Why does an elephant have a long trunk? Why does an elephant have a long nose? Why does a baby elephant have a long trunk?

That's what you call a fairy tale English writer Kipling. It tells about a curious little elephant who pestered his relatives with the most unexpected questions. In those days, according to the fairy tale, elephants did not have trunks, but had a short nose. The curious little elephant decided to find out what the crocodile had for breakfast and went to ask him about it. The crocodile wanted to eat the baby elephant and grabbed him by the nose, and since the baby elephant rested his feet on the shore and turned out to be stronger than the crocodile, he only stretched the baby elephant’s small nose into long trunk.

This, of course, is a fairy tale, and although the characteristics acquired by animals during life are passed on to their offspring, it took many millions of years for the elephant to develop the trunk it has now.

By studying the skulls of modern and long-extinct elephants, as well as species related to elephants, scientists were able to determine the origin of the trunk.

Judging by the excavation materials, in North Africa About 40 million years ago there lived an animal that has now received the scientific name Meriteria. It looked more like a pig than an elephant. It had a long muzzle, jaws extended forward with a large number teeth from which the two upper incisors protruded outward. And the movable tip of his nose, fused with his upper lip, hung down. Meriteria was no taller than a large donkey. The movable proboscis on its muzzle was a very convenient organ. They could pick plants and put them in the mouth.

We see a more developed trunk already in various types mastodons - the direct ancestors of the elephant. They still have a long snout and many teeth, but the upper jaw is already greatly shortened, and its fleshy lip has turned into a trunk. The incisors of mastodons disappeared, except for the two upper ones, which turned into tusks. The last mastodons were already contemporaries of the first people.

We see even greater development of the trunk in the fossil mammoth. The trunk became a powerful organ and reached such a length that mammoths, without bending down, plucked grass with it. Accordingly, the jaws were greatly shortened, and the tusks became huge and did not fit in the oral cavity.

Modern elephants have a very flexible and mobile trunk. Its development led to a further decrease in head length and number of teeth. Apart from the tusks, the elephant has no incisors, fangs have disappeared, and molars - only one on the right and left on each jaw. The surface of these teeth is ribbed, adapted for grinding tough vegetation.

Interestingly, elephants change their permanent molars three times during their lives: the old ones are replaced by new ones growing from the back of the jaw. Thanks to the length and mobility of the trunk, mammoths and elephants became massive and clumsy.

All the “work” of delivering food to the mouth fell on the trunk. Elephants have lost the ability to run fast. Yes, they don’t need to flee from predators. Having such size, trunk, tusks, they can easily defeat any opponent.

Many, many years ago, my beloved, the elephant did not have a trunk - only a blackish thick nose, the size of a boot; True, the elephant could turn it from side to side, but did not lift any things with it. At the same time, there lived a very young elephant, a baby elephant. He was terribly curious, and therefore always asked everyone various questions. He lived in Africa, and no one in this vast country could satisfy his curiosity. One day he asked his tall uncle, the ostrich, why the most best feathers grow on his tail, and instead of answering, the ostrich hit him with its strong paw. The baby elephant asked his tall aunt giraffe where the spots on her skin came from, and this baby elephant aunt kicked him with her hard, hard hoof. And yet the young elephant continued to be curious. He asked the fat hippopotamus why her eyes were so red, and she hit him with her thick, very thick leg; then he asked his hairy uncle baboon why melons taste like melons, and hairy uncle baboon spanked him with his hairy, hairy paw. Still, the elephant was filled with insatiable curiosity. He asked about everything he saw, heard, smelled, touched or smelled, and all the uncles and aunts of the child elephant only pushed and beat him; nevertheless, an insatiable curiosity was seething within him.

One fine morning, as the equinox was approaching, a curious child elephant asked new question, which I had never asked before. He asked, “What do they give a crocodile for lunch?” And everyone said: “Shh!” - in a loud and dangerous whisper, then they began to beat him and for a long time Everyone was beating and beating.

Finally, when the punishment was over, the elephant child saw the bell bird; she was sitting in the middle of a thorn bush, which seemed to say: “Wait, wait.” And the elephant said: “My father beat me; my mother beat me; my aunts and uncles beat me, all because I was so insatiably curious, but I still want to know what the crocodile eats for dinner?”

The bell bird cried sadly and said:

Go to the shores of the great grayish-green quiet river Limpopo, bordered by trees that make you sick with fever, and then you will know.

The very next morning, when not a trace remained of the equinox, the curious child elephant, taking a hundred pounds of bananas (small, short and yellow), a thousand pounds of sugar cane stalks (long, purple), seventeen melons (green, fragile), said to all my dear relatives:

Farewell, I go to the grey-green swampy Limpopo River, shaded by feverish trees, and see what the crocodile has for lunch.

All his relatives beat him just for luck, and they beat him for a long time, although he very politely asked them to stop.

Finally, the baby elephant left; he was a little hot, but he was not surprised, he ate melons and threw away the peels; after all, he could not lift them from the ground.

He walked from the city of Gregham to Kimberley, from Kimberley to the Kama region, from the Kama region he headed north and west and ate melons all the time; Finally, the baby elephant came to the bank of the large gray-green swampy Limpopo River, shaded by trees that smell of fever. Here everything was as the bell bird said.

Now, my beloved, you must find out and understand that until this very week, until this very day, hour, even until the last minute, the curious elephant child had never seen a crocodile and did not even know what it looked like. That's why he was so curious to look at this creature.

First of all, he saw a two-colored rock python; this huge snake lay, surrounding the stone with its rings.

Sorry for disturbing you,” the baby elephant said very politely, “but please answer me, have you seen anything like a crocodile somewhere in the vicinity?”

Did I see a crocodile? - answered the two-colored rock python in a contemptuous and angry voice. - Well, what else do you ask?

Excuse me,” continued the elephant child, “but can you kindly tell me what he eats for lunch?”

The two-colored rock python quickly turned around and hit the elephant with its scaly, whip-like tail.

What a strange thing,” said the elephant child, “my father and my mother, my uncle and aunt, not to mention my other aunt, the hippopotamus, and my other uncle, the baboon, beat me and kicked me for my insatiable curiosity, and now , it seems the same thing is starting again.

He very politely said goodbye to the two-colored rock python, helped him wrap his body around the rock and left; the elephant felt hot, but he did not feel tired; I ate melons and threw away the peels because I couldn’t pick them up from the ground. And then the baby elephant stepped on something, as it seemed to him, on a log that lay on the very bank of the large gray-green swampy Limpopo River, overgrown with trees that smell of fever.

And this was the crocodile, my beloved, and this crocodile winked with one eye.

Excuse me,” said the baby elephant very politely, “but have you seen a crocodile somewhere nearby?”

The crocodile winked with his other eye, raising his tail from the mud; The baby elephant politely stepped back; he didn't want to be beaten.

“Come here, baby,” said the crocodile. - Why are you asking this?

I beg your pardon,” the elephant-child replied very politely, “but my father beat me; my mother beat me, in a word, everyone beat me, not to mention my tall uncle the ostrich and my tall aunt the giraffe, who kick cruelly; not to mention my fat aunt, the hippopotamus, and my hairy uncle, the baboon, and including the two-colored rock python with its scaly, whip-like tail, which hits harder than all the others; So, if you don’t really want it, I ask you not to whip me with your tail.

“Come here, baby,” the crocodile drawled, “the fact is that I’m a crocodile.” - And to prove that he was telling the truth, the crocodile began to cry crocodile tears.

The baby elephant stopped breathing in surprise; then, gasping for breath, he knelt on the shore and said:

It was you that I was looking for all these long, long days. Would you mind telling me what you eat for lunch?

“Come closer, baby,” said the crocodile. - And I will whisper it in your ear.

The baby elephant moved his head to the crocodile's toothy mouth, and the crocodile grabbed the baby elephant by his short nose, which until that very week, until that day, hour and until that minute was no bigger than a boot, although much more useful than any shoe.

It seems,” said the crocodile (he said it through his teeth), “it seems that today I will start dinner with a baby elephant.”

Hearing this, my beloved, the elephant felt annoyed and said through his nose:

Let me go! It hurts me!

Tales of Kipling R. D. - Elephant Child (Elephant)
This is a baby elephant; the crocodile pulls his nose. The elephant is very surprised and amazed, and he is also in great pain, and he says through his nose: “Let me go, it hurts!” He tries his best to pull his nose out of the crocodile's mouth; the crocodile drags the elephant in the other direction. A two-colored rock python swims to the aid of a baby elephant. Black stripes and spots are the banks of the large gray-green quiet Limpopo River (I was not allowed to color the pictures), and trees with curved roots and eight leaves are exactly the trees that give off fever.

Below this picture are the shadows of African animals going to the African Noah's Ark. There are two lions, two ostriches, two bulls, two camels, two sheep and many pairs of other animals that live among the rocks. All these animals mean nothing. I drew them because they seemed pretty to me; and if I were allowed to color them, they would become downright lovely.

At that moment, a two-colored rock python descended from the shore and said:

My young friend, if you don't pull your nose as hard as you can right now, I believe your new acquaintance, covered with patent skin (he meant "crocodile"), will drag you into the depths of this transparent stream before you can say: "Jack Robinson."

This is exactly what the two-colored rock pythons always say.

The baby elephant listened to the rock python; he sat down on his hind legs and began to pull his nose out of the crocodile’s mouth; he kept tugging and tugging, and the baby elephant’s nose began to stretch out. The crocodile fussed and beat the water with its large tail, so that it foamed; at the same time he was pulling the elephant by the nose.

The baby elephant's nose continued to stretch out; The elephant spread out all four of its legs and kept pulling its nose out of the crocodile's mouth, and its nose became longer and longer. The crocodile moved its tail through the water like an oar, and kept pulling and pulling the elephant by the nose; and every time he pulls this spout, it becomes longer. The elephant was in terrible pain.

Suddenly the baby elephant felt that his legs were slipping; he rode them along the bottom; Finally, speaking through his nose, which was now almost five feet long, the baby elephant said: “I’ve had enough!”

The two-colored rock python descended into the water, wrapped itself around the elephant’s hind legs like two loops of rope and said:

Unwise and inexperienced traveler, from now on we will seriously devote ourselves to important matter, we will try to pull your nose with all our might, since it seems to me that this self-propelled warship with armor on the upper deck (in these words, my beloved, it meant a crocodile) will interfere with your further movements.

All two-colored rock pythons always speak in such confusing terms.

A two-colored python was pulling an elephant; the baby elephant pulled his nose; the crocodile also pulled it; but the baby elephant and the two-colored rock python pulled harder than the crocodile, and he finally released the baby elephant's nose, with such a splash of water that the splash could be heard along the entire length of the Limpopo River, up and down the stream.

At the same time, the baby elephant suddenly sat down, or rather, splashed into the water, but not before saying to the python: “Thank you!” Then he took care of his poor nose, which had been pulled for so long, wrapped it in fresh banana leaves and lowered it into the water of the large gray-green quiet Limpopo River.

Why are you doing this? - the two-colored rock python asked him.

I beg your pardon,” replied the baby elephant, “but my nose has completely lost its shape, and I am waiting for it to shrink and shrink.”

“You’ll have to wait a long time,” said the two-colored rock python. - Still, I note that many do not understand their benefits.

For three days the baby elephant sat and waited for its nose to shrink. But this nose was not made shorter; in addition, he had to cruelly squint his eyes. My beloved, you will understand that the crocodile extended the elephant’s nose into a real trunk, like the ones you see now on all elephants.

Tales of Kipling R. D. - Elephant Child (Elephant) 2
Here is a picture of a baby elephant just as he is about to pick bananas from the top of a banana tree with his beautiful new long trunk. I don't think this picture is good, but I couldn't draw it better because drawing elephants and bananas is very, very difficult. Behind the baby elephant you see blackness, and along it there are stripes; I wanted to depict a marshy swampy area somewhere in Africa. The elephant child made most of his cakes from silt, which he got from these swamps. It seems to me that the picture will become much more beautiful if you paint the banana tree with green paint and the elephant with red paint.

On the third day, a tsetse fly flew in and bit the elephant on the shoulder. The elephant, not understanding what he was doing, raised his trunk and killed the fly with its end.

Benefit number one, said the two-colored rock python. - You couldn't do that with your short nose. Well, now try to eat.

Before he even had time to think what he was doing, the baby elephant stretched out his trunk, plucked a large bunch of grass, beat these green stems on his front legs to throw off the dust from them, and finally put them in his mouth.

Benefit number two, said the two-colored rock python. - You couldn't do that with your short nose. Do you think the sun is too hot?

Yes, - the elephant-child agreed and, before he even had time to think about what he was doing, he scooped up silt from the grey-green swampy Limpopo River and smeared it on his head; the mud made a cool mud hat; water flowed from it behind the ears of the baby elephant.

Benefit number three, said the two-colored rock python. “You couldn’t do that with your old short nose.” Well, what can you say about the beaters they treated you to? Will the same thing start again?

“I beg your pardon,” said the baby elephant, “I don’t want this at all.”

Wouldn't it be nice for you to beat someone up? - the two-color rock python asked the elephant.

“I would really like this,” answered the elephant child.

Well,” said the two-colored rock python, “you will see that your new nose will be useful when you decide to beat someone with it.”

“Thank you,” said the elephant child, “I will remember this, and now I will go home to my dear relatives and see what happens next.”

The baby elephant actually went to his home through Africa; he waved and twirled his trunk. When he wanted to eat fruits from the trees, he took them from high branches; he did not have to wait, as before, for these fruits to fall to the ground. When he wanted grass, he tore it from the ground and did not have to kneel down, as he had done in the past. When flies bit him, he tore a branch from a tree and turned it into a fan; when the sun burned his head, he made himself a new, cool, wet hat from silt or clay. When he got bored, he sang, or rather, blew a trumpet through his trunk, and this song sounded louder than the music of several brass bands. He deliberately made a detour to see a fat hippopotamus (she was not related to him), and beat her hard with his trunk to see if the two-colored rock python was telling the truth. For the rest of the time, he picked up melon peels from the ground, which he had thrown along the road to Limpopo. He did this because he was a very neat animal from the pachyderm family.

One dark evening the child elephant returned to his dear relatives, curled his trunk into a ring and said:

How are you doing?

They were all very glad to see him and immediately said:

Come closer, we'll spank you for your insatiable curiosity.

Bah,” said the elephant child, “I don’t think any of you know how to fight; I know how to hit and now I’ll teach you how to do it.

Then he straightened his trunk and hit two of his dear relatives so hard that they went head over heels.

Miracles, they said, where did you learn such a thing? And pray tell, what did you do with your nose?

“The crocodile gave me a new nose, and it happened on the banks of the large gray-green swampy Limpopo River,” answered the baby elephant. “I asked him what he had for lunch, and he pulled my nose out for it.”

What a disgrace! - remarked the baboon, the elephant’s hairy uncle.

“He’s ugly,” said the elephant child, “but he’s very comfortable,” and, saying this, the baby elephant grabbed one of his hairy uncle’s legs with his trunk, lifted him and put him in a wasp’s nest.

After this, the bad little elephant beat all his dear relatives for a long time, beat them until they became very hot. They were completely surprised. The baby elephant tugged his tall uncle, the ostrich, by his tail feathers; caught his tall aunt giraffe by her hind leg and dragged her through a thorny bush; when his fat aunt, the hippopotamus, having eaten, was resting in the water, he put his trunk right next to her ear, shouted two or three words to her, at the same time releasing several bubbles through the water. But neither at this time, nor later, did he ever allow anyone to offend the bell bird.

Finally, all the cute relatives of the baby elephant began to be so worried that one after another they ran to the banks of the large grey-green swampy Limpopo River, shaded by trees that smell of fever; each of them wanted to get a new nose from the crocodile. When they returned home, they no longer hit each other; The uncles and aunties did not touch the baby elephant either. From this day on, my beloved, all the elephants you see, and all the ones you don’t see, have very long trunks, just like the one that appeared on the curious baby elephant.

You, of course, know, baby, that in nature the one who survives is the one who is better adapted to difficult situations than others, full of danger life. Listen to the story of how an elephant got a trunk.

And it was all like this: a long time ago, millions of years ago, the distant ancestors of elephants roamed the earth. Instead of a trunk, they had a slightly elongated fused nose and upper lip. With this nose and lip, elephants grabbed tasty branches from trees. Some of the animals had a nose-lip that was at least a little longer, and that one got more food. These animals grew strong and hardy. But in nature, the fittest survives. This is how those elephant-like ones survived whose nose-lip was at least a little longer than the rest. Cubs born with longer noses and lips than their counterparts had an easier life. And their cubs’ cubs also had an easier life. So from generation to generation animals appeared, at least not by much, but with longer and longer noses - lips.

Centuries passed. And nature sifted out, selected from all the animals the most resilient, the most adapted to the difficulties of life, including elephants with long noses. Thanks to this natural selection, the nose-lip turned first into a short nose, and then into a real trunk. At the tip of the trunk, at first there was something like a finger, with which an elephant can even pick up a blade of grass from the ground. Once - and the elephant plucked a bunch of grass for them, two - a green twig, a tasty fruit, three - he splashed himself with water on a hot day, like from a hose, four - he sprinkled his sides with sand. The elephant even learned to blow his trunk.

The elephant is one of the most large mammals animals living on land. Its weight can reach up to 5 tons, so it has short legs that serve as powerful support. Elephant tusks are actually just grown to enormous sizes. upper teeth, which play an important role in the life of the animal. But the most important organ of an elephant is its trunk. Some people think that the trunk serves only as a respiratory organ, but this is only one of its many functions.

What is a trunk?

The first thing a person notices when they see it, in addition to its size, is its trunk, which represents upper lip fused as a result of evolution with the nose. Thus, elephants got a fairly flexible and long nose, consisting of 500 different muscles, and at the same time not having a single bone (except for the cartilage on the bridge of the nose).

The nostrils, like those of humans, are divided into two canals along their entire length. And at the tip of the trunk there are small but very strong muscles that serve the elephant as fingers. With their help, the elephant will be able to feel and pick up a small button or other small object.

First of all, the trunk serves as a nose, but with its help elephants breathe, smell, and can also:

• drink;
• get your own food;
• communicate with relatives;
• lift small objects;
• bathe;
• defend;
• express emotions.

From all this it follows that the trunk is a useful and unique tool. IN everyday life an adult elephant cannot do without a trunk, just as a person cannot do without arms. Reference. The baby elephant is not trained to use its trunk correctly and constantly steps on it when walking. Therefore, before fully learning to control the trunk, the baby elephant simply uses it to hold onto the parent's tail while moving.

Food and drink

One of the most important functions of the trunk is considered to be the extraction of food and water. With the help of this organ, the animal searches for and obtains these vital products.

Food

The elephant differs from other mammals in that it eats food primarily with its nose, with which it obtains it. The diet of this animal depends on the type of elephant. Since the elephant is a mammal, it eats mainly plants, vegetables and fruits.

Protection from enemies

In conditions wildlife In addition to its tusks, the elephant also uses its trunk for protection. Thanks to the flexibility of the organ, the animal can repel blows from any direction, and the number of muscles in the trunk gives it enormous strength. The weight of the organ makes it an excellent weapon: in an adult it reaches 140 kg, and a blow of such force can repel the attack of a dangerous predator.

Communication

Despite the fact that scientists have proven the ability of elephants to communicate using infrasound, the trunk plays an important role in the communication of these animals. Most often, such communication is as follows:

• greeting - elephants greet each other using their trunk;
• help for offspring.

Elephants also use their trunks to communicate with their babies. Despite the fact that the little elephant calf still walks quite poorly, he still needs to move, and his mother helps him with this. Holding on with their trunks, the mother and calf move little by little, as a result of which the latter gradually learns to walk.

Adults can also use their trunk to punish offending offspring. In this case, of course, the elephants do not put all their strength into the blow, but lightly spank the children. As for communication between elephants, these animals love to touch each other with their trunks, stroke their “interlocutors” on the backs and show their attention in every possible way.

Baby elephant. Kipling's Tale for children to read

In ancient times, my dears, an elephant did not have a trunk. He only had a blackish thick nose, the size of a boot, which swayed from side to side, and the elephant could not lift anything with it. But one elephant appeared in the world, a young elephant, a baby elephant, who was distinguished by his restless curiosity and constantly asked some questions. He lived in Africa and conquered all of Africa with his curiosity. He asked his tall uncle the ostrich why feathers grew on his tail; The tall uncle ostrich beat him for this with his hard, hard paw. He asked his tall aunt giraffe why her skin was spotted; The tall aunt of the giraffe beat him with her hard, hard hoof for this. And yet his curiosity did not subside!
He asked his fat uncle the hippopotamus why his eyes were red; For this, the fat hippopotamus beat him with his wide, wide hoof. He asked his hairy uncle the baboon why melons taste this way and not another; For this, the hairy uncle baboon beat him with his shaggy, furry hand. And yet his curiosity did not subside! He asked questions about everything he saw, heard, tasted, smelled, felt, and all the uncles and aunties beat him for it. And yet his curiosity did not subside!
One fine morning before spring equinox the restless baby elephant asked a new question strange question. He asked:
- What does a crocodile have for lunch?
Everyone shouted “shhh” loudly and began to beat him for a long time, non-stop.
When they finally left him alone, the baby elephant saw a bell bird sitting on a thorn bush and said:
- My father beat me, my mother beat me, my uncles and aunts beat me for “restless curiosity,” but I still want to know what a crocodile has for lunch!
The colo-colo bird croaked gloomily in response to him:
- Go to the bank of the big gray-green muddy Limpopo River, where the fever trees grow, and see for yourself!
The next morning, when the equinox had already ended, the restless baby elephant took one hundred pounds of bananas (small with red skin), one hundred pounds of sugar cane (long with dark bark) and seventeen melons (green, crunchy) and declared to his dear relatives:
- Goodbye! I go to the big grey-green muddy Limpopo River, where the fever trees grow, to find out what the crocodile has for lunch.
He left, a little heated, but not at all surprised. On the way he ate melons and threw away the peels because he could not pick them up.
He walked and walked northeast and kept eating melons until he came to the bank of the large gray-green muddy Limpopo River, where the fever trees grow, as the bell-colo bird told him.
I must tell you, my dears, that until that very week, until that very day, until that very hour, until that very minute, the restless little elephant had never seen a crocodile and did not even know what he looked like.
The first one that caught the baby elephant's eye was a two-colored python (a huge snake) coiled around a rocky block.
“Excuse me,” the baby elephant said politely, “have you seen a crocodile in these parts?”
-Have I seen a crocodile? - the python exclaimed angrily. - What kind of question?
“Excuse me,” repeated the baby elephant, “but can you tell me what the crocodile has for lunch?”
The two-colored python instantly turned around and began to hit the baby elephant with its heavy, very heavy tail.
- Strange! - remarked the baby elephant. “My father and mother, my own uncle and my own aunt, not to mention another uncle the hippopotamus and a third uncle the baboon, everyone beat me for my “restless curiosity.” Probably, now I get the same punishment for this.
He politely said goodbye to the python, helped him wrap himself around the rocky block again and walked on, a little heated, but not at all surprised. On the way he ate melons and threw away the peels because he could not pick them up. Near the very bank of the large gray-green muddy Limpopo River, he stepped on something that seemed to him to be a log.
However, in reality it was a crocodile. Yes, my dears. And the crocodile winked his eye - like that.
“Excuse me,” the baby elephant said politely, “have you ever encountered a crocodile in these parts?”
Then the crocodile squinted his other eye and stuck his tail half out of the mud. The baby elephant politely backed away; he didn't want to be beaten again.
“Come here, little one,” said the crocodile.
- Why are you asking about this?
“Excuse me,” the little elephant answered politely, “but my father beat me, my mother beat me, not to mention Uncle Ostrich and Aunt Giraffe, who fights just as painfully as Uncle Hippopotamus and Uncle Baboon.” Even here on the shore, a two-colored python beat me, and with its heavy, heavy tail it beats me more painfully than all of them. If you don't care, then please, at least don't hit me.
“Come here, little one,” the monster repeated. - I am a crocodile.
And to prove it, he burst into crocodile tears.
The baby elephant even took his breath away with joy. He knelt down and said:
- You are the one I have been looking for for many days. Please tell me what you have for lunch?
“Come here, little one,” answered the crocodile, “I’ll tell you in your ear.”
The baby elephant bent his head to the toothy, fetid mouth of the crocodile. And the crocodile grabbed him by the nose, which until that day and hour was no bigger than a boot, although much more useful.
“It seems today,” the crocodile said through his teeth, like this, “it seems that today I will have a baby elephant for lunch.”
The baby elephant didn’t like this at all, my dears, and he said through his nose, like this:
- No need! Let me in!
Then the two-colored python hissed from his rocky block:
“My young friend, if you don’t start pulling with all your might now, then I can assure you that your acquaintance with the big leather bag (he meant the crocodile) will end badly for you.”
The little elephant sat down on the shore and began to pull, pull, pull, and his nose kept stretching out. The crocodile floundered in the water, whipping up white foam with its tail, and he pulled, pulled, pulled.
The baby elephant's nose continued to stretch out. The baby elephant braced himself with all four legs and pulled, pulled, pulled, and his nose continued to stretch out. The crocodile scooped the water with its tail, like an oar, and the baby elephant pulled, pulled, pulled. With every minute his nose stretched out - and how it hurt him, oh-oh-oh!
The little elephant felt that his legs were slipping and said through his nose, which was now two arshins long:
- You know, this is already too much!
Then a two-colored python came to the rescue. He wrapped himself in a double ring around the baby elephant's hind legs and said:
- Reckless and reckless young man! We must now work hard, otherwise that warrior in armor (he meant the crocodile, my dears) will ruin your entire future.
He pulled, and the baby elephant pulled, and the crocodile pulled.
But the baby elephant and the two-colored python pulled harder. Finally, the crocodile released the baby elephant's nose with such a splash that was heard along the entire Limpopo River.
The baby elephant fell on its back. However, he did not forget to immediately thank the two-colored python, and then began to take care of his poor elongated nose: he wrapped it in fresh banana leaves and plunged it into the large gray-green muddy Limpopo River.
- What are you doing? - asked the bicolor python.
“Sorry,” said the baby elephant, “but my nose has completely lost its shape, and I’m waiting for it to shrink.”
“Well, you’ll have to wait a long time,” said the two-colored python. “It’s amazing how others don’t understand their own good.”
For three days the baby elephant sat and waited for his nose to shrink. But his nose did not shorten at all and even made his eyes slant. You understand, my dears, that the crocodile stretched out a real trunk for him, the same one that elephants still have.
At the end of the third day, some fly bit the baby elephant on the shoulder. Without realizing it, he raised his trunk and swatted the fly to death.
- First advantage! - said the two-colored python. “You couldn’t do that with just your nose.” Well, now eat a little!
Without realizing it, the baby elephant stretched out his trunk, pulled out a huge bunch of grass, knocked it out on his front legs and sent it into his mouth.
- Second advantage! - said the two-colored python. “You couldn’t do that with just your nose.” Don't you find that the sun is very hot here?
“True,” answered the little elephant.
Without realizing it, he collected mud from the large gray-green muddy Limpopo River and splashed it on his head. It turned out to be a mud cap that spread behind the ears.
- Advantage three! - said the two-colored python. “You couldn’t do that with just your nose.” Don't you want to be beaten?
“Forgive me,” answered the little elephant, “I don’t want to at all.”
- Well, would you like to beat someone yourself? - continued the two-color python. “I really want to,” said the little elephant.
- Fine. “You’ll see how your new nose will be useful for this,” explained the two-colored python.
“Thank you,” said the baby elephant. - I will follow your advice. Now I'll go to my people and try it on them.
In this picture you see a baby elephant picking bananas from tall tree with his beautiful new long trunk. I know that this picture is not very good, but I can’t help it: it’s very difficult to draw bananas and elephants. The black stripe behind the baby elephant represents a wild, swampy area somewhere in the wilds of Africa. The little elephant made mud caps for himself from the mud he found there. I think it would be nice if you painted the banana tree... green, and the baby elephant - in red.
The baby elephant walked home across Africa, twisting and turning its trunk. When he wanted to eat the fruits, he picked them from the tree, and did not wait, as before, for them to fall on their own. When he wanted grass, he, without bending down, pulled it out with his trunk, and did not crawl on his knees, as before. When the flies bit him, he broke out a branch and fanned himself with it. And when the sun got hot, he made himself a new cool cap from the mud. When he was bored with walking, he hummed a song, and it sounded louder through his trunk copper pipes. He deliberately turned off the road to find some fat hippopotamus (not a relative) and give it a good beating. The baby elephant wanted to see if the two-colored python was right about his new trunk. All the time he was picking up the melon peels that he had thrown on the road to Limpopo: he was distinguished by his neatness.
One dark evening he returned to his people and, holding his trunk with a ring, said:
- Hello!
They were very happy with him and answered:
- Come here, we’ll beat you for “restless curiosity.”
- Bah! - said the baby elephant. -You don’t know how to hit at all. But look how I fight.
He turned his trunk and hit his two brothers so hard that they rolled over.
- Oh-oh-oh! - they exclaimed. - Where did you learn such things?.. Wait, what’s on your nose?
“I got a new nose from a crocodile on the bank of the big gray-green muddy Limpopo River,” said the baby elephant. - I asked what he had for lunch, and he gave me this.
“It’s not nice,” said the hairy baboon.
“True,” answered the little elephant, “but it’s very convenient.”
With these words, he grabbed his hairy uncle the baboon by the shaggy hand and thrust him into the hornets' nest.
Then the baby elephant began to beat other relatives. They were very excited and very surprised. The baby elephant plucked the tail feathers from his tall uncle, the ostrich. Grabbing his tall aunt giraffe by the hind leg, he dragged her through the thorn bushes. The baby elephant screamed at his fat uncle the hippopotamus and blew bubbles into his ear as he slept in the water after lunch. But he did not allow anyone to offend the colo-colo bird.
Relations became so strained that all the relatives, one after another, hurried to the bank of the large gray-green muddy Limpopo River, where the fever trees grow, to get new noses from the crocodile. When they returned back, no one fought anymore. From that time on, my dears, all the elephants you see, and even those you don’t see, have the same trunks as the restless baby elephant.