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The Gentlemen of the Jungle
1
Once upon a time an elephant made a friendship with a man.
One day a heavy thunderstorm broke out, the elephant went
to his friend, who had a little hut at the edge of the forest, and
said to him: 'My dear good man, will you please let me put my
trunk inside your hut to keep it out of this torrential rain?' The
man, seeing what situation his friend was in, replied: 'My dear
good elephant, my hut is very small, but there is room for your
trunk and myself. Please put your trunk in gently.' The
elephant thanked his friend, saying: 'You have done me a
good deed and one day I shall return your kindness.' But what
followed? As soon as the elephant put his trunk inside the hut,
slowly he pushed his head inside, and finally flung the man
out in the rain, and then lay down comfortably inside his
friend's hut, saying: 'My dear good friend, your skin is harder
than mine, and as there is not enough room for both of us, you
can afford to remain in the rain while I am protecting my
delicate skin from the hailstorm.'
The man, seeing what his friend had done to him, started to
grumble; the animals in the nearby forest heard the noise and
came to see what was the matter. All stood around listening to
the heated argument between the man and his friend the
elephant. In this turmoil the lion came along roaring, and said
in a loud voice: 'Don't you all know that I am the King of the
Jungle! How dare any one disturb the peace of my kingdom?'
On hearing this the elephant, who was one of the high
ministers in the jungle kingdom, replied in a soothing voice,
and said: 'My lord, there is no disturbance of the peace in your
kingdom. I have only been having a little discussion with my
friend here as to the possession of this little hut which your
lordship sees me occupying.' The lion, who wanted to have
'peace and tranquility' in his kingdom, replied in a noble voice, saying: 'I command my ministers to appoint a Commission
of Enquiry to go thoroughly into this matter and report
accordingly.' He then turned to the man and said: 'You have
done well by establishing friendship with my people,
especially with the elephant, who is one of my honourable ministers of
state. Do not grumble any more, your hut is not lost to you.
Wait until the sitting of my Imperial Commission, and there
you will be given plenty of opportunity to state your case. I am
sure that you will be pleased with the findings of the Commission.' The man was very pleased by these sweet words from
the King of the Jungle, and innocently waited for his opportunity, in the belief that naturally the hut would be returned to
him.
The elephant, obeying the command of his master, got busy
with other ministers to appoint the Commission of Enquiry.
The following elders of the jungle were appointed to sit in the
Commission: (1) Mr Rhinoceros; (2) Mr Buffalo; (3) Mr Alligator; (4) The Rt Hon. Mr Fox to act as chairman; and (5) Mr
Leopard to act as Secretary to the Commission. On seeing the
personnel, the man protested and asked if it was not necessary
to include in this Commission a member from his side. But he
was told that it was impossible, since no one from his side was
well enough educated to understand the intricacy of jungle
law. Further, that there was nothing to fear, for the members
of the Commission were all men of repute for their impartiality
in justice, and as they were gentlemen chosen by God to look
after the interests of races less adequately endowed with teeth
and claws, he might rest assured that they would investigate
the matter with the greatest care and report impartially.
The Commission sat to take the evidence. The Rt Hon. Mr
Elephant was first called. He came along with a superior air,
brushing his tusks with a sapling which Mrs Elephant had provided, and in an
authoritative voice said: 'Gentlemen of the Jungle, there is
no need for me to waste your valuable time in relating a
story which I am sure you all know. I have always regarded
it as my duty to protect the interests of my friends, and
this appears to have caused the misunderstanding between myself and my friend here. He invited me to save his
hut from being blown away by a hurricane. As the hurricane
had gained access owing to the unoccupied space in the hut, I
To be
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