Elephants -- Juvenile literature; India -- Juvenile literature
As Kari thought he had struck his opponent down, he stood there
feeling victorious and I could see a shiver of relief going
through his body. The other elephant, however, gauged the
distance and came upon him again with great momentum. Before Kari
realized what had happened, the elephant gored him with his
tusks. Kari gave a painful yell, and walking backwards drew his
neck from the tusks of his opponent. I could feel a quake go
through him as a tree which has just been cut throbs before it
falls.
The herd yelled, and shook their heads with great glee,
whispering, "We have won." Then Kari began to walk in a circle.
The other elephant did likewise and they faced each other. Now
and then they would come close together; their trunks would
strike each other, then they would separate and go around again.
By this time the sky was black and the livid tongue of the
lightning flickered on the crest of the clouds. But the rumble of
the thunder could not be heard because the two elephants were
trumpeting so loudly.
Again they locked trunks and bodies and spun around. Quickly Kari
released his trunk and stood aside, leaving the other elephant to
go spinning against the herd. That instant Kari ran forward and
struck the side of the other elephant, giving him a broad-side
blow and throwing him on the ground. The herd scattered and a
clamor of wonder spread from elephant to elephant. Kari rose on
his hind legs and fell upon his opponent with his forefeet, as he
started to rise. The oldest elephant said, "It is done." At this
the herd slunk away slowly and the beaten elephant was seen no
more.
The female who was waiting for the end of this battle came up to
Kari and they put their trunks together. A deafening crash of
thunder fell upon the forest and the lightning was striking trees
far and near. A terrible deluge of rain came and blotted
everything out of sight. I clung to the branch of my tree for
fear I might be washed down to the ground. I do not know how
long it rained. When I looked up, I could see that there was a
white light above, but the rain was still falling on me. Then I
realized that the foliage above my head was so thick that the
raindrops were caught in it and were still coming down. I did not
dare to go up further into the tree, for the branches were very
slippery, so I stayed until every drop of water had fallen.
The moon set and I could hear all kinds of noises. Many animals
were moving about. From the tree-top I heard the shaking of the
coats of the monkey, and below on the ground I felt the heaving
of hoofs on the wet grass. Then all this stopped and on the wet
undergrowth again there was a movement like the zig-zag stripe of
the tiger's skin.
[Illustration: THE TIGER HAD FOUND HIS KILL]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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