The gentleman in the jungle by jomo kenyatta?
O
nce upon a time an elephant made a friendship
with a man. One day a heavy thunderstorm
broke out, the elephant went to his friend, who had
a little hut at the edge of the forest, and said to him:
"My dear good man, will you please let me put my
trunk inside your hut to keep it out of this torrential
rain?" The man, seeing what situation his friend was
in, replied: "My dear good elephant, my hut is very
small, but there is room for your trunk and myself.
Please put your trunk in gently." The elephant
thanked his friend, saying: "You have done me a
good deed and one day I shall return your kindness." But what
followed? As soon as the elephant
put his trunk inside the hut, slowly he pushed his
head inside, and finally flung the man out in the
rain, and then lay down comfortably inside his
friend's hut, saying: "My dear good
f r i e n d , yo u r s k i n i s h a rd e r t h a n
mine, and there is not enough room
for both of us, you can afford to
remain in the rain while I am protecting my 'delicate skin from
the
hailstorm.'"
The man, seeing what his friend
had done to him, started to grumble; the animals in the nearby
forest
he a rd the noi s e and c ame to s e e
w h a t w a s t h e m a t t e r. A l l s t o o d
around listening to the heated argum e n t b e t w e e n t h e m
a n a n d h i s
friend the elephant. In this turmoil
the lion came along roaring, and
said in a loud voice: "Don't you all
k n ow t h a t I am t h e K i n g o f t h e
Jungle! How dare any one disturb
t h e p e a c e o f m y k i n g d o m ? " O n
hearing this the elephant, who was
one of the high ministers in the jungle kingdom,
replied in a soothing voice, and said: "My lord, there
is no disturbance of the peace in your kingdom. I
have only been having a little discussion with my
friend here as to the possession of this little hut
which your lordship sees me occupying." The lion,
who wanted to have "peace and tranquillity" in his
kingdom, replied in a noble voice, saying: "I command my
ministers to appoint a Commission of
Enquiry to go thoroughly into this matter and
report accordingly. . . . I am sure that you will be
pleased with the findings of the Commission." The
man was very pleased by these sweet words from the
King of the Jungle, and innocently waited for his
opportunity, in the belief that naturally the hut
would be returned to him.
T h e e l e p h a n t , o b e y i n g t h e
comand of hi s ma s te r, got bus y
with other ministers to appoint the
Commission of Enquiry. The following elders of the jungle
were
appointed to sit in the Commission: (1) Mr Rhinoceros; (2)
Mr
Buffalo; (3) Mr Alligator; (4) The Rt
Hon. Mr Fox to act as chairman;
a n d ( 5 ) Mr L e o p a rd to a c t a s
Secretary to the Commission. On
s e e i n g t h e p e r s o n n e l , t h e ma n
protested and asked if it was not
n e c e s s a r y to i n c l u d e i n t h i s
Commission a member from his
side. But he was told that it was
impossible, since no one from his
side was well enough educated to
understand the intricacy of jungle
law. Further, that there was nothing
to f e a r, for the membe r s of thCommission were all men of
repute for their impartiality in justice, and as they were
gentlemen chosen
by God to look after the interests of races less adequately
endowed with teeth and claws, he might rest
assured that they would investigate the matter with
the greatest care and report impartially.
The Commission sat to take the evidence. The Rt
Hon. Mr Elephant was first called. He came along
with a superior air, brushing his tusks with a sapling
which Mrs Elephant had provided, and in an authoritative voice
said: "Gentlemen of the Jungle, there is
no need for me to waste your valuable time in relating a story
which I am sure you all know. I have
always regarded it as my duty to protect the interests
of my friends, and this appears to have caused the
misunderstanding between myself and my friend
here. He invited me to save his hut from being blown
away by a hurricane. As the hurricane had gained
access owing to the unoccupied space in the hut, I
considered it necessary, in my friend's own interests,
to turn the undeveloped space to a more economic
use by sitting in it myself. . . ."
After hearing the Rt Hon. Mr Elephant's conclusive evidence, the
Commission called Mr Hyena and
other elders of the jungle, who all supported what Mr
Elephant had said. They then called the man, who
began to give his own account of the dispute. But the
Commission cut him short, saying: "My good man,
please confine yourself to relevant issues. We have
already heard the circumstances from various unbiased sources;
all we wish you to tell us is whether the
undeveloped space in your hut was occupied by any
one else before Mr Elephant assumed his position?"
The man began to say: "No, but-" But at this point
the Commission declared that they had heard sufficient evidence
from both sides and retired to consider
their decision. After enjoying a delicious meal at the
expense of the Rt Hon. Mr Elephant, they reached
their verdict, called the man, and declared as follows:
"In our opinion this dispute has arisen through a
regrettable misunderstanding due to the backwardness
of your ideas. We consider that Mr Elephant has fulfilled his
sacred duty of protecting your interests. As it
is clearly for your good that the space should be put
to its most economic use, and as you yourself have
not reached the stage of expansion which would
enable you to fill it, we consider it necessary to
arrange a compromise to suit both parties. Mr
Elephant shall continue his occupation of your hut,
but we give you permission to look for a site where
you 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 that
his refusal might expose him to the teeth and claws
of members of the Commission, did as they suggested.
But no sooner had he built another hut than Mr
Rhinoceros charged in with his horn lowered and
ordered the man to quit. A Royal Commission was
again appointed to look into the matter, and the
same finding was given. This procedure was repeated until Mr
Buffalo, Mr Leopard, Mr Hyena and the
rest were all were accommodated with new huts.
Then the man decided that he must adopt an effective method of
protection, since Commissions of
Enquiry did not seem to be of any use to him. . . .
Early one morning, when the huts already occupied by the jungle
lords were all beginning to decay
and fall to pieces, he went out and built a bigger and
better hut a little distance away. No sooner had Mr
Rhinoceros seen it than he came rushing in, only to
find that Mr Elephant was already inside, sound
asleep. Mr Leopard next came to the window, Mr
Lion, Mr Fox and Mr Buffalo entered the doors,
while Mr Hyena howled for a place in the shade and
Mr Alligator basked on the roof. Presently they all
began disputing about their rights of penetration,
and from disputing they came to fighting, and while
they were all embroiled together the man set the hut
on fire and burnt it to the ground, jungle lords and
all. Then he went home, saying: "Peace is costly, but
it's worth the expense," and lived happily ever after
