Eleanor Elephant watched with pride as her little daughter Dainty grew into a beautiful strong Elephant. Dainty loved her mummy very much and thought she was the biggest, pinkest and most beautiful elephant in the jungle………but there was just one thing wrong. Her mummy Eleanor was not very light on her feet. She couldn’t leap and jump like some of the other animals. She just went THUMP, THUMP, PLOD, PLOD through the jungle, knocking down all the bushes and small trees in her path.
Dainty looked on with longing at her friend Angela Antelope who jumped and leapt in the air. She was light on her feet, having such fun skipping and bouncing through the jungle.
The little elephant wondered if she would ever be able to join in leaping and jumping too. She decided to ask Angela how she could live up to her name and be dainty. “You need dancing lessons!” said the Antelope. “Springing, twisting and jumping are natural to me, but you will need lessons, to teach you to be lighter and more delicate on your feet.”
“Dancing lessons?” said the little elephant………. “That’s it! What a good idea!” Dainty remembered once having seen a picture of a ballerina leaping into the air with shoes that were tied up her legs with ribbons. “Ballet Dancing Lessons” shouted the little elephant excitedly “I will need shoes, shoes with long ribbons. She plodded off as quickly as she could, to ask her mummy to pull down some leaves off the tall Palm tree. The big strong elephant looked puzzled at the request, but did as she was asked thinking her daughter was just very hungry.
Eleanor Elephant couldn’t believe her eyes when Dainty started wrapping them around her feet and tying them up with long strips of twine.. “There” said Dainty, looking proudly down at her feet. “I’m off for dancing lessons” and she plodded off as quickly as she could, leaving Eleanor very puzzled indeed.
She decided to follow her daughter and hid behind a large tree to watch from a distance………just what was she up to?
“I’m back, look at my dancing shoes” shouted the little elephant to Angela.
“What beautiful shoes” said the antelope, “with those shoes, you’ll be able to jump and leap. Now, follow us and do as we do” said Angela and her friends.
At first, the antelopes ran slowly, Dainty tried hard to keep up with them “Come on! Come on! That’s it!” they shouted “Faster! Faster!”
Dainty tried to run faster, but the twine on her ballet shoes had come loose. Keep up!” shouted the antelope running and leaping high into the air so gracefully. Dainty huffed and puffed doing her best - thump, thump, plod, plod - then SPLAT! Dainty ended up flat on her face in a muddy bog. She had tripped over the loose twine and gone trunk first into the river. ”Oh No!” cried Dainty “I just can’t do it, I can’t run fast enough, there must be another way to leap high into the air” she cried.
“A Hoist” shouted one of the Antelope. “A what?” replied Dainty.
“A Hoist, if you pull down lots of strong twine from the tree, we can tie it around your tummy….. Then throw the twine over a tall, strong tree. If all of us pull together we can hoist you high into the air.”
“Great Idea!” shouted Dainty, “I will find out what it feels like to be up in the air”.
Quickly the little elephant gathered lots of the strongest twine. Angela and her friends tied it around Dainty’s tummy and then threw the other end over a tall strong tree.
“PULL! PULL!” shouted the animals, but Dainty didn’t move an inch. More Antelope came to help. “One! Two! Three! PULL! PULL!” they shouted, still nothing.
Eleanor, Dainty’s mum who had been watching from a distance, decided to step in and help her daughter. “Dainty, what do you think you are doing?” asked her mother firmly…… “Oh Mummy!” cried the little elephant “I just wanted to see what it felt like to leap in the air and be light on my feet and well……dainty.”
“OK!” said Eleanor, “I will help you.”
The animals moved away making room for the big, strong elephant. Eleanor took hold of the twine and gave one mighty pull. Dainty went flying into the air with legs dangling. The twine tightened around her tummy and the little elephant shouted “OOOOHHHH! …..GET ME DOWN! GET ME DOWN QUICK! I FEEL SICK!” Eleanor gently lowered Dainty back down to the ground.
“Oh I didn’t like that at all!” cried the little elephant “I think it is much better to keep all four feet on the ground.”
“So do I” said her mummy, “you see, all animals are different. Some like Antelopes are good at jumping and leaping…… some like Tigers are great at running fast……some like Birds are fantastic at flying……. But Elephants, Elephants are extra special; we are the strongest animals in the Jungle. No one can match our strength and you should be very proud of that Dainty.”
“Oh, I am Mummy,” said the little elephant “I promise will never want to leap and jump again; I want to keep all four feet on the ground and grow into a big, strong elephant like you.” And do you know, over the next few years, she did!
