The Rabbit, the Tiger and the Elephant
One day the Rabbit met the Elephant, who looked very distressed. The small quadruped asked the big one the cause of his trouble.
The Elephant, grateful for the sympathetic inquiry, made reply:
"I have wagered my life with the Tiger and lost the wager. To-morrow I must put myself at his disposal and he will eat me, but he has given me one day in which to bid farewell to my children."
The Rabbit thought a moment and then told his friend to take heart for he had frequently found a way out of much more formidable complications. The Elephant believed in the assurances of his friend, and they separated after fixing a rendezvous for the next day.
The monster turned up punctually to the moment and found the Rabbit already waiting for him. The Rabbit told him to lie at full length on the ground. When the Tiger was heard bounding through the forest the Rabbit jumped on the Elephant's back and began to cry out at the top of his voice:
"I have just had an elephant for my dinner but I really don't feel equal to a tiger for dessert."
Terrified at such a miracle the King of the Jungle covered eight yards at a bound and vanished in a twinkling into the depths of the forest.