Think of an elephant and you think big. (Evenif you think of a baby elephant， you think big. He weighs about 200 pounds！) Yes， the elephant is a big animal.
You might think that such a big animal is clumsy①. Well， he isn’t. An elephantcan step on acoconut shell， break it open and not crush the insides. He can rurn sweet potatoes up from the ground and not break their skins.
How does the elephantdig sweet potatoes with his tusks？ Really， he uses only one tusk. And he always digs with the same tusk. Think of an elephant is tusk as a hand， and you can say that an elephant is either right “handed” or left “handed”. In that way， he is like a preson.
An elephant isn’t like you and me in all ways. For one thing， he needs very little sleep about half as much as we do. It is just as well. The elephant has to spend about 16 hours every day looking for food. Why？ He eats so much about 700 pounds of leaves and grass. Never take an elephantout to lunch！
An elephant has to look for water too. He needs from 30 to 50 gallons a day.
Even a baby elephant needs a lot to eat. His mother helps. She tears down green branches that are too high for him.
Amother elephant takes good care of her baby. She ever punishes him if he is bad.
One time a baby elephant was walking along the bank of a river and he was very near the edge. The other elephants were not far away.
The baby’s mother screeched② out a loud warning： “Get away from the edge，”she seemed to say. But that baby elephant kept on trying to see just how closehe could get. All at once， the earth gave way under him！ Screaming， he fell into the water. It was too deep for him.
The elephants spun③ around. They rushed to the bank. They stretched out their trunks toward the small elephant. But he was too afraid to reach for them. What did the elephants do？ With care， two of them got down into the water. They slid their tusks undr the baby. Slowly they lifted him up. Now the elephantson the band could reach him. They draggd the baby to safety.
The mother elephant pulled him to her. She made loving noises. She felt all over him with her trunk. At last she was sure her baby was all right. She screeched at him. She chased④ him away from the water.
Why did the mother elephant punish her baby？ She wanted to be sure that he would not fall into the water again.
Some people say that an elephant never forgets. Mr. Bruce， who lives in Africa， thinks this is true.
One time， Mr. Bruce captured a small elephant. “You’re fine little fellow，” said Mr. Bruce， “I shall call you Tusky. But what’s this？ Here’s bad sore on your back leg. Iwell put medicine on the sore. But it wil hurt！”
First， Tusky had to be held still. Mr. Bruce moved to the animal into a log pen. The pen was so small that Tusky just fit. He had to stand still. Now Mr. Bruce could help him.
Mr. Bruce put medicine on the sore. The medicine seemed to bite into it. Tusky screeched with pain. And he was angry！ He almost broke out of the pen.
Mr. Bruce kept working on the amimal. He put a bandage on the sore. He did everyting he could to help Tusky get well.
From time to time， Mr. Bruce had to change the bandage. At first Tusky would screech and try to get away. Then he seemed to understand. He would stay puiet as the bandage was changed. But Tusky still had to be kept in the pen so that he couldn’t tear the bandage off.
At last， Tusky was well. He was set free from the pen. But each time he saw Mr. Bruce， he would run to him. Tusky would stretch out his trunk and take Mr. Bruce’s hand. He would put the hand right where the sore had been.
Tusky did not forget！
① clumsyadj. 笨拙的，手脚不灵活的\[(+with/at/in)\]
② screechv. 尖叫；发出尖锐刺耳的声音
③ spinv. 使(陀螺等)旋转
④ chasev. 追逐；追捕；追踪
大象
一想到象，就会联想到大。（即使你想到的是一头小象，也会联想到大，他大约重200磅！）是啊，象是一种巨大的动物。
你可能认为，如此大的动物一定很笨拙。嗯，他并不笨。一头大象可以踩在椰子壳上，打开它——但不会压碎它的瓤子。他可以从里地里掘起红薯而不弄破它的表皮。
大象如何挖红薯呢？用长牙。事实上，他只用一颗牙，而且总是用同一颗牙来挖。你可以把大象的牙想像为一只手，你可以说一头象是用“右”手的，或者是左撇子。在这方面，他就像一个人似的。
一头大象并不是在各个方面都像你和我的。比如说一件事，他不怎么需要睡眠——大约只需要我们的一半。这反而很好。大象不得不每天花大约16小时去寻找食物。为什么呢？他吃得太多——大约每天吃７00磅树叶和青草。千万不要请大象外出吃午餐！
大象还必须去找水。他每天需要30到50加仑的水。
即使是一头幼象也需要吃很多东西，他的母亲帮助他。她把他够不着的绿树枝扯下来让他吃。
一头母象去精心照着她的幼崽。如果他不听话，她甚至还会处罚他。
有一次，一头幼象正沿河岸走着——他非常靠近岸边。其它大象在不远的地方。
幼象的母亲大声地尖叫着发出警告。她好像在说，“离开河边。”但是，那幼象继续试着看他能靠到离河水多么近的地方。突然，他脚下的土地塌陷了！他尖叫一声，掉进水里。那水对他来说太深了。
那些大象转过身来，冲到岸边，向那幼像伸出象鼻。但他由于害怕而够不到。那些大象怎么办呢？他们之中的两头小心翼翼下到水里，把长牙插在幼象身下，慢慢地把他抬起来。这时，岸上的大象可以够着他了。他们慢慢地将幼象拖到安全的地方。
母象把他拉到身边。她发出慈爱的声音，用象鼻摸他的全身。她终于确信孩子一切都好。接着，她挥动象鼻，很响地抽了他一下。她对他尖声叫喊，把他从水边赶开了。
母象为什么要处罚她的幼崽呢？她希望能确保他今后不会再掉进水里。
有人说，大象从不会遗忘。住在非洲的布鲁斯先生认为的确如此。
有一次，布鲁斯先生捕获一头小象。“你真是个可爱的小家伙，”布鲁斯先生说。“我就叫你长牙了。不过，这是什么？你的后腿上有脓疮。我要给你的伤口上药。但是，那会疼痛的。”
首先，必须把长牙按住不动。布鲁斯先生把这动物运到圆木围栏中。这围栏很小，长牙在里面正好合适。他只能一动不动地站着。现在，布鲁斯先生可以帮助他了。
布鲁斯先生给伤口上药。药好像渗进去了，杀痛了伤口。长牙痛得尖叫起来。他发怒了！他几乎挣破围栏逃走。
布鲁斯先生继续为这牲畜治疗。他在脓疮处缠上绷带。他尽量做可以帮助长牙好转的每一件事。
每隔一段时间。布鲁斯先生必须换绷带。一开始，长牙总是尖声叫喊，试图逃出。后来，看起来他明白了。在换绷带时，他便静静地呆着。不过，仍然需要把长牙关在围栏里。只有这样，他才不致把绷带扯掉。
长牙终于好了，他被从围栏里释放出来。但他每次见到布鲁斯先生，就会跑到他的身边。长牙伸出鼻子，拉住布鲁斯先生的手。他把布鲁斯先生的手正好放在曾长脓疮的地方。
长牙没有忘记！