The tree loggers ran out of the forests as a herd of wild Thai elephants came marauding out to defend their habitat.
In their haste, Baba, a fully grown male and domesticated elephant was left tied to a tree by a puny rope around his neck. His trainer had gone to pee and never came back…
The alpha male of the herd found the frightened Baba.
“Don’t be afraid. You are one of us. Come! You’re welcomed to join my herd if you so wish. Leave the humans; you’re free now.”
Baba shakes his head, “I can’t! I’m tied to the tree with this rope around my neck.”
“You got to be joking!” The alpha male thundered. “A fully grown elephant like us can easily knock down a whole tree with a gentle nudge of our body. That rope can’t hold you back…”
Seeing the puzzled look of Baba, the frustrated alpha male moved towards Baba, “Here, I’ll break the rope for you.”
“Don’t do it!”
The old female of the herd bellows to the alpha male.
“It’s not the rope that’s tying him down. He has to figure it out for himself. If you free him now in his current state, he won’t be able to fend for himself in the wild. We could do him harm despite our good intentions.”
Upon reflection, the alpha male nodded in agreement reluctantly.
“Friend, we have to go now before the humans come back with their thunder sticks. I hate to leave you here like this, but you have to believe no rope can tie a fully grown elephant down. Once you have freed yourself, come seek us out.”
The alpha male turned around and leads his herd deep into the cover of the forest.
Baba looked longingly at the wild elephants as they disappeared from his sight.
“Why do the free elephants keep saying I can break the rope around my neck on my own?” Baba ponders to himself.
“Since the day of my captivity as a baby, many times I’ve tried to pull away and break this rope. I’ve got rope burn scars on my neck as proof. It’s not lack of trying. I’ve tried!
It’s no use. The rope is the same rope tying me down all this years. It can’t be broken.”
Singapore Man of Leisure (welcome to my blog; just google it!)
