger, not the call of hate or killing, but the call for +protection, swiftly following our lead. Being civilized, we +instinctively knew the way out of the jungle to human habitation. +We approached the village which was still sleeping in the morning +grayness, and behind us saw horny deer, leopards, and wild cats +rushing after us. Then the boars came after us, dashing out of +the jungle in terror. Vast clouds of blackness were rising from +the horizon, and when the morning light grew more intense, I +realized they were clouds of smoke. The morning breeze was warm +and in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> a short time the smell of burning leaves reached me. The +forest was on fire.</p> + +<p>We arrived at the village in an hour and a half. The sun was +already up. The leopards came and sat near the houses as +guileless as children; the boars snorted and ran into the rice +fields to hide. The tiger came and sat in the open and watched +the forest. The antelopes and the deer stood in the ponds and on +the banks of the river. By instinct they knew that the water was +the only place where the fire could not reach them. We saw flocks +of birds flying to shelter. Soon we saw the red tongue of fire +licking the grass and the trees. A terrible heat settled upon the +country-side.</p> + +<p>I could now go near any animal and touch him. The terrible danger +which was common to all had made them forget their relations with +each other—that of hunter and prey. Tiger, elephant and man were +standing near each other. All had a sense of common friendship, +as if the tiger had thrown away his stripes, man his fear, and +the deer his sense<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> of danger. We all looked at one another, +brothers in a common bond of soul relationship. This sight made +me realize why the Hindus believe that each plant and each +animal, like man, has a golden thread of spirituality in its +soul. In the darkness of the animal's eyes and the eloquence of +man's mind it was the same Spirit, the great active Silence +moving from life to life.</p> + +<p>The jungle was burning to cinders. The tiger hid his face between +his paws; the wild cats curled up, hiding their faces. None +wanted to see the passing of the terror. Later in the afternoon +some of the birds that were flying aimlessly around were drawn by +the hypnotism of the flames into the jungle where they perished. +If one is frightened beyond his control, fear possesses him so +that he loses all consciousness of self-protection and he is +drawn down into the vortex of the very destruction which rouses +that fear.</p> + +<p>The more I watched Kari and the other animals, the more I came to +understand why<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> Kari and I loved each other. We had a soul in +common. I played the flute for him and was deeply moved. I felt +that if I could be dumb like he, I could understand him better. +This was the lesson the fire taught me: do not hate and fear +animals. In them is the soul that is God, as it is also in us. +Behind each face, human or animal, is the face of the Christ. +Those who have eyes to see can always find it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h2>KARI IN THE LUMBER YARD</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_n.jpg" alt="N" width="56" height="50" /></div> +<p>ot long after this Kari was sent to the lumber yards. It was +very interesting to see that he learned all the tricks of the +lumber trade in a few days. He would pull heavy logs out of the +forest into the open, lift the lighter ones with his trunk and +pile them up, one on top of the other. He had such a good sense +of symmetry that his piles were always extremely neat.</p> + +<p>Soon an older elephant came to help him. Whenever there was a log +which was too heavy for Kari to lift, they would each take one +end of it and lift it on the lumber wagon. An elephant, as you +see, can do the work of a truck.</p> + +<p>We had reached a stage in the history of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> world when motor +engines did a large part of the work of the jungle. The elephants +would bring the lumber from the forest and deposit it near these +engines where it would be cut into proper lengths and then thrown +out again to be piled up by the elephants.</p> + +<p>The mechanics who ran these engines ate meat and drank liquor. It is +very strange that when Western people come to the East, they do not +give up their expensive ways of living. Drinking wine and eating meat +is one thing in cold climates, where one has to keep warm, but in a +hot climate a man is sure to go to pieces if he eats and drinks much. +Kari had no objection to wine drinking, but he did not like +meat-eating men any more than he liked meat-eating tigers. He never +hated them or feared them, simply he somehow did not enjoy their +company. But these white engineers who came from afar did not know +that an elephant had a soul.</p> + +<p>Kari always woke up at half past five and then went to work. +Toward noon I would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> bathe him and put him in his shed. Early in +the afternoon he would begin to work again. Later on he ate lots +of rice of which he was very fond. In the evening I would tie him +up in his shed while I went to sleep on a hammock outside.</p> + +<p>One night, I heard a terrible trumpeting. I jumped down from my +hammock and went into Kari's shed, where I found two drunken +engineers lighting matches and throwing them at him. Kari, who +was afraid of fire, as all animals are, was trumpeting angrily. I +protested to the men, but they were so drunk that they only swore +at me and went on flinging matches. Seeing that there was nothing +else to do, I loosened all his chains except one, and let him +stay there tied to the ground by one foot only.</p> + +<p>An elephant's chain is generally driven about five or six feet +into the ground and is then covered with cement and earth. An +elephant can rarely break this kind of chain, but I was afraid +that the matches might set the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> shed on fire, and I trusted Kari +more than drunken men. I knew that if the shed caught fire the +elephant could break one chain if he tried hard to escape. The +night passed without any further incident, however.</p> + +<p>I must explain why animals are afraid of fire. Fire, you see, is +the one thing that they can never fight. They are not afraid of +water, as most of them can swim, but if they are caught in fire, +they are generally burned to death. For this reason they have +built up a protective instinct against fire. Whenever there is +fire of any sort, they run. As they have seen the jungle set on +fire from time to time for generations and generations, the sight +of fire frightens them more than anything else. As long as they +have inherited this fear from their ancestors, it is very wise +not to play with fire in the presence of animals. If an animal as +powerful as an elephant were frightened by fire, he would run mad +and do the greatest amount of mischief.</p> + +<p>One noon when we had suspended work for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> the day, I tied Kari in +his shed and lay down in my hammock to rest. Toward late +afternoon, I heard the same terrible trumpeting that I had heard +before. The same thing had happened again. The two engineers, +being idle, had drunk liquor and were trying to tease the animals +nearby. The shed had a thatched roof of straw. The walls were of +clay, but there was a lot of bamboo lying on the floor. Kari was +eating twigs, some of which happened to have dry leaves.</p> + +<p>I came up to the elephant, and seeing what was going on, told the +white men to stop teasing him. They would not hear of it, +however. Just then I saw a flame rising from the leaves. Kari +raised his trunk and trumpeted fiercely. As I was afraid that he +would be burned to death, I hastened to loosen his chain and with +one terrible trumpet he rushed out of the shed, trampling down +one of the drunken men and killing him instantly. Kari then +trumpeted more and more loudly, waving his trunk and rushing +madly around.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> + +<p>Realizing the danger we were in, I went up a very heavy banyan +tree out of Kari's reach and lay among the leaves. The first +thing he did was to go and put his foot on the automobile of the +chief engineer, which happened to be standing outside of the +shed. In a few minutes there was nothing but a mass of twisted +steel on the ground, over which the elephant danced in anger. +Then he saw the chief engineer and two other men standing on the +porch of a bungalow. He rushed at them, but they knew what it +meant to have a mad elephant about, and ran into the house. Kari +then pulled down part of the thatched roof of the bungalow with +his trunk, and finding no one there made straight for two new +trucks that had only been in use a fortnight and broke them to +pieces. Then he rushed at a bull which was grazing in a field, +and wound his trunk around his neck. The bull dropped dead. In a +few moments Kari was out of sight.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="Pic_8" id="Pic_8"></a> +<img src="images/image_08.jpg" width="500" height="665" alt="IN HIS MADNESS HE MUST HAVE GONE BACK TO THE +JUNGLE" title="" /> +<span class="caption">IN HIS MADNESS HE MUST HAVE GONE BACK TO THE +JUNGLE</span> +</div> + +<p>For a fortnight no one heard anything of him. I expected him to +return to me, but he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>never came back. Even to this day no one +knows what happened to him. Evidently those miserable engineers +had driven him out of his mind. In his madness he must have gone +back to the jungle and by the time he recovered his senses was so +lost in its depths that he could not come back. When his mind +returns to him, an elephant can never remember the road that he +took in his insanity, and if he runs very far into the jungle he +may never come back because the Spirit of the jungle seizes him. +Kari's last impression of human beings must have been so terrible +that when the Spirit of the jungle asserted itself in him, he +allowed it to lure him away forever from the habitations of men.</p> + +<p>That is how it came about that I lost my friend and brother, the +elephant. Though as an animal Kari is lost to me, my soul belongs +to his soul and we shall never forget each other.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KARI THE ELEPHANT***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 24460-h.txt or 24460-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/4/6/24460">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/4/6/24460</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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