Elephant's nose
African Storybook
Wiehan de Jager
Everyone knows that elephants have long noses.
But a long time ago, the elephant's nose was short and fat.
A baby elephant was born. She was very curious. She had a question for every animal.
She was curious about Giraffe. "Why do you have a long neck?" she asked.
She was curious about Rhino. "Why does your horn have a sharp point?" she asked.
She was very curious about Crocodile. "What do crocodiles eat for dinner?" she asked.
Clever Crow quickly said, "Follow me to the river. There you will see what crocodiles eat for dinner."
So Baby Elephant followed Crow to the river.
She pushed through the reeds and stood on the bank. She looked into the water. Where was Crocodile?
"Hello," said a stone near the river bank. "Hello," said Baby Elephant. "Can you tell me what crocodiles eat for dinner?" she asked.
"Come closer and I will tell you," said the stone. Baby Elephant bent down. "Come closer," said the stone. Baby Elephant bent down lower.
Suddenly, snap! Crocodile grabbed Baby Elephant's nose in his jaws.
Baby Elephant sat back on her strong legs and pulled. And pulled, and pulled. But Crocodile did not let go of her nose.
Baby Elephant's nose stretched and stretched. And stretched. Until she fell over. "Dufff!"
Baby Elephant's short nose had stretched into a long nose.
Her nose was so long she could pick fruit from high branches. And to this day, all elephants have long and useful trunks.
You are free to download, copy, translate or adapt this story and use the illustrations as long as you attribute in the following way:
Elephant's nose
Author - Judith Baker and Lorato Trok
Translation - African Storybook
Illustration - Wiehan de Jager
Language - English
Level - First sentences
© African Storybook Initiative 2015
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
Source www.africanstorybook.org
