Just So Stories · Chapter
The Elephant's Child explained
The Elephant's Child, driven by insatiable curiosity, travels to the Limpopo River to discover what the Crocodile eats.
What happens
The Elephant's Child, driven by insatiable curiosity, travels to the Limpopo River to discover what the Crocodile eats. After being spanked by various animals for asking questions, he meets the Crocodile, who seizes his nose and pulls it into a trunk. With help from the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake, the Elephant's Child escapes with a long trunk, which he then uses to spank his family and teach them the value of curiosity.
Themes in this chapter
Curiosity and Learning
The Elephant's Child's insatiable curiosity drives the plot, leading to discovery and transformation despite repeated punishment.
Consequences of Idleness
The Crocodile's idleness in waiting for prey is contrasted with the Elephant's Child's active quest for knowledge.
Cunning and Resourcefulness
The Elephant's Child uses politeness and persistence, while the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake employs clever knots to aid in the escape.
Characters to notice
- The Elephant's Child
The protagonist whose insatiable curiosity drives the story; he undergoes a physical transformation when his nose is pulled into a trunk.
- The Crocodile
The antagonist who tricks the Elephant's Child and pulls his nose, initiating the transformation into a trunk.
- The Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake
A helper who initially spanks the Elephant's Child but later assists him in escaping the Crocodile's grip.
- Kolokolo Bird
The bird who directs the Elephant's Child to the Limpopo River to find the Crocodile.
- Best Beloved
The audience surrogate addressed directly throughout the narrative.
Key passages
“In the High and Far-Off Times the Elephant, O Best Beloved, had no trunk.”
Long ago, elephants did not have trunks.
Establishes the origin story setting.
“He asked, 'What does the Crocodile have for dinner?'”
He wanted to know what crocodiles eat.
The central question that propels the adventure.
“Go to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees, and find out.”
Travel to the Limpopo River, surrounded by fever-trees, to discover the answer.
The Kolokolo Bird's advice directs the journey.
“Then the Crocodile caught him by his little nose... and pulled, and pulled, and pulled.”
The Crocodile grabbed his nose and stretched it by pulling repeatedly.
The pivotal moment of transformation.
“I got a new one from the Crocodile on the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River.”
The Crocodile gave me this new nose at the Limpopo River.
The Elephant's Child explains his new trunk to his family.