LOVE OR WAR: The Truth Of What Happens When Two Elephants Fight

Stories and Tales, Travel, Tours, Nature and Environment

Once upon a time, there was war in the animal kingdom. Whilst the animals were distracted by the civil war, man came and destroyed their homes. Tall trees became scarce and man replaced them with artificial trees, towering round metal structures with climbing plants growing on them. As a result of the conflict and the loss of their homes, the King of the Jungle, the lion was exiled to the savannahs, where he sought other kingdoms to conquer. On the other hand, the King of the Marshes, the crocodile found itself in man’s artificial pond dungeon, amusing spectators as the wetlands were running dry. Other animals remained in tiny enclaves, which were the abodes left of their once spacious habit.

The lack of space was a potential source of conflict, but for a while, the animals avoided each other, they believed that since life was a solitary race, they could live without crossing each other’s path. This was however not possible. There was gossip and misunderstandings, as well as misconceptions. As these were not solved as days went by, conflicts became nearer.

However, no animal dared to fight, except the hippo and the rhino . These refused to listen to the others who suggested that fighting was taboo. They referenced the animal folklore of the fight between two elephants where the grass suffered. They believed that fighting would resolve their problems and the grass will bear the pain.

You see, the quarrel was really about the swimming pond that the hippo made, just in front of the enclave he shared with the rhino. The rhino often fell into the pool. When he passes by it and sees his reflection, he would charge at it, thinking the reflection was another rhino challenging him; so he wanted the pool removed for his safety.

In their own right, these two creatures were heavyweights and once wrestling champions of their own clans in the good old days.

One day, they summoned all the animals from the enclaves, they wanted to settle their conflict with a fight. The tortoise, the oldest one among them told the animals that in everything, there is always a choice and so the hippo and the rhino do have three choices, but the very obvious ones are LOVE and WAR. The two neighbours said that they had chosen war.

As they moved back to charge at each other, the baboon stopped them. He reasoned that if they chose to fight, it does not mean that they should exchange blows. They were determined to fight because to them the two options were the same thing, after all, people fight for love.

The tortoise then told everyone that they could fight, but only at the sound of the battle music. At once, he started to sound the talking drum, but it was not the sound of war, it was a summon: gwo gwo gwo ngwo… it was the sound that signifies the arrival of the elusive isi oche, the interim ruler of the jungle, the ehi of the enclaves, the elephant .

When the ovation died down, the elephant went to the two animals in the wrestling ring. He tried to reason with them but they said that the elephant had no moral right to tell them not to fight, after all, he did fight with another elephant and came off unscarred. The elephant laughed loudly with his trunk and shook his head.

Turning to the rhino he said, ‘you are depending on your dagger horn to win this fight, the same way I depended on my tusk, but even that can get broken and you lose’

To the hippo, he said, ‘You are depending on your stamina, but this fight can go on for so long that you become tired and worn out.’

And to both of them, he said, ‘Sometimes, even if you cannot love, you do not need to fight, the third option to solve this is peace. It requires a little love and a little fight to keep peace and this fight is not locking horns but a determination by you both to be in peace.’

The hippo and rhino replied, ‘But why seek peace if the victor will be unhurt by a fight? Will it not be the grass that suffers?’

So the elephant led them to his secret chamber, and there he showed them the globe, and in the map of the world, he pointed to where the two elephants had fought. The grass that was said to have suffered because of the fight between the two elephants had long grown. Now, a forest was regenerating in that space.

Then he showed them too the surgical marks on his tusks and trunk. They had been damaged in that fight and had to be mended. He still bore the scars of the fight. “We, the elephants that fought suffered” he said, “that is the truth, and we still bear the scars and now leave fighting for humans”.

“Love is not war, and every seed sown in peace and sincerity with thrive even in the midst of strive. So yield, and for the sake of peace, leave and let’s live”

The rhino and the hippo listened and they agreed to sit down and solve their problems, and one and all animals dispersed to their enclaves.

(Written for Zabeebah and the seed of love for the environment planted in her heart by her grandmother, Adetoun Mohammed a foremost environmentalist. The art pieces are from Abuja Art Market and Abidjan Airport; the garden and the crocodile are in Tech Art District, Abuja.)