STORYTELLING PIECE-GRADE 5

The Elephant and the Six Blind Men

Retelling by: Eugene Y.Evasco
Illustration by: Ariel Santillan
There were six blind men who lived in a village. One day, word went
around
that an elephant had come to visit.
"An elephant has come!" cried the villagers.
"Hurry!
Let us go and see!"
"How are we supposed to have a look at it? We are all blind!" joked
one of the men.

The six blind men hurried off to meet the elephant. None of them had any
idea
"What this visitor even was. They would not even be able to see this
creature
that had the villagers all in an uproar,
"Let us all try to smell it," said one of them.
"Or listen to it," another cut in.
Let us put our hands on it so we can find out what it looks like," declared
another.
They very cautiously went in search of the visiting elephant. When
they found where it was, they approached the creature at once and each
of the men reached out to touch it.
"Ah, so an elephant is a post," said one of the blind men after he had
felt around the elephant's leg and wrapped his arms around it.
"You are mistaken! It is a length of rope!" cried another who had
touched the creature's tail.

"Can't you see that the elephant is a thick branch?" snapped the man
who had run his hands along the elephant's long trunk,
"Stop it, all of you, The elephant is a big fan," said the one who
had felt the elephant's ear.

"A fan? It is a great wall," declared another who had nearly cracked
his skull against the elephant's stomach.
You are all most certainly blind! It is a pipe," concluded the last of
the blind men, who had felt the elephant's tusk.
Their discussion grew even more heated, and the men began to argue.
Their voices rose as each one began very arrogantly to insist that his
observations were correct. Some were ready for a fistfight. Nobody
wanted to back down and admit defeat. Each man believed that
what he had 'seen' was right.

A wise man chanced upon the six blind men arguing with one another.
Quickly putting an end to the brewing seuffle, he asked them, What is
the matter here? You are all friends, why do you quarrel?»
"It is because they refuse to believe that the elephant is a post,*
said the first blind man.
"It is a length of rope!"
"It is a branch!*
"A fan!"
"A wall!'»
"A pipe!*

The wise man calmly began to set the quarreling men straight.
"You all happen to be correct.»
"All of us are correct? How can that be?" cried the blind men.
"Each of you has handled a different part of the elephant, and that is
why you have not all seen the same thing. You have each identified a
distinct characteristic of the elephant," the wise man explained. He added
further:
"Its four legs are like posts.
Its tail is like a rope.
Its trunk is like the branch of a tree.
Its ears are two enormous fans.
Its stomach is a massive wall,
And it has two sharp tusks that are much like pipes."

The six blind men felt instantly enlightened. They stopped quarreling and
grew more cheerful because they were friends again.
In the end, the wise man gave the six blind men some good advice.
"It is a
fine thing to acquaint oneself with a portion of the truth. But wisdom
can only be achieved when one sees the truth in its entirety."

MORAL/LESSON FROM THE STORY: Truth can be truly seen in order to gain wisdom.