“Does he understand everything?” asked the little girl of the German.
“Oh, absolutely everything, miss.”
“Only he can’t speak.”
“No, he can’t speak. Do you know, I’ve got a little girl just as small as you. Her name’s Lisa. Tommy’s a great, a very great, friend of hers.”
“And you, Tommy, have you had any tea yet?” asked Nadya.
The elephant stretched out his trunk and blew out a warm breath into the little girl’s face, making her hair puff out at each side.
Nadya laughed and clapped her hands. The German laughed out loud too. He was also large and fat, and good-natured like the elephant, and Nadya thought they looked like one another. Perhaps they were relations.
“No, he hasn’t had tea, miss. But he likes to drink sugar-water. And he’s very fond of rolls.”
Some rolls were brought in on a tray. The little girl handed some to her guest. He caught a roll cleverly with his finger, and turning up his trunk into a ring hid the roll somewhere underneath his head, where one could see his funny three-cornered, hairy, lower lip moving, and hear the roll rustling against the dry skin. Tommy did the same with a second roll, and a third, and a fourth and a fifth, nodding his head and wrinkling up his little eyes still more with satisfaction. And the little girl laughed delightedly.
When the rolls were all eaten, Nadya presented her dolls to the elephant.