THE NAUGHTY ELEPHANT

In a forest, all the elephants lived together like a family. When they walked to the lake or to search for food, they kept the baby elephants in the centre.

One day, a naughty baby elephant started walking around on his own, away from his family.

His mother got angry and said, "There are some rules and you have to follow them. So don't be naughty."

But the baby was tired of hearing his mother preach, "Don't do this," and 'don't do that," and so he did not listen to her.

In fact, the herd of elephants was going to the river to drink water.

The mother elephant advised the baby, "You must be careful. The river is deep, so stay with us."

When they reached the river, the baby elephant looked around and saw that no one was watching him. Then he quietly went into the river.

He loved the cool water but soon, the baby elephant began to scream because the fast current of the river began to sweep him away.

The baby elephant could not stand in the water any more, and he did not know how to swim.

The water carried him, and soon he saw waterfall right in front of him.

He knew that if he fell with the waterfall then he will surely get hurt or even die.

The baby elephant thought, "Oh! Why did I not listen to my mother? She had told me that the river was deep."

He shouted, "Help! Mom! I am drowning."

The mother heard the voice of the baby. She called out to one of her sisters "Help! My baby is drowning. Come quickly."

Both of them ran towards the baby. The baby elephant was slowly drifting towards the waterfall.

His mother shouted, "Baby catch hold of something. Don't worry. We are coming to save you."

"Mom, help me! Please come quickly." cried the frightened baby elephant.

The mother said, "DON"T CRY, You must think of a way to save yourself till we reach you. Try catching hold of a big rock or something."

The baby elephant started thinking hard. He saw some plants in front of him. So instead of crying, he caught the plants with his trunk.

He kept holding on to the plants for sometimes. His mother saw this and shouted, "Good boy. Hold the plants tightly, so that we both get time to reach you."

However, they were about to reach the baby, when the plants slipped from his trunk and he was carried further away with the water.

The baby elephant tried to stay away from the waterfall but the water was too fast.

One of the elephants on the bank cried, "Do you need help?"

The mother elephant cried back. "Yes! The water is very fast. We need help." Now all the elephants were watching them. Two other big elephants came to help them.

By then, the two elephant sisters had reached the baby.

The mother and the aunt joined their fail and trunk respectively, and stopped the baby elephant from getting swept further down the river.

Then slowly, they started pulling the baby elephant towards the bank.

It was a hard task because the water was very fast, but the other two elephants had also joined them in the rescue.

After a while, they pulled the baby elephant out of the water onto the river bank.

The two brother elephants and the sister walked off, but the mother of the baby elephant stayed with him to see whether the baby was fine.

First the mother elephant checked the baby to ensure that he was breathing properly. Then, she patted him and spoke softly to him.

When she saw that the baby elephant was smiling again, the mother slapped him with her trunk and shouted at him, "Why did you go into the water?"

"I am sorry, Mom, I was naughty," replied the baby.

"Young children have to obey ruled be disciplined. It is to keep you safe. So you must not be naughty anymore," advised his mother.

The baby said, "Never again, will I discovery you, Mother. I have learnt my lesson."