But he did not aim right, and the bamboo slipped off from the stalk. So he tried again, and gave another jab at the stalk. In this way, after trying many times, he managed at last to hit the stalk and break it. Down fell the bunch of bananas to the ground.
Meanwhile Salar was jumping around his father for joy. But his father told him to keep still. He had not succeeded in getting those bananas yet! How could he get them out of the place of danger?
It puzzled him a long time. He poked at the bunch with the bamboo, but that only broke off one or two of the bananas. Then he poked at the stalk of the bunch, but the end of the bamboo slipped off it, as there was nothing on the bamboo to grip the stalk with.
So he drew back the bamboo and looked at that end of it, to see why it did not grip the stalk. Of course the end of the bamboo was all smooth, and could not grip anything at all.
Elephant Tricks the Tricky Trappers
Then at last another thought seemed to come into the wise old elephant's head. He put that end of the bamboo into his mouth and began to chew it; for an elephant has very strong teeth at the back of his mouth. As his mouth was very big, that clever elephant chewed as much of the end of the bamboo as his mouth would hold—and that was as long as your arm. So the end of the bamboo became like fibers, that is, like a bunch of hair, only very thick and rough.
Elephant Pulling Bananas out of a Tricky Trap