There lived a baby elephant in Africa. And he was so stubborn that no one could deal with him.
One day the whole elephant family gathered for a walk,
“Let’s go,” the father elephant said to the baby elephant.
“I won’t go,” answered the little elephant.
“Let’s go,” said the mother elephant.
“I won’t go,” answered the little elephant.
“Let’s go,” said the older elephant brothers.
“I won’t go,” answered the little elephant.
“Well, we’ll take a walk without you,” the elephants said and left.
The baby elephant was left alone. And when he was left alone, he really wanted to go out with everyone. Therefore, he was very offended that the elders left without him.
“If that’s the case,” the little elephant said to himself, “I won’t be an elephant anymore.”
He wondered what he should become. And he decided to become a lion cub. The baby elephant threw himself to the ground, raised all four legs and began to dangle them in the air. Just like a lion cub.
A timid gazelle ran past. She stopped for a moment, looked at the baby elephant, got scared and ran away. As she ran, she threw up her thin legs and shook her horns.
“That’s who I will be,” the baby elephant shouted and galloped after the gazelle like a gazelle.
His ears shook like banana leaves in the wind, and his thick legs tangled one after another. Soon his whole body ached from jumping.
“It’s not so nice to be a gazelle,” thought the little elephant.
Then he saw a green-eyed lizard. The lizard was sitting on a flexible vine that hung from a tree.
“Good afternoon,” said the little elephant. - How are you doing?
“Bad,” answered the lizard. “I let my children go to the river bank to play with their cousins, little crocodiles. I'm afraid that the crocodiles, having played out, will accidentally swallow my children.
“I would also like to play with someone,” said the little elephant. “Now I’ll climb onto your vine, and we’ll swing.”
- Well, no! - the lizard squeaked.
- How? — the baby elephant was offended. - Don't you want to play with me?
- Of course I don’t want to. First, I worry about the children;
secondly, you are too heavy and will break my vine. And thirdly, goodbye!
And before the baby elephant had time to blink an eye, the lizard darted into the foliage of the tree - just a flash of its tail.
- Just think, I really need a lizard! — the baby elephant snorted. “I’ll find myself a better comrade.” He moved on.
In the clearing, the baby elephant saw monkeys. They were playing tag.
“This is the game for me,” said the little elephant.
-Can I play with you?
- Play with us! Play with us! - the monkeys screeched, so loudly that they completely deafened the baby elephant.
Before he had time to come to his senses, the monkeys began to play with him.
Oh, what a game it was! The monkeys grabbed him by the tail, pulled his trunk, and pulled his ears. They tumbled on his back and tickled his stomach. And the baby elephant, no matter how hard he tried, could not stain a single monkey.
Soon the baby elephant was completely exhausted.
“I don’t like being a monkey,” he said and ran away. And the monkeys laughed for a long time at the clumsy elephant calf.
A baby elephant was walking and walking and saw a parrot flying from branch to branch. The parrot was so colorful that the baby elephant’s eyes even sparkled.
“Now I finally know what to do,” the little elephant rejoiced. - I will fly.
“Start, and I’ll watch,” responded the parrot. The baby elephant made a big jump, but for some reason did not take off. He fell to the ground and hurt his leg.
The old parrot tilted its head to the side and looked at him with one eye mockingly.
“There’s just nowhere to run around here,” said the embarrassed little elephant.
“I’ll show you where you can run,” the parrot consoled him and led the baby elephant to the steep bank of the river.
“Look,” said the old mocker, he approached the very cliff, jumped and took off.
The baby elephant also came up to the very cliff, also jumped and... .. splashed into the water.
He got out onto the shore wet, dirty, covered in silt and mud. And when he got out, he saw that the father elephant, the mother elephant and the elephant brothers were standing nearby. And everyone silently looks at him.
The baby elephant felt ashamed.
“Take me for a walk,” he said. - Now I will always be an elephant.
And the whole elephant family went for a walk.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru