Jomo Kenyatta (1891–1978), who became a leader in the movement for African indepen-dence, grew up under British colonial rule. Much later, he would become prime minister ofan independent Kenya. Kenyatta included this story in his book Facing Mount Kenya (1938)as an illustration of the relations between the Kikuyu people and Europeans. ◆ As you read,think about what or whom each character represents. Then, on a separate sheet of paper, answerthe questions that follow.

Vocabulary Before you begin reading, find the meaning of these words in a dictionary:torrential, impartiality, endowed, embroiled.

Once upon a time an elephant made a friendshipwith a man. One day a heavy thunderstorm

broke out, the elephant went to his friend, who hada little hut at the edge of the forest, and said to him:“My dear good man, will you please let me put mytrunk inside your hut to keep it out of this torrentialrain?” The man, seeing what situation his friend wasin, replied: “My dear good elephant, my hut is verysmall, but there is room for your trunk and myself.Please put your trunk in gently.” The elephantthanked his friend, saying: “You have done me agood deed and one day I shall return your kind-ness.” But what followed? As soon as the elephantput his trunk inside the hut, slowly he pushed hishead inside, and finally flung the man out in therain, and then lay down comfortably inside hisfriend’s hut, saying: “My dear goodfriend, your skin is harder thanmine, and there is not enough roomfor both of us, you can afford toremain in the rain while I am pro-tecting my ‘delicate skin from thehailstorm.’”

The man, seeing what his friendhad done to him, started to grum-ble; the animals in the nearby forestheard the noise and came to seewhat was the matter. All stoodaround listening to the heated argu-ment between the man and hisfriend the elephant. In this turmoilthe lion came along roaring, andsaid in a loud voice: “Don’t you allknow that I am the King of theJungle! How dare any one disturbthe peace of my kingdom?” Onhearing this the elephant, who was

one of the high ministers in the jungle kingdom,replied in a soothing voice, and said: “My lord, thereis no disturbance of the peace in your kingdom. Ihave only been having a little discussion with myfriend here as to the possession of this little hutwhich your lordship sees me occupying.” The lion,who wanted to have “peace and tranquillity” in hiskingdom, replied in a noble voice, saying: “I com-mand my ministers to appoint a Commission ofEnquiry to go thoroughly into this matter andreport accordingly. . . . I am sure that you will bepleased with the findings of the Commission.” Theman was very pleased by these sweet words from theKing of the Jungle, and innocently waited for hisopportunity, in the belief that naturally the hutwould be returned to him.

The elephant, obeying thecomand of his master, got busywith other ministers to appoint theCommission of Enquiry. The fol-lowing elders of the jungle wereappointed to sit in the Commis-sion: (1) Mr Rhinoceros; (2) MrBuffalo; (3) Mr Alligator; (4) The RtHon. Mr Fox to act as chairman;and (5) Mr Leopard to act asSecretary to the Commission. Onseeing the personnel, the manprotested and asked if it was notnecessary to include in thisCommission a member from hisside. But he was told that it wasimpossible, since no one from hisside was well enough educated tounderstand the intricacy of junglelaw. Further, that there was nothingto fear, for the members of the

“But he was told

that it was

impossible, since no

one from his side

was well enough

educated to under-

stand the intricacy of

jungle law.”

The Gentlemen of the Jungle

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Commission were all men of repute for their impar-tiality in justice, and as they were gentlemen chosenby God to look after the interests of races less ade-quately endowed with teeth and claws, he might restassured that they would investigate the matter withthe greatest care and report impartially.

The Commission sat to take the evidence. The RtHon. Mr Elephant was first called. He came alongwith a superior air, brushing his tusks with a saplingwhich Mrs Elephant had provided, and in an author-itative voice said: “Gentlemen of the Jungle, there isno need for me to waste your valuable time in relat-ing a story which I am sure you all know. I havealways regarded it as my duty to protect the interestsof my friends, and this appears to have caused themisunderstanding between myself and my friendhere. He invited me to save his hut from being blownaway by a hurricane. As the hurricane had gainedaccess owing to the unoccupied space in the hut, Iconsidered it necessary, in my friend’s own interests,to turn the undeveloped space to a more economicuse by sitting in it myself. . . .”

After hearing the Rt Hon. Mr Elephant’s conclu-sive evidence, the Commission called Mr Hyena andother elders of the jungle, who all supported what MrElephant had said. They then called the man, whobegan to give his own account of the dispute. But theCommission cut him short, saying: “My good man,please confine yourself to relevant issues. We havealready heard the circumstances from various unbi-ased sources; all we wish you to tell us is whether theundeveloped space in your hut was occupied by anyone else before Mr Elephant assumed his position?”The man began to say: “No, but—” But at this pointthe Commission declared that they had heard suffi-cient evidence from both sides and retired to considertheir decision. After enjoying a delicious meal at theexpense of the Rt Hon. Mr Elephant, they reachedtheir verdict, called the man, and declared as follows:“In our opinion this dispute has arisen through aregrettable misunderstanding due to the backwardness

of your ideas. We consider that Mr Elephant has ful-filled his sacred duty of protecting your interests. As itis clearly for your good that the space should be putto its most economic use, and as you yourself havenot reached the stage of expansion which wouldenable you to fill it, we consider it necessary toarrange a compromise to suit both parties. MrElephant shall continue his occupation of your hut,but we give you permission to look for a site whereyou can build another hut more suited to your needs,and we will see that you are well protected.”

The man, having no alternative, and fearing thathis refusal might expose him to the teeth and clawsof members of the Commission, did as they suggested.But no sooner had he built another hut than MrRhinoceros charged in with his horn lowered andordered the man to quit. A Royal Commission wasagain appointed to look into the matter, and thesame finding was given. This procedure was repeat-ed until Mr Buffalo, Mr Leopard, Mr Hyena and therest were all were accommodated with new huts.Then the man decided that he must adopt an effec-tive method of protection, since Commissions ofEnquiry did not seem to be of any use to him. . . .

Early one morning, when the huts already occu-pied by the jungle lords were all beginning to decayand fall to pieces, he went out and built a bigger andbetter hut a little distance away. No sooner had MrRhinoceros seen it than he came rushing in, only tofind that Mr Elephant was already inside, soundasleep. Mr Leopard next came to the window, MrLion, Mr Fox and Mr Buffalo entered the doors,while Mr Hyena howled for a place in the shade andMr Alligator basked on the roof. Presently they allbegan disputing about their rights of penetration,and from disputing they came to fighting, and whilethey were all embroiled together the man set the huton fire and burnt it to the ground, jungle lords andall. Then he went home, saying: “Peace is costly, butit’s worth the expense,” and lived happily ever after.

1. Why was the man told that only jungle animals would be on the commission?

2. What is Mr Elephant’s explanation ofhis behavior?

3 Identifying Central Issues What wasKenyatta saying with this fable-like story?

4. Humanities Link What does this story showabout Africans’ views of the colonial powers?

(continued)History Through Literature

Questions to Think About

Survey Edition Chapter 2554 • History Through Literature Modern Era Edition Chapter 12

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