Tit for Tat
In a forest, there lived an elephant who was very naughty. He always indulged in mischievous behaviour like throwing water on other animals, threatening to trample the smaller animals, if they did not listen to what he said and so on.
One day, he met a baby giraffe who had lost his way in the forest and was crying. The elephant helped him in finding his mother and they both became good friends. Now the inhabitants of the forest were scared of the two animals–the elephant and the giraffe because the giraffe always accompanied the elephant.
One fine morning, a saint passed through that forest. He loved the peace and calmness of that place and decided to stay there. He was very happy among the chirping of birds in the morning, the pleasant and pure air etc. The giraffe and the elephant also heard about his home and came to that place. They saw that the saint was busy in his prayers with his eyes closed. They broke the branches of the trees under which he was sitting. The saint didn’t pay any attention to them. They started throwing the utensils and clothes from the saints’ hut. Even then he didn’t say anything, this was too much for both the animals. The elephant went to the river and came back with water. Meanwhile, the giraffe broke leaves from the trees. Then they both started disturbing the saint by throwing water and leaves on him. The saint became very annoyed. He opened his eyes and saw both the animals. Then, in a rage, he cursed the elephant to live with a long trunk and the giraffe with a long neck. Both the animals got scared. They begged the saint to take back his curse but he didn’t. Since then, the elephant has had a long trunk and the giraffe – a long neck.
