Why Elephants Can’t Fly

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 Hindi

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Why Elephants can’t Fly
A Hindi Story by Becky Walker

A long time ago, much longer than most people can remember, elephants
could fly! They had four enormous wings and they whizzed through the sky
so fast that it amazed the other animals. But these big beasts were
sometimes also stupid. But shhh… the other animals would keep quiet
about it and never discuss it.

Because the elephants were so strong and so fast, God decided to take
their help. He could ride on these big beasts and they could help Him to
put the finishing touches to the world. In a moment He could be in China
and from there, within the blink of an eye, He could zoom off to
Iceland! And these elephants were so strong that they pushed and pushed
at mountains and icebergs, shifting them until everything in the world was
perfect. For example, they helped God to put the Himalayas in India and in
Tanzania, they had Mount Kilimanjaro. By riding on these elephants, God
sorted the whole world out and made it absolutely perfect.
Once this big job had been completed, God told the elephants that they
could have a permanent holiday. Uh… that is, until He had something else
for them to do. Now the elephants did not have very much to do. Then do
you know what happened?

The elephants became idle and to pass their time, they talked about the old
days. They talked about how strong they had been. They talked about how
fast they were, and how God had favoured them. And the more they talked,
the more they came to think that they were much, much better than all the
other animals on earth. They were definitely the most important!

The elephants chattered idly to each other. ‘Look at that peacock,’ they
would say unkindly. ‘See how ugly and brown his little wings are compared
to ours!’ And they would always make sure to raise their voices high so that
the little peacock could hear their mean words. And the poor peacock, who
was kind and humble at heart, could not disagree with the elephants. He
thought – ‘The elephants are right. I am small. My wings are not beautiful
like those of the fairies and nor am I strong like the elephants.’

As time went on, the elephants began to pride themselves. They began to
think that they could do whatever they wanted. The greedy elephants
would take all the bananas from the banana tree, leaving none for the other
animals. The other animals were sad because they did not get even one
banana for their meal! And you know what the elephants did with these
bananas in their trunks?

The elephants would come down into a village, any village they liked – they
would spread their wings like a carpet and sit down to have their
picnic. The whole village would be squashed under the weight of the
elephants. The houses would be flattened and the fields would be ruined
and the villagers would be deeply upset.

The poor villagers were very angry at the destruction of their homes, and
the animals with their empty stomachs were also very cross. And so God
decided enough was enough. These proud and greedy elephants had
gotten far too big for their trunks, and needed to be taught a lesson!
God invited all the elephants for a chat. He said to them – ‘Oh mighty
elephants, listen to Me. I am very grateful to you for helping me make the
world perfect. So I want to throw a party. Only for the elephants.

All the elephants were very happy. One elephant said to another –
‘See! Even God can see how strong and brave we are. How much we
have helped Him. It is right that He should have a party just for us!’

So the greedy elephants, all puffed up with pride and confidence, turned up
to the feast one by one. As promised, God had found the best food, and
there were mountains of it! Bright yellow bananas, deep red
pomegranates, tangy guavas, juicy mangoes … whatever fruits you could
imagine, they were there. The greedy elephants were delighted. And they
ate it all up. Every last bit.

By the end of the meal the elephants were so full that one by one they
dropped off to sleep surrounded by discarded banana peels and mango
skins. This was the moment God had been waiting for. When the last
elephant had closed his eyes, God took out a very big knife. Quietly, He
went to each elephant and chopped off their wings. And He gave these
beautiful wings to the little peacocks. The little peacocks were so happy
that they ran into the forest to sing and dance.

Have you seen the peacocks dance, the peacocks dance, the peacocks
dance?
Have you seen the peacocks dance, all around the trees?

Yes, I’ve seen the peacocks dance, the peacocks dance, the peacocks
dance,

Yes, I’ve seen the peacocks dance, all around the trees.

And now think of the elephants. When the elephants finally awoke from
their long sleep, they were shocked to see the beautiful peacock swishing
his impressive feathers at them. They were really, really angry. But God
had no time to listen to their complaints. Instead He said, ‘I want you
elephants to become nicer, kinder. I want you to use your strength and
help the villagers to re-build their houses.’

The elephants felt very ashamed of what they had done. They resolved to
help the villagers as much as they could. So even today, in every village,
there are elephants that come and go, helping people as they pass by.