|
Ladyface [Association] Once upon time， the King of Benares had a royal bull elephant who was kind， patient and harmless. Along with his sweet disposition， he had a lovely gentle face. So he was affectionately known as Ladyface. One night， a gang of robbers met together just outside the elephant shed. In the darkness they talked about their plans for robbing people. They spoke of beating and killing， and bragged that they had given up ordinary goodness so they would have no pity on their victims. They used rough he-man type gutter language， intended to scare people and show how tough they were. Since the nights were quiet， Ladyface had nothing else to do but listen to all these terrible plans and violent rough talk. He listened carefully and， as elephants do， remembered it all. Having been brought up to obey and respect human beings， he thought these men were also to be obeyed and respected， even as teachers. After this went on for several nights， Ladyface decided that the correct thing to do was to become rough and cruel. This usually happens to one who associates with those of a low-minded cruel nature. It happens especially to a gentle one who wishes to please others. A mahout is what the Indians call the special trainer and caretaker of a particular elephant. They are usually very dose. Early one morning， Ladyfaces mahout came to see him as usual. The elephant， his mind filled with the nights robber-talk， suddenly attacked his mahout. He picked him up in his trunk， squeezed the breath out of him， and smashed him to the ground， killing him instantly. Then he picked up two other attendants， one after another， and killed them just as ferociously. | 
