It happened once upon a time that a certain mouse, tempted by the smell of sweet, ripe fruit, left his tribe scuttling about in the grass and climbed up into a tree. Not being built for such adventures, though, the mouse soon lost his footing and fell, but by the mysteries of fate, after only a short drop he landed upon the back of a passing elephant.
At first the mouse was terrified – fearful of falling from the height of the elephant’s back, and frightened also that the elephant would become angry at his presence and take revenge upon his tiny passenger. The elephant however seemed oblivious to the little mouse, and continued calmly on his way.
Soon the mouse lost his fear, and looking about him at the passing tree-tops, began to feel quite lordly. Creeping forward, he took up a position on the head of the great elephant, and rode there like a maharaja.
As the elephant strode through the forest, other creatures watched it passing, including some members of the mouse’s innumerable family. Seeing his relatives below, the mouse jeered at them. “Miserable seed eaters,” he shouted. “Lowly creepers! See what a great mouse I am! Each one of my steps covers leagues! Tremble before me!”
Hearing this, the elephant thought to himself, “Oh, a great mouse, are you? We shall see.”
The mouse continued in this way as the elephant strode through the jungle until at last he came to the bank of an enormous, fast flowing river. Here the elephant halted, and sweeping his trunk upward, plucked the mouse from his perch and set him upon the ground.
“Oh, great Mouse,” said the elephant, “since you are such a monarch among rodents, please lead me across this river.”
Peeping through the grass stems on the bank of the river, the mouse stared in terror at the vast expanse of swirling, foaming water. “Is it a river? Or the ocean? There is no way to cross this!”
“Not impossible for a great mouse like you,” said the elephant. He waded forward into the water. “Look, it reaches no higher than my knees. Forward, then! Show your greatness!”
“My knees are not the same as yours,” the mouse said humbly. “I see now that a dragon for me would be no more than an ant for you. Only you can cross this stream.”
“Come then,” said the elephant, picking the mouse up again with his trunk. “Your weight is nothing to me. I can carry a million of your kind to the other side.”