A Nuer Story

Before you read the story

• Is it better to be big, or clever?

Now read the story

Once there was a cock who lived near an elephant. The cock was small and weak, and the elephant was big and strong. He was proud, too.

"Look at me," the elephant often said to the cock. "I'm big and strong. You're small and weak. I'm much, much more important than you."

The cock soon became tired of the elephant.

"You're not more important than I am," he said. "I know you're bigger than me, but I'm cleverer than you. That means that I'm more important than you are."

"No, it doesn't," said the elephant.

"Yes, it does," said the cock, "but we'll never agree, so let's have a competition."

"What kind of competition?" asked the elephant.

"Let's go to the river," said the cock. "Then we'll see who can drink the most water, you or me."

The elephant laughed.

"What a silly competition!" he said. "I'll win. Of course I'll win! I can drink much, much more water than you can."

So the elephant and the cock asked all the other animals to come to the river and judge their competition. The elephant put his trunk into the water and the cock put his beak into the water. The elephant began to pour water down his throat, but the cock just opened and closed his beak. He didn't drink anything at all.

The elephant went on drinking. He became bigger. He drank some more. He became even bigger. He drank more, and more, and more. At last, the elephant burst.

"Ah," said the cock to all the other animals. "You see? It's much, much better to be clever than to be big!"

Exercises for The Elephant and the Cock

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