The Tortoise Captures the Elephant

The Tortoise Captures the Elephant

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Once there was a king who had been trying very hard to capture the elephant for his personal collection, but that prize had proved elusive. All the hunters in the kingdom had tried but failed to capture the elephant. So the king promised anyone who could capture the elephant half of his kingdom.

The tortoise heard about this and went to the king to accept the challenge. The king was very amused. ?All my hunters have failed to capture the elephant and you think you can succeed where they failed??, the king asked. The tortoise insisted that he was up to the task and promised to deliver the elephant to the king within 48 hours.

The tortoise then dug a big hole, big enough to hold the elephant along a path leading into the village. Then he covered the hole with sticks and leaves so that it was not visible unless you inspected closely. When this was done, the tortoise went to seek out the elephant.

He told the elephant ?You know you are the largest animal in the forest and you should be king?. The elephant had never considered this before but he thought it was not a bad idea. The tortoise told the elephant that the villagers had decided to make the largest animal their king and were all expecting the elephant to come to the village and be crowned as their king. The more the elephant heard, the more excited he became.

The tortoise adorned the elephant with colorful beads and beating a gong, he sang songs praising the elephant while he led the way into the village. Soon they approached the trap and the tortoise being smaller and lighter walked over the trap. The elephant who was following him fell through the sticks and leaves into the deep hole the tortoise had dug. And that was how the tiny tortoise captured the huge elephant and earned half of the king?s kingdom.