Girly-Face the Elephant

Girly-Face the Elephant

Once there lived in the royal courtyard a great elephant named Girly-Face.

Everyone loved him for his gentle nature.

He took apples carefully from people’s palms, waited patiently while his back was cleaned, and even allowed little birds to perch on his head.

“Our Girly-Face would never hurt anyone,” his keeper often said.

The elephant heard this and waggled his ears with pleasure.

One night, when the whole courtyard was asleep, several rough men gathered near the elephant enclosure.

They thought no one could hear them.

“If you want people to fear you, you must speak louder than anyone else,” said one.

“And never give way,” added another. “The stronger one is always right.”

“And if someone stands in your path, just shove him aside,” laughed a third.

Girly-Face was awake.

He listened very carefully.

“How strange,” the elephant thought. “Perhaps this is how a strong creature ought to behave. These men speak so confidently, as though they know all about life.”

The next morning his keeper came with a basket of fruit.

“Good morning, my friend!”

Before, Girly-Face would have stretched out his trunk gently.

But this time he gave a loud trumpet.

“Prrrroo!”

With his trunk he shoved the basket so sharply that apples rolled across the yard.

“Girly-Face! What is the matter with you?”

The elephant remembered the words he had heard at night.

“I must be the loudest.”

So he trumpeted even louder.

A second keeper brought water.

“Step aside a little, and I will set down the bucket.”

But Girly-Face thought, “Never give way.”

He stubbornly remained in the middle of the passage.

When he was asked to move one step, he stamped his foot angrily.

The water splashed out.

By noon, the whole courtyard knew that something strange had happened to the kind elephant.

Girly-Face pushed empty baskets, ignored commands, trumpeted loudly, and grew angry whenever anyone disagreed with him.

No one was badly hurt, but it had become unsafe to come close to a huge, irritated elephant.

The keepers reported to the king.

“Is he ill?” the king asked.

“It does not seem so,” they answered. “He eats well, walks normally, and his eyes are bright. He simply seems to have become someone else.”

The king called for a wise adviser who had known Girly-Face for a long time.

The adviser did not hurry.

First he watched the elephant eat.

Then he examined his legs, ears, and eyes.

He listened to his breathing.

“He is healthy,” he said.

“Then why is he behaving this way?”

The wise man sat near the enclosure and was silent for a long while.

At last he asked, “Have there been any strangers here lately?”

One of the guards remembered.

“A few nights ago, a noisy group sat beyond the wall. We sent them away as soon as we noticed them.”

“What were they talking about?”

“I do not know. Something about strength, fear, and never yielding to anyone.”

The wise man nodded.

“I think Girly-Face heard them and decided they were teaching him the right way to live.”

The king was surprised.

“Can one evening affect him so deeply?”

“Not always one evening. But when someone speaks confidently, we sometimes take his words for wisdom without ever testing them.”

“What should we do?”

“Let the elephant hear different words. Then he must see the difference for himself.”

That evening, several people known in the city for their calm and kindness sat near the enclosure.

They did not speak to the elephant directly. They simply talked with one another.

“Today my neighbour helped me mend my roof,” said one.

“And how did you thank him?” asked another.

“I helped him carry his sacks of grain. Together we finished much faster.”

A third person said, “I once thought the strongest person was the one who won every argument. Now I think strength also means stopping when you are angry.”

“And it means not frightening someone weaker just because you can,” added another.

Girly-Face listened.

“These people speak confidently too,” he thought. “But in a very different way.”

The next night they came again.

They spoke of patience, friendship, and helping others.

On the third night, one of them said, “A good example does not force anyone. It shows the way, but the choice is still yours.”

The elephant remembered those words.

In the morning, his old keeper arrived with a basket of apples.

Girly-Face was about to trumpet loudly, but he stopped.

“I can choose for myself.”

He slowly reached out his trunk and took one apple.

The keeper stood still.

“There is my friend again.”

Later, water was brought. The elephant was standing in the middle of the passage.

“Girly-Face, please step aside.”

He took one step.

No one applauded or shouted. The keeper simply set down the bucket and stroked his trunk.

By evening, Girly-Face was peaceful again.

It was not because he had forgotten the rough words.

On the contrary, he remembered them well.

But now he knew that not every loud piece of advice is right, and not every kind of behaviour is worth copying.

The king ordered the keepers to make sure that chance groups did not gather near the animal courtyard at night.

“And that is useful advice not only for elephants,” said the wise adviser.

From then on, Girly-Face once again took fruit carefully from people’s palms, let people pass through narrow passages, and allowed birds to sit on his head.

And whenever someone in the courtyard began to boast about being rough, the elephant only waggled his great ears and thought, “I have heard that before. Thank you, but I will choose my own character.”

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨