KARI THE ELEPHANT

by

DHAN GOPAL MUKERJI

Illustrated by J. E. Allen

[Illustration: KARI AND KOPEE AND I]

New York E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.

Copyright, 1922, by E. P. Dutton & Company

DEDICATED TO

MY ELDEST BORN

Nahra Gopal

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. BRINGING UP KARI

II. HOW KARI SAVED OUR LIVES IN THE JUNGLE

III. KARI GOES TO TOWN

IV. KARI'S ADVENTURE IN BENARES

V. THE JUNGLE SPIRIT

VI. KARI'S STORY

VII. THE TIGER HUNT

VIII. KARI AND THE QUICK-SAND

IX. KARI'S TRAVELS

X. KARI IN THE LUMBER YARD

ILLUSTRATIONS

KARI AND KOPEE AND I _Frontispiece_

KARI PUNISHES SUDU

ONE DAY I TOOK THEM TO THE BAZAAR

THAT VERY INSTANT THE UP-RAISED FOOT OF THE ELEPHANT WAS ON HIS HEAD

THE TIGER HAD FOUND HIS KILL

IF YOU TOOK A FLUTE AND PLAYED CERTAIN TUNES ON IT, ALL THE SNAKES WOULD COME OUT OF THEIR HOLES AND DANCE TO THE MUSIC

WITHOUT ANY WARNING THE MAGISTRATE FIRED

IN HIS MADNESS HE MUST HAVE GONE BACK TO THE JUNGLE

KARI THE ELEPHANT

CHAPTER I

BRINGING UP KARI

Kari, the elephant, was five months old when he was given to me to take care of. I was nine years old and I could reach his back if I stood on tiptoe. He seemed to remain that high for nearly two years. Perhaps we grew together; that is probably why I never found out just how tall he was. He lived in a pavilion, under a thatched roof which rested on thick tree stumps so that it could not fall in when Kari bumped against the poles as he moved about.

One of the first things Kari did was to save the life of a boy. Kari did not eat much but he nevertheless needed forty pounds of twigs a day to chew and play with. Every day I used to take him to the river in the morning for his bath. He would lie down on the sand bank while I rubbed him with the clean sand of the river for an hour. After that he would lie in the water for a long time. On coming out his skin would be shining like ebony, and he would squeal with pleasure as I rubbed water down his back. Then I would take him by the ear, because that is the easiest way to lead an elephant, and leave him on the edge of the jungle while I went into the forest to get some luscious twigs for his dinner. One has to have a very sharp hatchet to cut down these twigs; it takes half an hour to sharpen the hatchet because if a twig is mutilated an elephant will not touch it.

Table of contents (by pages)

• 1: Kari the Elephant by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
• 2: To get twigs and saplings for Kari
• 3: As Kari came up from the water
• 4: Leaving Sudu and the elephant on the bank
• 5: Very few Hindus put howdahs on elephants
• 6: Some bear had fallen asleep under the trees and Kari
• 7: I had a pet monkey of my own named Kopee
• 8: To bring Kari and Kopee together
• 9: And Kopee now the best of friends
• 10: Kopee began to pull me by the hand
• 11: We entered the city of Benares
• 12: He made an effort to shake Kopee off
• 13: Kari was as dignified as a mountain
• 14: Kopee and I had to sit on his back
• 15: I crept slyly around the elephant and approached Kopee
• 16: Kari snorted and stepped backwards
• 17: How did you live with your elephant mother in the jungle
• 18: One of the young elephants said
• 19: Before Kari realized what had happened
• 20: For Kari had really developed a slight stench
• 21: Kopee was such a monkey that I could not make him listen
• 22: And if you want to shoot a tiger or a leopard
• 23: The beaters cried out again close by
• 24: I harnessed Kari with the tow rope
• 25: But Kopee chattered and rushed up a tree
• 26: CHAPTER IXKARI'S TRAVELS Sometimes Kari was used for travel
• 27: Now I caught sight of Kari snorting before me
• 28: Kari had no objection to wine drinking
• 29: Kari raised his trunk and trumpeted fiercely