The Tale of Hare, Elephant, and Hippo... as Told by Charms

One day, Hare looked out over his field. If he was going to have enough food to eat, he would have to plant a crop. But if he was going to plant a crop, first he would have to clear the field. And that was a lot of work ~ far more work than Hare wanted to do.

But Hare was clever.  He sat down to think.  He thought and thought and thought, until he came up with a big idea.  First he dragged a length of rope into the field.  Then he waited patiently.  Pretty soon a  big African elephant came lumbering along.

Hare hopped up to make a deal with Elephant.  He bet Elephant that he could beat Elephant at tug-of-war. Elephant laughed at the idea.  How could a little animal like Hare beat him at a game of tug-of-war?  It sounded like a no-brainer.  Quickly he scooped up the rope with his trunk.

Hare picked up the other end and hopped through the bushes, across the field.  There he hid behind a row of bushes and waited.

Soon Hippopotamus waddled through.

Hare hopped up to Hippo and dared Hippo to beat him at tug-of-war. Hippo, without another thought, picked up the end of the rope with his teeth.

Then Hare hopped into the bushes and gave the rope a tug.

When Elephant and Hippo felt the rope move, they each started to pull.  They were both strong and big and powerful.  Back and forth they dragged the rope. Back and forth.  Back and forth.  The sun rose in the sky, and started to dip down.  At last night fell.

Still Elephant and Hippo pulled at the rope.

Back and forth.  Back and forth.

And each time the rope moved, it plowed another row in the field.

Hare never had a finer harvest.

 
Hare, Hippo, and Elephant can be found here and here.

To see Hare's field, you will have to travel to Africa.

The Elephant

by Ogden Nash

Elephants are useful friends,
Equipped with handles at both ends, 

They have a wrinkled moth proof hide,
Their teeth are upside down, outside, 

If you think the elephant preposterous,
You’ve probably never seen a rhinosterous.

Elephants (and rhinosterouses) here and here.

Eletelephony

by Laura E. Richards

Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant-
No! No! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone-
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I've got it right.)

Howe'er it was, he go his trunk

Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee-
(I fear I'd better drop the song
Of elephop and telphong!)

Have you called your elephants today?

Lion, Hippo, and Elephant Search for the Wild Life

Once upon a time, on a wildlife sanctuary, in deepest, darkest Africa,



..there lived a hippo...



and a lion...



and an elephant.



But they noticed that, on this wildlife sanctuary, they were not living much of a wild life.  They had all their meals brought to them.  There was a cozy place to sleep at night.  And their days were spent grazing and napping and wallowing with other hippos and elephants and lions.


One day Hippo and Lion and Elephant got to chatting over buckets of grasses and unidentifiable meaty bits.  "I'm king of the jungle," said Lion.  "Yet I've never had to roar or make other animals bow down before me."



"I'm the second most dangerous animal in Africa," said Hippo, "But no one here seems particularly frightened of me."



"I'm known for my intelligence and memory," added Elephant.  "So far, I haven't had to remember anything!"



"And this wild life they keep talking about?  I've never lived it."

"Neither have I," said Hippo mournfully.

"Me, neither," grumbled Lion, as he settled down for a nap.

"Then we must find this wild life!" said Elephant.

"We must test our mighty skills out there in darkest Africa!" added Hippo.

"Zzzzzz," said Lion.

With that, Hippo and tElephant woke Lon.  Together they headed for the gate and the wild life they knew existed outside.

Out across the African savanna they went.



They passed a zeal of zebras.  When the zebras saw the unlikely trio, they stopped to stare.  "Do you know where the wild life is?" asked Elephant.

"It's right here," answered one of the zebras.  "Poachers hunt us for meat and for our striped skins.  What we really need is a sanctuary."

With his trunk, Elephant pointed in the direction from which they came.  "There's a good sanctuary that way," he told them.  "When you get there, tell them Elephant sent you."

The zebras were quite grateful and bounded off toward the sanctuary as the three travelers continued on their quest.

From the east African savanna, they traveled on to the West African jungle.



There they met some mountain gorillas.  "Have you seen the wild life?" asked Elephant.

"We certainly have," answered one of the gorillas.  "There are poachers kill our families for meat.  We're looking for a sanctuary where we can be safe."

"We know where you can find one of those," Elephant told them,  "Head back the way we came."

Then Hippo and Lion and Elephant continued on, searching for the wild life.  They walked and walked and walked until they reached East Africa.  In the river, the trio saw hippos nibbling greens and soaking their skins.

"Have you seen the wild life?" asked Elephant.

"Have we ever!" answered one of the hippos.  "Every day poachers hunt us for meat, and for our beautiful long teeth.  We are in serious need of sanctuary."

"No problem," Elephant told them. pointing with his trunk.  "Head back that way.  Just follow the band of gorillas and the zeal of zebras.  We came from a very nice sanctuary, and I'm sure you'd be quite happy there."

The hippos whooped jubilantly as they filed out of the river and headed off.  By now, Hippo was getting a little worried.  "What if poachers come after me?" he asked.

Elephant and Lion reassured him.  They would protect Hippo.  And so the three continued on their journey to find the wild life.



They walked and walked and walked, until they reached the southernmost edges of the Sahara Desert.  There they came upon a herd of elephants.  "Have you seen the wild life?" asked Elephant.



"Oh yeah," said one one the elephants.  "Poachers hunt us for our tusks.  Every day we need to watch out for danger.  If only we could live on a nice sanctuary."

"Right that way," Elephant assured them, pointing with his trunk.  "Follow that herd of hippos, that zeal of zebras, and that band of gorillas."

Finally the trio traveled south, toward the eastern coast of Africa.  There they met a pride of lions.  "Excuse me," said the Elephant.  "We are looking for the wild life.  Can you tell us where it is?"



"It's right here," answered one of the lions.  "Day by day our habitat is shrinking, and new diseases come and wipe us out.  Being king of the beasts isn't all it's cracked up to be.  We could use a nice sanctuary."

"Just follow that herd of hippos, that zeal of zebras, that band of gorillas, and that herd of elephants," said Elephant, "and you will reach of very tranquil sanctuary."  The lions thanked the trio and quickly started on their way.

That night, while Hippo munched on greens and Lion ate some leftovers the pride of lions had left, and Elephant grazed on the grasses, they had a chat.  "You know," Hippo said, between mouthfuls.  "This wild life sounds less appealing by the day."

Lion agreed.  "There's danger everywhere, and it's hard to find a nice safe place for a nap."

Elephant nodded.  "I think we have seen enough of the wild life.  We don't really need to experience any more of it."



And so the next morning, Hippo, Elephant, and Lion headed home... right behind the herd of hippos, the zeal of zebras, the band of gorillas, the herd of elephants, and the pride of lions.

"When you think about it," said Elephant, "there's no place like home."

"Especially if it's a sanctuary," added Hippo.  Lion just snored.

You can follow them to their necklace right here.

Elephantine Musings

An elephant sleeps standing up.



It's easy to see why.



What bed could hold this pachyderm?



A Serta wouldn't try.

What mattress best would fit a snoring



Four ton pachyderm?



Not even Tempur-Pedic



With its deluxe extra firm.



But if, perchance, this pachyderm,
This yawning elephant



Decides he wants your memory foam
Will you say, "Well, you can't!"?



Elephants available for beaded interviews right here.

I Heard It Through the Elephant Vine

There's all sorts of research out there on how elephants are excellent communicators.  Apparently they communicate through growls, trumpets, squeals, skrieks and infrasonic rumbles too low in pitch for humans to hear. 



Elephants can use  rumbles to determine the location of other elephants' locations.  Based on the strength of the rumble and the voice of the rumbler, they can tell where friends and family members are located. 



In fact, elephants' low-frequency rumbles can travel over two kilometers (1.2 miles), and some studies suggest that the sounds travel up to 10 km (6.21 miles).  Not only do these vibrations travel through the air.  They can  be transmitted through the ground.  Elephants can sense these long-distance seismic vibrations through their feet or by pressing their trunks to the ground.




It can be assumed, then, that the elephants on this bracelet and these earrings are superb communicators.



If they played a pachyderm version of the game Telephone, it would NOT go like this.




Czech Glass Elephant #1: I stepped on a cheetah on the savannah.

Cloisonne Elephant #1: Who dropped lion spit on my bandanna?



Czech Glass Elephant #2:  He arm-wrestled a monkey for his banana.

Cloisonne Elephant #2:  There's a farm-tested wildebeest in Havana.



Czech Glass Elephant #3:  Where's the charm school for zebras at the Tropicana?

Cloisonne Elephant #3:  There's no rule about eating dead lantana.

Czech Glass Elephant #4:  What kind of fool eats a cigar from Havannah?

Tiber Silver Elephant #2: I stepped on a cheetah on the savannah.




Try it for yourself and see what they say right here.