THE NJOKOOS, OR ELEPHANTS
Several herds of njokoos that had been hunted mercilessly by men in the
immense shrub-covered country in which they had lived all their lives,
encountered one another one day. Wherever they went, the hand of the
human beings was against them. If they went one way, they met them; if
they went another, they met them again. They had no peace, and were
relentlessly pursued everywhere.
So the njokoos hated human beings, and wondered how a creature so small,
compared with their huge bodies, often slew them, and why they were so
full of evil devices to set snares to kill them. The old njokoos, who
had seen nearly one hundred rainy seasons, remembered the time when they
could roam in peace in vast herds over a great part of the land. But now
it was not so, and every year the herds became smaller and smaller, so
many were killed. Every njokoo missed some friend who had been his or
her constant companion. They were all filled with sorrow, which they
expressed by trumpetings. These were followed by a long silence. The
njokoos were all thinking.
Then they gave shrill, piercing trumpetings of anger, so much dreaded by
human beings, their huge bodies swayed to one side, then to the other,
faster than usual, their big ears (the African elephants have much
larger ears than their cousins from Asia) moved quickly, like fans,
flapping against their heads, and their tails with their thin, short,
coarse, and stiff black hair striking against their bodies.
An old bull njokoo, the oldest of them all, and who had been lucky in
escaping thus far with his life, suddenly broke the silence and said to
the others:
“Those of us who have seen many seasons, have killed many of the human
beings that came to attack us. I have trampled upon many, and crushed
their bodies as flat as the fallen leaves that cover the ground.”
“Yes,” shouted all the elephants; “we have defended our friends, and
killed many of these human beings.” Then all the njokoos uttered again
trumpetings of pride.
Another njokoo then said: “I have also trampled upon several of our
enemies, the human beings, but I have killed most of them by seizing
them with my trunk and dashing them against the ground.” After saying
this, he also trumpeted loudly. This was followed by all trumpeting
together, and there was again a short silence.
Then a fierce-looking njokoo, with long heavy tusks, each weighing over
one hundred pounds, said: “I like to impale the human beings I attack. I
have never forgotten that one of these once wounded me badly. He made a
terrible noise; it was like a clap of thunder [the firing of his gun],
and I felt a sharp pain. I charged and impaled him to the whole length
of my tusks.” After saying this, he also gave that peculiar shrill
trumpeting of pride and satisfaction, and again all the njokoos uttered
trumpetings of delight.
There was silence again, and then another said: “I charged one of those
horrid human beings some time ago, at full speed, but he was very
cunning, waited for me, and as I was on the point of putting my tusks
through him, he stepped backward and I missed him and passed by.
Unfortunately we njokoos cannot turn back quickly. Our weight and speed
are so great that we have to go a considerable distance before we can
stop, and he escaped.” After saying this, he gave a peculiar trumpeting
which meant how disappointed he was. Then all the njokoos said: “Would
that you had killed this human being! But if the human beings escape
with their lives when we attack them, we often also escape from them and
their wiles.”
This conversation ended, the different herds of njokoos went to pasture
among the shrubs, but did not remain in peace very long, for a new set
of human beings made their appearance. But the njokoos had been so much
hunted that they were always on the alert, and were not to be caught
napping. Their little piercing eyes were always on the lookout.
Trumpetings of alarm were given by those who had seen the enemy, and the
njokoos fled in the opposite direction, and by night they were out of
danger.
Two days afterward, as the njokoos were quietly feeding, they saw in the
distance far away three or four black spots. They knew they were not
human beings, but to their utter consternation they soon recognized them
to be rhinoceroses, and said: “Let us flee, for those rhinoceroses are
our worst enemies after the human beings. They are not afraid of our
great size and attack us and often impale us with their tusk-like horns
growing on their snouts.”
So the elephants fled from the rhinoceroses. The following day those who
were ahead saw toward the west a dark line far away, rising upon the
horizon against the more or less open country. All the njokoos met, and
they all journeyed toward the dark line which they knew to be a forest,
and when they reached it, great indeed was the noise of their
trumpeting. But they decided to remain outside that night and think the
matter over before making the forest their home. Nevertheless, they were
glad to have it so near at hand, for they knew they could escape the
rhinoceroses and would live in the forest in peace, for they did not
think human beings lived there.
At daylight the njokoos entered the big forest, the largest one they had
ever seen. After two days’ wanderings, they said: “Never have we seen
such a thick forest before: the trees crowd on one another; the foliage
is so thick that we cannot see the sky; only flickers of the sun,
piercing through the leaves, appear in small spots here and there on the
ground. Dark indeed is this forest. The leaves of many of the trees, and
of the jungle, are so tender and sweet that we shall thrive in our new
home.”
Then there was silence, and a wise njokoo said: “Surely there are no
human beings here. We shall be happy for the rest of our lives.”
They advanced farther into the heart of the forest every day. It was a
new world to them, and they met creatures they had never seen before,
and said, “Strange, indeed, are the animals of this land.”
One day, the new-comers met a herd of their own kin and found out that
they spoke the same language; that these had all been born in the
forest, as well as their forefathers for many generations, and did not
know of any other country but this great land of trees. The new-comers
asked of them many questions about their adopted home. They told them
that there were great mountains, large and small rivers and lakes; that
here and there there were prairies, some large and some small, but
always surrounded by the forest; that it rained a great deal and that
there was terrific thunder and lightning, and that tornadoes were
frequent; that during the rainy season the rivers overflowed their
banks; that there were many bogs in which often njokoos lost their
lives, and of which they must beware.
The new-comers inquired also if there were any rhinoceroses; and as
these njokoos of the forest had never seen them, the new-comers had to
explain what sort of animals they were, and were told they did not live
in the forest. Also they asked if there were human beings in the forest.
They said, “We have run away from the open country, for there were so
many of them there. They left us no peace and have killed many of us.”
The njokoos of the forest replied: “Yes, indeed, there are human beings
in this forest, and they have made all kind of evil devices, traps, and
pits, and snares to kill us. They are the greatest enemies we have, and
we have had continually to flee from them and live in the secluded
parts; but even there they have hunted and killed us.”
This grieved the others, and all the njokoos uttered trumpetings of
sadness and said, “Hard indeed is our life.”
The forest njokoos continued: “We have also another enemy in the forest
from whom we have constantly to flee. They are very small, but appear
suddenly and in countless numbers. These are the bashikouay ants. Beware
of them.”
They told them also of the ngina, of the men of the woods, and of the
great numbers of snakes.
Then the forest njokoos and their new friends parted.