Up to now I have given you milk, or you have eaten the sweet
palm nuts or the tree branches I pulled down for you, or those the
other elephants left. Now it is time you learned to do things for
yourself. Come with me, Umboo."
"Where are we going?" asked the small elephant. That is he was smaller
than his mother, though he was very large along side of a dog or a
cat. "Where are we going?"
"Far into the jungle," answered Mrs. Stumptail.
Umboo followed after her, brushing his way through the bushes, pushing
aside even those that had thorns on them, for he never felt the sharp
pricks through his thick skin, though, as I have told you, some kinds
of bugs can bite their way through even this.
Suddenly, as Umboo walked along behind his mother, he began to sniff
the air through his trunk.
"What is that good smell?" he asked, in elephant talk, of course. "It
smells just like those nice, sweet roots you gave me to eat the other
day."
"And that is just what you do smell, Umboo," said his mother. "Near
here, in the jungle, grow trees with those sweet roots. If you want to
eat some now see if you can find any.
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