Many years ago, it is said, that elephants had small trunks with
stubbed noses. One year, it did not rain for many months. The ponds
and lakes began to dry up, and the streams had very little water.
All the animals in the forest were very thirsty, and desperately
searching for a source of water. A river used to flow not very far
away from the forest, and an elephant decided to go there in search
of water.
Walking slowly, he reached the river. There lived a bright green
crocodile in the river. As he saw the elephant, he cried, "Go away!
Water is already scarce here. If you start drinking, what will be
left for me?"
The elephant
knew it was a risk to pick a fight with the crocodile. So, he
decided to come back to the river when the crocodile would be
sleeping.
In the same river, there also lived a shiny green toad. Whenever the
crocodile would be swimming across the river, the toad would hop
onto his back and enjoy a ride. Over time, the crocodile was annoyed
with giving free rides to the toad. Many times, he had tried to
shake the toad off his back, but in vain. "Hahaha!" the toad would
laugh.
One day, the crocodile was resting on a rock. Finding this to be a
good opportunity, the elephant went to the river silently and began
to drink water. Just then, the toad jumped onto the crocodile's
back, disturbing his slumber. The crocodile was irritated! He began
to swim around the river and shake his body violently. "Now, I shall
get rid of you!" he cried at the toad. But, the toad was unmoved.
Suddenly, the crocodile noticed the elephant. "How dare you drink from my river when you
were told not to?" he cried. Unable to get rid of the
toad, the crocodile decided to vent all his anger on the elephant.
He caught the elephant's trunk and began to pull him into the river.
The poor elephant started to pull back, crying, "Let go of
me....please! Let go of me....my nose hurts!" But the crocodile
showed no mercy. Then, with a mighty jerk, the elephant succeeded in
freeing his trunk from the crocodile. But, in tug of war, the
elephant's nose had become really long! Angry, the elephant sucked
all the water from the river. Then, he sucked some mud and sprayed
it on the crocodile and the toad. Since then, it is said, elephants
have had long trunks, and crocodiles and toads are not bright green
anymore.
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