In Search of the Elephant
| Characters: 5 narrators, 6 blind people, wise woman (or man), drum teacher and students, milkman, vegetable sellers, dancers, fisher folk, elephant. |
| Narrator 1: Early each morning, in a small town in Northern India, drum
students would come together to practice before their tabla (drum) teacher began
their daily lessons. Let us look in on them to see what the noise is all about! Tabla Practice Session (pronounced tub-luh, "u" as in "gum") Six blind people shared a home next door to the great tabla guru. The noise from the drum lessons often reminded them of elephants! And one day, as they talked among themselves, they realized that though they had all heard of the elephant, none of them had ever touched or smelled an elephant. They had never been near an elephant and didn’t feel as though they really knew what an elephant was. They decided that they would go, that very day, to the home of their wise old friend, for they knew that she had an elephant, and they knew that she would help them in their quest. |
| Narrator 2: The first blind person grabbed a cane, the second person put
a right hand on the right shoulder of the first person, the third person put a right hand
on the right shoulder of the second person and so on until, looking like a centipede, the
six friends set out on their journey across town. Halfway down the first block they passed the open door of the temple where an invocation was being sung. They paused a moment to sing along. |
| Narrator 3: The blind folk continued on their way as several dudh (pronounced
dood) wallahs passed by calling out to let the people know that they had milk for
sale. Dudh wallah! Milk for sale! The travelers passed a school of kathak (pronounced kut-tuk, u as in gum) dance and they again paused to hear the sounds of the dancers and the sound of the tabla hand drums as the students practiced their basic footwork and several compositions. Kathak dance |
| Narrator 4: Passing the dance school the friends heard the fisher folk as
they came by with their fish. Fisher folk And as the blind friends continued on their way several subzi (pronounced sub-zee) wallahs carried baskets of vegetables past them. The subji wallahs shouted out telling all of the people in the neighboring houses that they were there with fresh vegetables. Subzi wallah! Fresh vegetables for sale! Finally the adventurers arrived at the home of the wise woman. They were welcomed and brought to sit in the main hall. They told their wise friend why they had come, and she sent her elephant-keeper out to bring in the elephant. The elephant enters |
| Narrator 5: One by one the wise woman’s servants took the blind people to the elephant. The first blind person touched the elephant’s trunk and thought, "What a soft and flexible thing this elephant is!" The second blind person was led to the tusk and after touching it he knew that the elephant was very hard and sharp. The third blind person reached out and touched the elephant’s ear and realized that the elephant was very fan-like. The fourth person touched the elephant’s leg and understood that the elephant was actually very much like a tree. The fifth blind person was brought to the elephant’s side and this person felt nothing but a wall, the elephant was so large. And the sixth person felt the tail and thought that the elephant was just like a rope. |
| Narrator 6: Happy that they had finally gotten to know what an elephant was, the six friends began to talk, but as they talked the found that they disagreed completely about just what an elephant was. Their talk became louder and louder until the wise woman, understanding what had happened, spoke up. "My dear friends, you must realize that the elephant is a very large animal. When each one of you were led up to the beast, you were able to touch only a small part of the entire beast. You are all right in your own ideas about the beast, but until you put all of your ideas together you will never really know about the elephant. The elephant’s trunk is soft and pliable, the tusks are sharp and hard. The ear is fan-like, and the leg feels like a tree. The side of the elephant is like a wall, and the tail is very rope-like." The blind persons thought for a moment about what the wise woman had said and then they shared their knowledge and in this way came to know the elephant. |
Adapted by Annie Penta from a traditional folk tale from India. |