In the High and Far-Off Times, O Best Beloved, the Elephant had no trunk. He had only a blackish, bulgy nose, as big as a boot, that he could wriggle about from side to side; but he couldn't pick up things with it. But there was one Elephant—a new Elephant—an Elephant's Child—who was full of 'insatiable curiosity', and that means he asked ever so many questions.
He lived in Africa, and he filled all Africa with his insatiable curiosities. He asked his tall aunt, the Ostrich, why her tail-feathers grew just so. And his tall aunt the Ostrich spanked him with her hard, hard claw. He asked his tall uncle, the Giraffe, what made his skin so spotty. And his tall uncle the Giraffe spanked him with his hard, hard hoof.
Still he was full of insatiable curiosity! He asked his broad aunt, the Hippopotamus, why her eyes were red. And his broad aunt the Hippopotamus spanked him with her broad, broad hoof. He asked his hairy uncle, the Baboon, why melons tasted just so. And his hairy uncle the Baboon spanked him with his hairy, hairy paw. Still he was full of insatiable curiosity!
One fine morning, he asked a new question that he had never asked before. He asked, 'What does the Crocodile have for dinner?' Then everybody said, 'Hush!' in a loud and dreadful tone, and they spanked him immediately and at great length. But he met the Kolokolo Bird, who told him to go to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River.
So he went home and took a hundred pounds of bananas and a hundred pounds of sugar-cane and seventeen melons. He said to all his dear families, 'Goodbye. I am going to the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River to find out what the Crocodile has for dinner.' And he set off, eating melons and throwing the rind about, because he could not pick it up.
He went from Graham's Town to Kimberley, and from Kimberley to Khama's Country, and from there he went east by north, eating melons all the time, till at last he came to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River. The first thing he found was a Bi-Coloured Python Rock-Snake curled round a rock. ''Scuse me,' said the Elephant's Child, 'but have you seen such a thing as a Crocodile?'
The Python uncoiled himself and spanked him with his scales, but didn't answer. So the Elephant's Child went on until he stepped on what he thought was a log of wood at the very edge of the river. But it was really the Crocodile, O Best Beloved, and the Crocodile winked one eye—just like this! ''Scuse me,' said the Elephant's Child, 'but do you happen to know what the Crocodile has for dinner?'
Then the Crocodile winked the other eye, and lifted half his tail out of the mud. 'Come hither, Little One,' said the Crocodile, 'for I am the Crocodile.' And he wept crocodile tears to show it was quite true. The Elephant's Child grew all breathless, and kneeled down on the bank and said, 'You are the very person I have been looking for all these days.' The Crocodile whispered, 'Come closer, and I'll tell you.'
The Elephant's Child put his head down close to the Crocodile's musky, tusky mouth, and the Crocodile caught him by his little nose. 'I think,' said the Crocodile—and he said it between his teeth—'I think today I will begin with Elephant's Child!' Then the Elephant's Child sat back on his haunches and pulled, and the Crocodile pulled, and the Python came down and wrapped himself round the Elephant's Child's legs and pulled too!
At last, with a loud 'Plop!', the Crocodile let go, and the Elephant's Child fell back. He sat there for three days waiting for his nose to shrink, but it never did. It was a real trunk! He found he could swat flies with it, and pick up bundles of grass, and even spank his relatives back when he got home. And that, O Best Beloved, is how the Elephant got his trunk.
