The Elephant and the Donkey

by Madeleine Kando

On an island in the sea there lived an elephant family and a donkey family. They were not exactly friends but since it was a great big island they usually kept out of each other’s way and lived their lives peacefully by pretty much ignoring each other. At times they had to interact because, as the donkey was trying to build something, he needed the elephant’s strength to haul stuff. And when the elephant was trying to figure out a repair job he needed the donkey’s brains to figure out how to fix it. But all in all, they spent their days avoiding each other as much as possible.

The elephant stomping about, making sure that nothing was disturbed in his domain. He liked things to be nice and tidy. His waterhole undisturbed by foreign creatures, the sandpit where he liked to roll around in nice and dry, and his little elephant babies all in a row, marching to his beat behind him. And noone dared to oppose his wishes, seeing that he was a great big elephant.

The donkey also liked things his way. He made up for what he lacked in bulk, by his wit and stubbornness. He was an adventurous little fellow. His brood showed him respect even as they wondered off to explore some foreign-looking object on the beach. He didn’t mind that much. He himself was endowed with a curious nature and instinctively realized that stunting his children’s sense of adventure wouldn’t serve them well in the long run. He was clever and because he was so small compared to the elephant, he often coveredd himself with a lionskin when he went foraging. Even the elephants ran off as they saw him approach, which made him chuckle.

As the island became more popular with the outside world, things started to change. Many other animals were drawn to this beautiful, bountiful island. Soon the donkey and the elephant realized that they were going to have to make some rules to watch over their respective dominions. After all, even this great big island had its limits of space and resources and letting everyone take what they wanted willy nilly wasn’t going to work any more.

Besides, the elephant liked to hoard things, whether he needed those things or not, and having to share with all these strangers started to give him an ulcer. He felt very threatened. So he sought the advise of the elephant God ‘Mammoth Maximus’(Maxi for short). As he was kneeling in front of the sacred shrine a booming voice said: ‘You dumbass. All you need to do is tell your children to stand guard over each waterhole. Whoever wants to drink has to give them the secret password. Either that or pay up. Of course there is no secret password, so soon you will be richer than you could possibly ever imagine.’ And sure enough, the elephants soon gained control over most of the island.

The donkey, in turn, who was very unhappy with the course of events, went to see the god of the donkeys, ‘Jacobus Assinus’ (Jack for short). He wasn’t as formal as the elephant, so he said simply: ‘Jack, dude. What should I do? I don’t mind sharing some of my stuff, but it’s the elephants. Whenever we need their brute strength they want a fortune in return. And now they won’t let us even drink from the waterholes!’ ‘That’s a no-brainer’ said Jack. ‘Tell your children to ask for a waterhole in return for each repair job. Soon the donkeys will be in control of the island again.’ And sure enough, the donkeys soon regained at least half of the island.

The donkey and the elephant were mighty pleased with themselves. Their children however, having gotten a taste of power, wouldn’t let even each other approach their respective waterholes without asking for the non-existent password. They became rich and powerful in turn. Each one began to suffer from delusion of grandeur. In their paranoia they started to dig deep furrows around their property. Every time some thirsty ‘stranger’ attempted to cross, the furrows were made deeper and wider.

Eventually the furrows were so deep and so wide that pieces of the great big island began to detach themselves. Some started to float away on the current. Others slowly sank to the bottom of the sea. Others still were so overpopulated that a shortage of food caused a famine and everybody died.

So the great big island that once was, had only one little piece left to it. Every so often, a lone whale swam by on its migratory route south. It looked at the island from afar and thought to himself: ‘sheesh, I am glad I don’t have to live there.’ leave comment here