Now I shall tell you how a little elephant learns all the tricks of the jungle from its Mamma and Papa. By the tricks of the jungle I mean all the things that an animal has to learn in order to get enough to eat every day, what to do when food is scarce, how to be comfortable and happy, and also how to escape from every danger; in fact, these things are very much like what men have to learn, only in a different way.
But the animal folks are better off in one way: what they have to learn is not like a lesson in school, but just play. In fact they learn everything by just playing it as a game! I shall tell you how.
When a baby elephant is quite small, its Mamma has to feed it with milk. Afterwards, when it has teeth, she teaches it to feed from the jungle. All elephants eat tender shoots, herbs, and fresh young leaves; they seize a bough with the trunk, and pull it down in such a way that the end of the bough reaches right into the mouth.
Elephant Child Learns to Feed
First, the Mamma elephant eats like that from several boughs, while the little elephant watches her do it. Then she looks at a low bough within easy reach, and says in the elephant language, "Eat that!"
The little one looks at the bough, grabs it anyhow with its trunk, and pulls it down. But it cannot get the end of the bough into its mouth! Instead, the bough pokes it on the forehead, or eyes, or cheeks.
"Hold it straight!" says Mamma, laughing.
The little one tries several times, but still it cannot get the bough to come right. Then its Mamma puts her own trunk over that of her child, and turns it to right or left, till the bough comes exactly into the little elephant's mouth.
"You must learn to use your trunk just like a hand," she says. "So you must bend your trunk, or turn it, or twist it, to get the thing you are holding exactly where you want it."
And that is the first great thing the little elephant has to learn—how to use its trunk as we use our hands. After that everything else comes easy.