Week 9 Story: Why the Elephant has Small Eyes
Why the Elephant has Small Eyes:
Back when Ambo was the king of Calabar, there lived an elephant with big eyes that were proportional to his large body size.
Because of his large eyeballs and big belly to fill, the elephant was ALWAYS HUNGRY...
When the king hosted large feasts at the palace, the elephant would sit at the end of the table and eat nearly half of all the food prepared for the many guests.
Naturally, this frustrated the animals and people of Calabar who were also in attendance because the feasts were lavish and the food flavorful.
This particularly angered the tortoise. So much indeed that he decided to plot against the "reckless" elephant.
Soon after the biggest feast of the year, the tortoise filled a bag full of peanuts and headed to the elephant's house.
The elephant was overjoyed to see him and pulled up a seat so that they could visit.
They began talking about the king's feast and the delicious squash casserole that they had eaten...
While talking, the tortoise closed his left eye and casually reached into his bag to eat some of the peanuts he brought.
The attention of the elephant was immediately drawn to the peanuts...
"Can I have some of your peanuts? They look quite delicious," said the elephant.
His belly grumbled.
The tortoise snickered and said, "Why.. of course you can! Under one condition..." He looked up, showing the elephant that his left eye was "missing".
"You must let me remove your left eye, just like mine is... Only then can you can eat my peanuts," said the tortoise.
So, the elephant agreed and let the tortoise crawl up his trunk with a knife in hand. With a WHACK, the eyeball fell onto the floor.
The elephant wailed in pain but soon forgot about it once he began eating the peanuts.
After eating a few, the elephant asked for more...
Once again, the tortoise snickered and said, "Why.. of course you can! Under one condition..." He closed his right eye looked up, showing the elephant his "lack" of both eyes.
"You must let me remove your right eye, just like mine is... Only then can you can eat my peanuts," said the tortoise.
So, the elephant agreed once again.. and with a WHACK, the eyeball fell onto the floor.
This time, the tortoise crawled away and hid from the elephant as he wailed in pain.
The elephant was now completely blind.
The next morning, the elephant blindly walked through the town, bumping into trees and other people.
He began asking others if he could borrow their set of eyeballs, but everyone declined.
After a while, a worm crawled past the elephant.
"Well good morning to you, worm! It's great to run into you," said the elephant.
The worm was beyond flattered that the elephant acknowledged him. He was always in awe of the elephant's great size.
The elephant then asked if he could borrow his set of eyeballs...
"I promise I'll return them in a few days! I just need them to find some food," he said.
The worm agreed and the elephant stuck the tiny eyeballs into his empty sockets.
Immediately, the skin around the eyeballs shriveled up, trapping the tiny eyeballs into the sockets.
Knowing, that the worm could not see him, the elephant snuck away to search for his next meal.
Ever since, worms have been blind and elephant have had tiny eyes...
Author's note:
This story was created based off of the original story, "The Elephant and the Tortoise or Why Worms are Blind and Why the Elephant has Small Eyes". I kept the plot of the story the same as the original, however wrote it in a way that made more sense to me. I also added some dialogue that I thought would make the story stronger.
Bibliography: The story of the "The Elephant and the Tortoise or Why Worms are Blind and Why the Elephant has Small Eyes" from the Nigeria unit. Story Source: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).
Back when Ambo was the king of Calabar, there lived an elephant with big eyes that were proportional to his large body size.
Because of his large eyeballs and big belly to fill, the elephant was ALWAYS HUNGRY...
When the king hosted large feasts at the palace, the elephant would sit at the end of the table and eat nearly half of all the food prepared for the many guests.
Naturally, this frustrated the animals and people of Calabar who were also in attendance because the feasts were lavish and the food flavorful.
This particularly angered the tortoise. So much indeed that he decided to plot against the "reckless" elephant.
Soon after the biggest feast of the year, the tortoise filled a bag full of peanuts and headed to the elephant's house.
The elephant was overjoyed to see him and pulled up a seat so that they could visit.
They began talking about the king's feast and the delicious squash casserole that they had eaten...
While talking, the tortoise closed his left eye and casually reached into his bag to eat some of the peanuts he brought.
The attention of the elephant was immediately drawn to the peanuts...
"Can I have some of your peanuts? They look quite delicious," said the elephant.
His belly grumbled.
The tortoise snickered and said, "Why.. of course you can! Under one condition..." He looked up, showing the elephant that his left eye was "missing".
"You must let me remove your left eye, just like mine is... Only then can you can eat my peanuts," said the tortoise.
So, the elephant agreed and let the tortoise crawl up his trunk with a knife in hand. With a WHACK, the eyeball fell onto the floor.
The elephant wailed in pain but soon forgot about it once he began eating the peanuts.
After eating a few, the elephant asked for more...
Once again, the tortoise snickered and said, "Why.. of course you can! Under one condition..." He closed his right eye looked up, showing the elephant his "lack" of both eyes.
"You must let me remove your right eye, just like mine is... Only then can you can eat my peanuts," said the tortoise.
So, the elephant agreed once again.. and with a WHACK, the eyeball fell onto the floor.
This time, the tortoise crawled away and hid from the elephant as he wailed in pain.
The elephant was now completely blind.
The next morning, the elephant blindly walked through the town, bumping into trees and other people.
He began asking others if he could borrow their set of eyeballs, but everyone declined.
After a while, a worm crawled past the elephant.
"Well good morning to you, worm! It's great to run into you," said the elephant.
The worm was beyond flattered that the elephant acknowledged him. He was always in awe of the elephant's great size.
The elephant then asked if he could borrow his set of eyeballs...
"I promise I'll return them in a few days! I just need them to find some food," he said.
The worm agreed and the elephant stuck the tiny eyeballs into his empty sockets.
Immediately, the skin around the eyeballs shriveled up, trapping the tiny eyeballs into the sockets.
Knowing, that the worm could not see him, the elephant snuck away to search for his next meal.
Ever since, worms have been blind and elephant have had tiny eyes...
(African elephant. Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Author's note:
This story was created based off of the original story, "The Elephant and the Tortoise or Why Worms are Blind and Why the Elephant has Small Eyes". I kept the plot of the story the same as the original, however wrote it in a way that made more sense to me. I also added some dialogue that I thought would make the story stronger.
Bibliography: The story of the "The Elephant and the Tortoise or Why Worms are Blind and Why the Elephant has Small Eyes" from the Nigeria unit. Story Source: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).
Hello,
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started reading this I chuckled because I thought of myself and how I am always hungry just as this poor elephant. I found myself switching who I was sympathetic towards through the story. At first it was the poor elephant that was always hungry and then blind. Then at the end I found myself feeling bad for the poor worm. I think you did a good job with this story! Keep up the good work!
Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteI love that you talked about the elephant always being hungry, because I AM always hungry. That made the story relatable and engaging from the beginning. I love that you decided to make the story in a way that made more sense and in simpler concepts for people. I did not read the original, but I think the dialogue probably did made it stronger as well! Great job.
Hi Lindsay! I really loved your re-telling of this story. You only kept important details and wrote it in a way that makes the reader really want to know what will happen next. It also makes sense that the worm would give away his eyes from this one sentence you wrote: "He was always in awe of the elephant's great size." A lot of times in stories like this there's no explanation for things like that so it seems unrealistic, but because of that sentence, the reader understands how immense the worm's adoration for the elephant is. Great job!
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