If the elephant was doing nothing when Karim's wife had water to fetch, or dinner to cook, either she or Karim would draw a circle in the dust in front of the tethered animal, and put the baby into it. "Keep him inside that, O Lord of Elephants," they would order the big tusker, who gently stopped the child if he tried to crawl away. One afternoon when they were camped near the Rapti River, Karim's wife took a big earthen jar and went off towards the river to fill it. After a while, when she failed to return, Karim shouted in the direction she had taken. But there was no reply. Quite... Show more

If the elephant was doing nothing when Karim's wife had water to fetch, or dinner to cook, either she or Karim would draw a circle in the dust in front of the tethered animal, and put the baby into it.
"Keep him inside that, O Lord of Elephants," they would order the big tusker, who gently stopped the child if he tried to crawl away.
One afternoon when they were camped near the Rapti River, Karim's wife took a big earthen jar and went off towards the river to fill it. After a while, when she failed to return, Karim shouted in the direction she had taken. But there was no reply.
Quite suddenly Karim, with his heel, marked a circle in front of the elephant and put the baby in it.
"Look after him, Gajpati !"
He ran to see what had happened to his wife.
Under Gajpati's trunk, next to his immense toenails, the baby lay and laughed up at the elephant. The infant could do as he liked, But each time he tried to crawl out of the circle he was picked up and put back in again. Gajpati scooped up some dust with his trunk and blew it over him. Sometimes he flicked a little dirt over the baby to discourage flies. And sometimes drops of green spit fell from Gajpati's pointed underlip onto the baby's tummy and tickled him. They were perfectly content together, these two.
Suddenly the sun was gone, drawing over it a sky of velvet and diamonds. Immediately, the air was colder, and the baby began to ciy. Jackals howled in the dusk, and there came the whoop of an eagle owl.
Not far away, in the rough grassland, a male hyena emerged from his burrow and stood silently sniffing the night air for news of food. He was a scavenger of dead flesh and an eater of skeletons. He would also pick up any small, helpless creature he might find. In India, hyenas carry away human children every year. (339 words)

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