PRESENTATION
As you have read this poem to yourselves, tell me what it is about. It is about six blind men "Who went to see the elephant".
As they were blind, how could they see him? They couldn't see him as we do, but they could feel him, and that was to them what seeing is to us.
In what way was feeling the same to them as seeing is to us? It was their way of knowing the animal, and that is just what seeing is to us.
Where did this happen? It happened in Indostan.
I told you to look for Indostan in Asia. Point it out on the map. (A pupil points to it.)
What are we told about these men? They gave much of their time to study.
What do you suppose was their favourite way of finding out things? This lesson makes me think that they liked to find out things by their own efforts.
Why do you think that? Because it says that they wanted to "satisfy" their minds by their own "observations".
In what other ways do boys and girls satisfy their minds about new things? By asking questions about them until the answers satisfy them.
What other way do you use sometimes? We read books to learn about many new things.
What did the first man learn? He thought he had learned that the elephant was "like a wall".
Why do you say thought? He hadn't really learned it. He stopped making observations just as soon as he had one idea.
Why do you think he did that? I think he was in a hurry to be the first to state what he knew.
What words in the poem suggest that idea to you? The words "At once began to bawl".
How did this man come to think the elephant was "like a wall"? He fell against the animal's huge side, and it made him think of a wall.
What was the second man's opinion about the elephant? He thought the animal was "like a spear".
Account for that idea. He felt one of the elephant's tusks, and formed his opinion without going any further.
And what about the third man? The third man put his hands on the elephant's trunk and felt it all over, but as he did not go any further, he declared that the elephant was "like a snake", because it was the only thing, as far as he knew, that squirmed about as the trunk did.
What did the fourth man do? The fourth man felt the big front legs and declared the elephant was "like a tree".
Tell us about the fifth man. The fifth man happened to touch the ear. He felt all over it but nowhere else, so he said the elephant was "like a fan".
And what had the sixth man to say? The sixth man had caught hold of the elephant's tail, and when he had felt all over it, he declared the elephant was "like a rope".
What conclusion did they come to in the end? They didn't come to any conclusion. They argued and argued for a long time, and each man was stubborn and stuck to "his own opinion".