"This fly will not get the fever here," Stas thought joyfully.
Afterwards they commenced to converse about the elephant, as Nell was incapable of talking of anything else and did not cease going into transports over his stature, trunk, and tusks, which in reality were prodigious. Finally she asked:
"Honestly, Stas, isn't he wise?"
"As Solomon," answered Stas. "But what makes you think so?"
"Because when I asked him not to drink any more, he obeyed me at once."
"If before that time he had not taken any lessons in English and nevertheless understands it, that really is miraculous."
Nell perceived that Stas was making merry with her, so she gave him a scolding; after which she said:
"Say what you wish, but I am sure that he is very intelligent and will become tame at once."
"Whether at once I don't know, but he may be tamed. The African elephants are indeed more savage than the Asiatic; nevertheless, I think that Hannibal, for instance, used African elephants."
"And who was Hannibal?"