Long ago, a king’s favourite elephant made a strange friend. A small stray dog used to live on the road near the shed where the elephant lived. The dog was starved and skinny.
One day, he saw that the elephant was being given rice for his meal. Despite his fear, he crept closer and had a lick of the rice that fell from the elephant’s mouth. “This is delicious,” he thought, as he tasted the sweetened rice.
Every day, he waited for the elephant’s meal time and had a few mouthfuls of the sweet rice scattered below. He stopped feeling afraid of the elephant, who did not hurt him. Slowly, the elephant also got used to seeing the little dog around and he shared a little rice with him. Gradually, the friendship between the elephant and the dog grew.
As time passed, the elephant waited for the dog to come daily, and the dog looked forward to the rice and the company of the gentle giant. The elephant was happy and friendly. The dog grew and his fur shone. Everyone saw that the two had become the best of friends.
One day, a man from another village saw the dog and liked him very much. He bought him from the mahout and left for his village. The elephant waited, but there was no sign of his friend. He was very lonely and as the days went by, he became sadder. He stopped eating his food and would not go for his bath. The attendants knew he must be missing his friend, but there was nothing they could do.
Hearing about it, the King sent a wise and intelligent minister to find out why the elephant was not eating food. The minister found that the elephant was fit and healthy physically. He was just miserable. He learnt about the dog being taken away. Since then, the elephant had been very unhappy.
When he told the King, he advised, “Sir, if we announce that the person who has the dog will be punished, I am sure we will get the dog back.” So, the announcement was made. The news reached the village where the man with the dog also heard it. Terrified that he would be punished, he immediately let the dog go.
The dog, delighted to be free, ran all the way back to his beloved friend. The elephant was so happy that he picked him up in his trunk and swung him up and down. No one ever separated them again and they lived happily together.
