First he chose a small tree, not much thicker than your wrist; this he pulled out easily with his trunk, just as you might use your hand to pull out a small shrub. Then he chose a tree about six inches thick. He tried it first carefully with his trunk; but the tree was too strong to pull out in that way.
So the old elephant put his foot on the side of the tree, and pressed with all his weight—as you see in the picture. The tree bent more and more, and then suddenly broke off near the ground with a loud crack.
"I can do that!" cried Salar, frisking around his father, impatient to show what he could do.
Salar looked around and saw a tree of about the same size. He made a dash at the tree, put his right foot on it, and—
His father winked, but said nothing. For all elephants love a joke.
Now the wily old elephant knew that this tree was a banana tree, although the fruit had not yet started growing on it. The tree looked quite hard and strong, but it was really very soft and easy to break, like all banana trees. But Salar did not know that yet!
An Elephant Breaking a Tree with his Foot