Long, long time ago, there lived Hare and Elephant. Hare was clever and cunning. Elephant was slow and vain.

One day, Hare went to the market and bought a pair of beautiful shoes made of iron. On his way home, Hare met Elephant. Elephant liked Hare's shoes so much that he asked Hare to take him to the place where he bought them.

Hare said to Elephant, "You should get a better pair than mine, that way you can show off to the whole village and make others jealous." Elephant was so excited. Hare and Elephant agreed to meet the next day at Hare's home.

The following day, Elephant went to Hare's house. Hare said to him, "Welcome my friend, come in so we can get you the best pair of shoes that no one else has."

Elephant was surprised and said, "Excuse me my friend, I thought we were going to the market to buy the shoes?" Hare answered and said, "Elephant, do you want the shoes or is it the market that you want to see?"

Elephant calmed down and said, "Of course I want shoes. I did not sleep last night because I was thinking of my new shoes all the time." So Hare led Elephant to the back of the house where he had lit a huge fire. Hare said to Elephant, "Stand in the fire so that the shoes can start forming."

Because Elephant was eager to have the shoes, he did as Hare said. At first he did not mind the heat of the fire. Then Elephant's hooves began to burn. He felt a lot of pain but because he wanted beautiful shoes, he did not move. As the pain increased, Elephant started to cry.

Hare said to Elephant, "Stop crying otherwise the shoes will be ugly." Elephant quietened down a little but the pain increased. While tears rolled down Elephant's face, Hare secretly laughed and said, "Stop crying if you want the shoes."

When the pain was too much to put up with, Elephant jumped out of the fire. Unfortunately, his hooves had already burned so he could not walk. He lay down roaring with pain.

Hare went close to Elephant's ear and whispered, "You were so close to having the most beautiful pair of shoes, but now you cannot have them."

It was many months before Elephant could stand up because his hooves were so badly burnt. They were flat. When he managed to walk, he was limping.

He limped all the way to his home where his wife and children were waiting for him in tears. To this day, Elephant still limps and his hooves are flat.