For he knew that it would not hurt Keedah to splash into the water, and the elephant boys and girls used often to play that trick on one another, just as you children, perhaps, do at the seashore.
So up to the elephant boy, who was scraping his toe nails on a stone, slyly went Umboo and Batu. And Batu said:
"Ah, Keedah! Do your toes hurt you very much?"
"Oh, no, not so very much," was the answer. "I am getting to be a big elephant now, and I do not mind a little hurt."
"Ha! Then maybe you won't mind this!" suddenly cried Umboo with a laugh, as he quietly went up close to Keedah, and, butting him with his head, as a goat butts, knocked him down the bank into the river.
"Oh! Ugh! Blurg! Splub!" cried Keedah, as he splattered about in the water. "What are you doing that for?"
"Oh, just to have some fun," answered Umboo and Batu, laughing as they ran off.
"Well, I'll show you some more fun!" cried Keedah, as he scrambled up the river bank, and ran after the other two elephant boys, his trunk raised high in the air.
Umboo and Batu ran as fast as they could, of course, and Keedah raced after them. Finally he caught them, and struck them with his trunk. But it was all in fun, and no one minded it. Then, a little later, when Umboo was standing near the river, Keedah came up behind him and knocked him into the water.
"Now we are even!" laughed Keedah as he ran away.