Once, a Baby Elephant lived In a Zoo. He
had big fat legs and a short tail. And all I can
say about Baby Elephant's trunk is that it was a
very funny trunk indeed.
Baby Elephant would always look wistfully into
the next cage, where Mrs. Ostrich lived with her
Moppets. Mrs. Ostrich was the best dancer in
the Zoo.
Near the Zoo stood a house. Often, lovely
music could be heard coming from that house.
Whenever the music began, Mrs. Ostrich would
say to her Moppets:
"Time to dance. Kick your legs up. Faster!
Higher!"
How Baby Elephant wished he could dance
like that I Just to learn how to kick his legs, bob
up and down and spin round, he would gladly
stop taking sweets from people.
One night, when everybody was asleep. Baby
Elephant tried to dance.
But Mrs. Gorilla did not like this at all*
"Why are you stamping sot" she said crossly.
"I was having such a lovely dream about the
jungles back in Africa. You dance like an elephant, anyway 1"
Baby Elephant sighed sadly and stopped dancing.
One day he felt brave enough to ask Mrs.
Ostrich, the best ballerina in the Zoo:
"Would you please teach me to dance?"
Mrs, Ostrich looked sharply at the fat Baby
Elephant and said:
"Well, stand on one leg and bend the other."
And my third leg? What about my third leg?"
said Baby Elephant worriedly.
"What third leg?" said Mrs. Ostrich angrily.
"With this one here," said Baby Elephant and
raised his third leg. "But I still have one more,"
he added meekly and shifted his feet awkwardly.
"Oh!" Mrs, Ostrich now was very angry. "Dance
with four? You move your legs like an elephant, anyway.
Just look how my Moppets dance!"
Baby Elephant was so upset that he nearly
burst into tears. But no elephant ever gives in
once it makes up its mind. And our Baby Elephant,
young as he was, was just as stubborn. He
saw how the keeper locked the cage in the evening
and just before daybreak opened the cage with
- s trunk and tip-toed out.
Baby Elephant looked around, afraid of being
seen, and then dashed to the house with the
big windows from which he had so often heard
the lovely music. Baby Elephant could not read
at all, so how could he know that the sign on
the door said "Ballet School”.
Baby Elephant fried to turn the door-knob with
his trunk but the door wouldn't open...
"Maybe it's too early' thought Baby Elephant.
’Til wait in the park ..."
At last he heard musk coming from the house.
He hurried over, his heart beating wildly... But
goodness me! Baby Elephant could not even
squeeze his head through the doorway! He tried
to go in backwards, but only his short tail went
through.
What a pity! Whatever was he to do!
Baby Elephant looked through the big wide
window, in the room little girls were dancing
to the music. They were holding onto a bar
Fixed along the wall. They were bobbing up and
down and lifting their graceful little legs.
Baby Elephant also started to bob up and down
and lifted each of his four legs in turn. He was
much happier here in the street — there was so
much more room. And the music was simply
lovely!
Now Baby Elephant looked around; was any-
body watching how nicely he danced?
Yes, indeed! Some boys with schoolbags were
standing near by. But they were all laughing
at him!
"Look at Baby Elephant!"
"See, he's dancing! Isn't he funny!"
Baby Elephant grew sadder, and sadder and
went slowly back to his cage in the Zoo, That
night, when all the birds and animals were asleep,
he began to weep bitterly. And then he sobbed
and sighed and kept wiping his tears away with
his trunk until sunrise.
In the morning, the Manager of the Zoo —
I suppose he was, for everybody obeyed him —
Came up to his cage. With him was a short
Grey-Haired Man wearing a straw hat.
Baby Elephant was scared. Did the Manager
of the Zoo know about his little outing? Baby
Elephant had not asked the Manager of the Zoo
to let him go and now he must be very angry.
The two men talked for a while, then the one
wearing the straw hat led Baby Elephant away
from the Zoo.
Before Baby Elephant knew what had happened,
they were In town and everybody and every-
thing — even the trolley-buses, big and fat like
grown-up elephants — made way for them.
"What's going on?" wondered Baby Elephant,
"Where is he taking me?"
Baby Elephant didn't know that when he was
dancing in the street the day before, the Grey-
Haired Man had seen him through the window
of a tram and after searching all day long had
Soon Baby Elephant saw a big building —
round and very high. The gates were so big that
Baby Elephant easily passed through. Lions with
shaggy manes, striped tigers and grizzly bears
were in cages everywhere. All of them greeted
Baby Elephant with friendly grunts and growls
and all of them looked at him with curiosity.
Suddenly, Baby Elephant found himself in the
middle of a ring. It was covered with sand and
looked like an African desert- There was a barrier
round the ring and outside that, rows of
seats reached right up to the circus top.
"This is a Circus, Now, I'll begin to train you/'
said the man who had taken Baby Elephant away
from the Zoo.
The man waved to the musicians,
"'Listen to the music, Baby Elephant, and do
what l tell you. First, learn how to bend your
knees correctly and point your toes.,/'
And so, Baby Elephant lived in the Circus and
was trained by the Grey-Haired Man. Oh f it
wasn't easy at all even though Baby Elephant
loved to dance. Once, the Grey-Haired Man be-
came very cross with him. This happened when
Baby Elephant learnt to stand on his forefeet and
lift his hind legs high in the aln From sheer joy
Baby Elephant thought he could stand on his
head and that is what he did!
But just as he stood on his head down he
fell on his back with such a crash that the musicians
stopped playing and looked down into the
ring rather shocked. Oh, how it hurt, but Baby
Elephant was so ashamed of himself that he kept
his eyes glued to the ground.
“Who stands on his head when dancing?' '
asked the Grey-Haired Man. "That was very
naughty of you I'm teaching you to dance. I'm
not teaching you tricks! You must obey met It
will soon be time for our first night."
Baby Elephant had never heard of a “first night"
before. Afterwards, he asked Stripey the Tiger
what a “first night" was,
"Oh!" Stripey the Tiger blinked his tawny eyes
in awe, "So, you are going to have your first
show.
He wanted to say something else but from lack
of words he only shuffled his feet awkwardly.
But Baby Elephant had heard enough to make
his heart grow cold with fear.
At last the great day came. Baby Elephant
peeped through the curtains. The rows of seats
were packed with people.
A handsome man in a shiny black suit walked
Into the ring and told the people that they would
now see a fantastic Baby Elephant — the Dancing
Baby Elephantl
Baby Elephant was blinded by the spotlights.
People were everywhere. The music boomed out.
Baby Elephant didn't know what to do. The
music went on and on and the people kept
watching, but all he did was... stand still I
Then he heard the gentle well-known voice:
"Come on, Baby Elephant!"
It was the Grey-Haired Man,
"Easy does it, Baby Elephant. Put out your
left front leg and tap with the right hind foot!
The Grey-Haired Man waved to the musicians
to slowly follow the dance.
Baby Elephant put out his left front leg and
quickly tapped with his right hind foot, and felt
much more sure of himself.
He looked at the people and wasn't afraid any
more* Everybody was smiling. The orchestra was
playing only for him. Then Baby Elephant began
tapping away, keeping time with the music.
First, he tapped with all four feet. Then he
stood on his hind legs, still tapping away, and
clapped his front feet together. He even started
to bob up and down.
All the people clapped and cheered.
What a wonderful danced" they all shouted
in glee.
When Baby Elephant stopped dancing and
bowed he saw the same boys who had once
laughed at him by that house with the big wide
windows. Now, they were clapping very hard and
shouting:
"Bravo! Bravo Baby Elephant! You are a real
dancer"
Baby Elephant kept on bowing.
"Oh Is if really true?" he thought. "I wonder
what the best ballerina, Mrs, Ostrich, would say
now?"
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