CHILDREN'S CORNER

Mervyn Hardinge, PhD

Dr. Hardinge grew up largely in India, where his father worked as a surveyor. It was the policy of the British government to completely survey all of India, which in those days included all of Pakistan and Bangladesh, every 50 years. His work as a government surveyor and the adventurous life it provided for the Hardinge family at that time, provides the background for:

The Elephant’s Revenge

 The Province of Assam in which Dad worked, was in my boyhood days one of the most primitive in India. Away from the few roads and highways one either walked or rode some beast of burden. The government had provided Dad with an elephant. It not only could transport a number of men but also carry the tents and other essential equipment needed by the surveyor and his men to live, camp, and work. The animal was constantly in use, if not by Dad, then by one or other of his survey­ors who were working in other primitive areas.

When my brother and I were about 8 and 10 years old, we loved to take rides on Dad's elephant. Since it was stationed at the Assam Survey Training School, some eight miles from Gauhati, in the village of Jahluk Bari, it was only when Dad took the family with him to the school that we got a chance to ride the animal. A pad would be placed over its back and a rope strung from the base of its tail to its neck and around. To stay on its back we had to hang on to the rope, because sitting on an elephant's back is like sitting astride a dining table!

Two men were generally needed to care for an elephant, the mahout, who was the main keeper of the animal, and a grass-cut, who was responsible for feeding and bathing the animal.

Dad's elephant gets sick

Our elephant was sick. He had a large sore on his back that would not heal. The mahout or his helper, the grass-cut, had been careless when loading the elephant and something sharp had pressed down through the pad and rubbed a hole in the animal's back. So Dad had ordered that it would not be allowed to do any work until the wound had healed. It was slowly recovering and the sore, the size of a small plate, was getting smaller.

The elephant was stationed at the Survey Training School where Dad went at regular intervals to give lectures and hold examinations.

The elephant takes revenge

It was a hot, humid day, and the elephant was standing under a large shade tree swishing dirt with its trunk onto its back to keep the flies off. Its large ears were flapping to help keep it cool. The mahout and grass-cut each lived in small huts nearby. Three men, carrying large bundles, approached the mahout, who was lying in the shade of a mango tree.

"Is this a government elephant?" one inquired.

"Yes, sir," the mahout replied.

"Then take us," he replied "to Gauhati.

Our bundles are heavy, we are hot and tired, and we, as government workers, have a right to the use of this elephant when it is not being used by the 'bura Sahib,'" referring to my father.

"Unfortunately I cannot help you at this time," the mahout responded politely. "The elephant is sick. See that large sore on its back? And besides, the Sahib has given me strict orders that it should not be used under any circumstances, until the sore has healed."

"You lazy scoundrel!" the traveler shouted. "All you want to do is lie around and do nothing! Now get going. Put the pad on the elephant's back, and tie our bundles up there, too. We are in a hurry and need to be on our way."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I cannot disobey my Sahib. He has given me strict orders that no one is to use the elephant until the sore has healed. I am not a lazy man. Please do not insult me."

The traveler was beside himself. He angrily ordered the mahout to get the pad, put it over the elephant's back, and to tie up their bundles securely. "That little sore is no problem. You are using it as an excuse so you can stay in the shade and do nothing. If you don't do as I tell you, I'm going to report you to the higher-ups."

"All right sir, I will do as you say, but I want to warn you that I cannot take responsibility for what the elephant might do. Elephants often do strange things when they are not treated well. You have demanded that I disobey my Sahib's orders, and beyond that I am to put the pad on the tender wound which you can see with your own eyes is a serious injury!"

The mahout and his grass-cut then got busy and soon had the elephant loaded. With its trunk the elephant picked the men up one by one and helped them get settled on its back. The mahout mounted the elephant sitting on the animal's neck with his toes tucked behind its ears. By prodding the ear on one side or the other he could direct the animal in the direction he wished it to go. With an order, the elephant set off for Gauhati eight miles away.

Elephants are four legged animals but they do not walk like horses, dogs, or cats. They lift both the legs on one side and then both legs on the opposite side. This makes them swing from side to side as they stride along. The party had gone about a quarter of a mile and had arrived at a marshy spot with a densely forested hill at the right and rice paddies to the left. It so happened that the rice paddies had recently been flooded. This allowed the soil to become soft so it could be easily plowed in preparation for planting the rice seedlings.

The elephant abruptly stopped. "What's the matter?" the men nervously inquired of the mahout.

"How can I know," the mahout answered. And then it happened. The elephant swung its back to one side and then to the other. It did it again and again, each time a little harder. Then with one mighty swing it sent the three travelers and their bundles flying through the air, landing them with a terrific splash right in the middle of a rice paddy. With angry shouts the men picked themselves up, collected their bundles, and, covered with mud and dripping with water, sloshed to the road. Shaking their fists in the mahout's face they yelled: "You made it do it on purpose!"

"Sirs," the mahout replied, "I warned you that the animal might be unpredictable. When they're injured one can never tell what might happen."

Grumbling and complaining the three travelers turned towards their destination. Finally, as the mahout recounted the story to my Dad, they disappeared in the distance.

"Did you make the elephant do it?" my Dad asked. With a twinkle in his eye, the mahout responded, "Sahib, in this life, strange things can happen! And by the way, elephants are very intelligent animals."

Some important lessons

This true story can give us some important lessons to think about. Sometimes boys and girls, and even mothers and fathers, act like the cruel travelers who insisted on having the elephant carry them, even though he had a sore back. Do we try to force other people to do what we want them to do for us, even if it is inconvenient, difficult, or painful for them? Do we insist upon having our own way and putting our desires first even when it may hurt someone else?

Another valuable lesson that we can learn from this little story is that we should be considerate towards all of God's creatures-including our pets and the other animals that He has made. When Jesus lived on our earth many years ago, He gave us an example by how He acted. We are told that even the little creatures were happier when He was around, because He was so kind to them. It hurts Him when we are unnecessarily unkind to the animals.

Wouldn't you like to ask Jesus for His help to be unselfish and mindful of the needs and feelings of the people and animals that He has made? He can help us to treat others as we would like to be treated. Let's promise Him that with his help we will remember the hurt elephant and always be kind—to all of God's creation!

This story is excerpted from the book, My Unex­pected Life, by Mervin Hardinge. Reprinted with minor edits by permission of the author.

Printed in The Journal of Health & Healing, Volume 28, Number 1.