Friendly Elephant

A lone elephant wandered the forest looking for friends. She came across a monkey and asked, "Will you be my friend, monkey?" "You are too big and cannot swing on trees as I do. So I cannot be your friend", said the monkey.

The elephant then came across a rabbit and asked him if she could be his friend. "You are too big to fit inside my burrow. You cannot be my friend", replied the rabbit.

Then the elephant met a frog, again she asked if they could be friends. Coincidentally, the frog also said "You are too big and heavy. You cannot bounce in the air like me. I am very sorry, but you cannot be my friend".

Afterward, the elephant asked a fox, and he got the same reply, that he was too big. The next day, all the animals in the forest were running in fear. The elephant stopped a bear and asked what was happening and was told that a hungry tiger has been attacking all the animals.

The elephant wanted to save all the weak ones and went to the tiger and said "Please sir, leave my friends alone. Do not eat them". The famished tiger didn't listen and asked the elephant to mind her own business. Seeing no other way to solve the problem, the elephant kicked the tiger away, ponderously.

She then went back to the tiger-free forest and told the animals what just happened. On hearing how the elephant saved their lives, the animals agreed that she was not too big anymore, "You are just the right size to be our friend".

-Written by Sagari Gongala

友善的大象

一頭孤伶伶的大象在森林裡徘徊，想找個朋友。牠碰到一隻猴子，問牠：「你願意和我做朋友嗎，猴子？」猴子說：「你太大了，不能像我一樣在樹枝上搖來盪去。所以我不能成為你的朋友。」

大象隨後碰到了一隻兔子，牠問兔子是否可以成為朋友。兔子回答：「你太大了，我的洞穴無法容納。你不能成為我的朋友。」

然後大象遇到了一隻青蛙，她也想結交朋友。青蛙也同樣地回答說：「你太大又太重，不能像我一樣跳到半空中。非常抱歉，你不能成為我的朋友。」

之後，大象問了一隻狐狸，得到的也是「你太大了」的答覆。第二天，森林裡的所有動物都倉皇狂奔。大象攔住了一隻熊，問發生了什麼事，得知是飢餓的老虎一直在追捕動物們。

大象想拯救弱者，於是走到老虎面前說：「先生，請放過我的朋友吧，別吃牠們。」飢腸轆轆的老虎聽不進牠的勸告，叫大象別管閒事。眼看沒有其他解決辦法，大象重重地給了老虎一腳，把牠踢跑了。

然後，牠回到沒有老虎威脅的森林，告訴小動物們剛發生的事。聽到大象救了大家，這些動物得到「牠一點也不會太大」的共識：「你的體型當我們的朋友，剛剛好。」