27
Best Friends
[The Power of
Friendship]
Once upon a time, there was a
royal bull elephant that was very well-taken care of. In the same neighbourhood
of this elephant lived a scrawny, poorly-fed stray dog. Hungry and attracted by
the smell of the rich sweet rice fed to the royal elephant, it would sneak into
its shed and eat the delicious rice that fell from the elephant’s mouth. It
liked the sweet rice so much that soon the dog would not eat anywhere else. The
big mighty elephant did not notice the tiny shy stray dog.
Gradually, the scraggy dog grew
bigger and stronger from eating the sweet rice, and became very good-looking.
The good-natured elephant started to notice it. Since the dog had became
familiar with the elephant, it was not afraid and so did not bark at it.
Because the dog was friendly and not annoying, the elephant gradually got
accustomed to the dog. They became friends, and before long, neither would eat
without the other. They enjoyed spending their time together. When they played,
the dog would grab the elephant’s heavy trunk, and the elephant would swing him
forward and backward, from side to side, up and
down, and even in circles! Soon,
they became the best of friends, and neither wanted ever to be separated.
One day, a man from a remote village
who was visiting the city passed by the elephant shed. He saw the frisky dog
that had grown really striking and beautiful. He bought him from the mahout,
even though he didn’t really own it, and took it back to his home village.
Nobody knows where that was. The royal bull elephant was heartbroken. It missed
its best friend. It was so depressed that it didn’t want to do anything, not
even eat, drink or bathe. Left with no choice, the mahout had to report this to
the king. But he said nothing about selling the friendly dog. In this story,
the king had an intelligent minister. He was renowned for his ability to
understand animals. So the king instructed him to investigate the reason for
the elephant’s melancholy. The wise minister went to the elephant shed. He
could tell at once that the royal bull elephant was in despair . He thought:
“This formerly cheerful elephant does not appear to be physically sick. But I
have seen this condition before, in men and animals alike. It is
grief-stricken, probably due to the loss of a very dear friend.”
Then he asked the guards and
attendants: “Do you know if this elephant has a very close friendship with
anyone?” They told him about the stray dog and how they became best friends.
“Where is the dog now?” asked the minister. “He was taken by an unknown man,”
they replied, “and we do not know where he is now.” The minister returned to
the king and said: “Your majesty, I am glad to tell you that your elephant is
not sick. As strange as it may sound, he became best of friends with a stray
dog! Since the dog has been taken away, the elephant is grief-stricken and does
not feel like eating, drinking or bathing.” “Friendship is one of life’s most
wonderful things,” said the king. “My minister, how can we find the dog and make
the elephant happy again?” “My lord,” replied the minister, “I suggest you make
an official announcement that whoever has in his possession the dog which used
to live at the royal elephant shed will be fined.” This was carried out, and
when the villager heard of this announcement, he released the dog from his
house immediately. Filled with great happiness, the dog ran as fast as it
could, straight back to its best friend, the royal bull elephant.
The elephant was so overjoyed,
that it picked up the dog with its trunk and sat it on top of its head. The
happy dog wagged its tail, while the elephant’s eyes sparkled with delight.
They both lived happily ever after. Meanwhile, the king, amazed by his
minister’s ability and pleased with his elephant’s quick recovery, rewarded him
appropriately.
The moral is ✏ even different
kind of beings from different species can become best
friends, for friendship transcends language and
appearance.
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