The Elephant and the Dog

In the royal garden, Elephant ate breakfast beneath a spreading tree. His keeper brought a large bowl each morning, and sparrows waited for anything that fell.

One day a small tan dog slipped through the gate. He stopped at the edge of the shade, watching a few crumbs beside the bowl.

Elephant noticed him. Instead of moving forward, he shifted his great foot back.

Dog took one cautious step, then another. He ate the crumbs and looked up.

Elephant continued his breakfast. The garden was quiet enough for Dog to hear the leaves moving overhead. When the bowl was empty, he stayed a little longer.

Dog came back the next morning. Elephant recognized the quick little footsteps and left the same space beside his bowl.

Soon Dog no longer waited at the edge of the shade. He walked straight to his place, wagged his tail and sat until breakfast was ready. The keeper brought a small dish for him too.

After eating, Dog liked to investigate the fallen leaves. Elephant watched him turn each one over as if it might be new.

Once, a leaf stuck to Dog’s ear. He shook his head until it fell. Elephant gave a soft puff through his trunk, and Dog wagged harder.

Their walk began at the garden gate. Dog usually arrived first and waited with his nose between the bars. Elephant came at a slower pace.

Along the path, Dog stopped to sniff interesting roots. Elephant stopped for leaves. They learned to wait for each other without being called.

At the pond, Elephant stood in the shallows while Dog drank from a dry stone. If Elephant splashed, he aimed his trunk away from his small friend.

On the way home, Dog sometimes ran ahead. But at the bend he always turned back to look. When Elephant came into sight, he waited again.

One afternoon a visitor saw Dog waiting by the gate. He liked the little animal and offered the keeper money to take him home.

The keeper agreed without thinking about Elephant. He called Dog, fastened a light lead to his collar and handed it to the visitor.

Dog followed for a few steps. Then he looked back towards the tree. Elephant was still in the far part of the garden and had not seen them leave.

The visitor led Dog along the road, past the pond and beyond the fields. At the unfamiliar house, Dog sat facing the door. He did not know when they would go back.

At walking time, Elephant went to the gate. Nobody was waiting with a nose between the bars.

He looked behind the tree, then beside the water pot. Dog sometimes slept there when the afternoon was hot. The place was empty.

The keeper opened the gate, but Elephant did not begin his usual walk. He stood looking down the road until the shadows grew long.

Next morning, two dishes waited beneath the tree. Elephant touched the small one with the tip of his trunk. It made a faint scrape on the ground. No quick paws came running. He left his own breakfast unfinished.

The keeper brought fresh leaves. Elephant ate a little, then turned towards the gate again. At the pond he stood quietly and came home early.

The king heard that his elephant seemed unhappy and sent an adviser to find out why. The adviser did not begin by giving orders. He watched a morning pass.

He noticed the small dish, the empty patch beside Elephant’s foot and the way Elephant lifted his head at every sound from the road.

“Was there someone who used to be here?” he asked.

The keeper looked at the little bowl. For the first time, he understood what he had overlooked.

The keeper told the adviser about Dog: the breakfast crumbs, the walks and the visitor who had taken him away.

“I thought another home would suit him,” he said. “I did not think to watch the two of them.”

The adviser went to the king. “Elephant is missing his friend. Let us find out how Dog is doing too.”

A messenger crossed the fields to the visitor’s house. Dog lay near the doorway instead of exploring the garden. When the messenger mentioned the pond road, Dog stood and pricked up his ears.

The visitor listened. He had not known he was taking Dog away from a companion.

The king arranged for the visitor’s money to be returned. The keeper agreed that Dog should stay with his friend, and the visitor let him go.

The messenger walked him back across the fields. Dog paused at a familiar turning, sniffed the ground and began to wag his tail.

At the garden gate, the messenger removed the lead.

Elephant heard the quick footsteps before he saw Dog. His head lifted.

Dog stopped a short distance away, as if checking that everything was really there: the tree, the bowls, the enormous grey friend. Then his whole back end began to wag, and he hurried into the shade.

Elephant lowered his trunk, and Dog pressed his nose against it. For a moment neither moved. Then Dog ran towards the gate and looked back.

Elephant followed.

They took the old path to the pond. At the interesting root, Dog stopped to sniff. Elephant waited. At the low branch, Elephant reached for leaves, and Dog sat down.

The keeper walked behind them, noticing things he had hurried past before.

By the pond, he put fresh water in a small bowl for Dog. Elephant drank from the shallows. On the way home, all three paused at the bend until everyone was ready to go on.

Supper waited in their two dishes. Elephant finished his leaves. Dog licked his little bowl clean and checked once for a forgotten crumb.

The keeper brought water, then sat nearby while evening settled over the garden. He would not decide that the small empty place beside Elephant meant nothing again.

Dog turned around twice and lay down beside Elephant’s broad foot, leaving room for it to move. Elephant lowered his trunk near him and rested.

At the gate, the last light faded from the road. Nobody was waiting for someone to come back. Dog let out a sleepy sigh. Beneath the tree, both friends slept. The end.