Friday, September 08, 2006

A Nature Story To Inspire


In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from college. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.

The elephant seemed distressed so Mbembe approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot, and found a large thorn deeply embedded in it.

As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the thorn out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather stern look on its face, stared at him. For several tense moments Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away.




Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. Twenty years later he was walking through a zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe and lifted its front foot off the
ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. Suddenly the elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of the man's legs and swung him wildly back and forth along the railing, killing him.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.

54 comments:

RevRee said...

I just a little more disturbed this morning after reading that story....thanks

puerileuwaite said...

/t. - I already have all of mine marked.

Rev - I just wanted to kick your day up a notch. Bam!

RevRee said...

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

$#%&(#$^@&#@($^FUCK

I had a very funny, very celver post comment, and this stupid blogger lost it!

Let's see if I can remember what was said...

--------------

/t, how are ya dear?! I did consider donald rumsfeld, I just think he's too sexy for me, plus I'm shorter...

puerileuwaitefsrueyf, I did wake up slightly aroused this morning, but then I read that damn story. I'm not anymore, thanks A LOT!!!

puerileuwaite said...

Unfortunately you're not the first woman to tell me that. Not even today.

RevRee said...

I find that hard to believe...

Mighty Dyckerson said...

Poor Mbembe. But it sure beats getting stabbed in the ticker with a sting ray barb.

Pud said...

LMAO!! Didn't that poor bastard read the sign that said "Do Not Enter"?

puerileuwaite said...

Rev - That's why I'm crazy 'bout ya. But then, I'd have to be crazy to be crazy 'bout ya. Crazy, isn't it?

/t. - Behave. Or I'm turning this blog around and heading right home.

Clown - This has me wondering: what if Steve Irwin was instead a hot babe? How many of us would have jumped in the water and attempted to suck out the poison?

Pud - Stupidity of that magnitude does tend to be permanently self-correcting.

Little Lamb said...

Am I the only one wboe enjoyed the story?

I think it was the same elephant. Elephants have good memories.

Little Lamb said...

Yes

RevRee said...

I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so **PLEASANT** about that place
Even your emotions had an echo in so much space

And when you're out there,without care
Yeah I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much

Does that make me Crazy?
Does that make me Crazy?
Does that make me Crazy?
Possibly

Little Lamb said...

Yes, rev it makes you crazy. You love Dyck online.

puerileuwaite said...

Okay, settle down you two.

Little Lamb said...

You want us to settle down because we're not fighting about you.

RevRee said...

Lamby, you're right I love DICK! I can't get enough of it!

RevRee said...

/t, the party plans are going well, thank you!

I'm still debating if ole donald is who I should go as... he's just so damn sexy

Little Lamb said...

I will say this about Dyck, he is entertaining.

Little Lamb said...

True, /t.

Mayden' s Voyage said...

A tender story...Mkele was tender when the story ended! :)

sorry...that was bad :)
But, I've been bad all day- haven't I??? ;P

Crashtest Comic said...

Elephants are freaking assholes.

tfg said...

Shouldn't Revree be listed under the 1/2 Black Sheep header?

Mighty Dyckerson said...

I knew you secretly wanted me, Lambo. And FYI, I'm hung like an elephant...

puerileuwaite said...

FM and Crash - Elephants can be that way, unfortunately.

TFG - Welcome! Good point. Either I should combine them all in one pen, or have more than two (to highlight unique attributes, such as the one you mentioned). Hope you return. I need all the help I can get keeping these knuckleheads in line.

Crashtest Comic said...

Couple of facts you may bot know about elephants:

They never forget.

You can't keep a good elephant down. Though docile, elephants in captivity have been know to snap and kill their handlers.

They bury the bones of dead relatives in elephant graveyards. During their nomadic odysses, when they come across these bones again, they move them, handle them, and treat them with great tenderness.

I love elephants--especially when their sitting at the end of the bar at two in the morning, looking desperate in their heels.

Grrrrrrrrrrowl.

puerileuwaite said...

Crash, if an elephant truly doesn't forget, you better hope those at the end of the bar are DIFFERENT ones.

Crashtest Comic said...

Elephants are also the tenderness and power of God in a dumb, intelligent animal that knows it could smash the hell out of any comedy club...

but instead he fears the mice, and thusly recoiles from his own success, and lays there stranded in empty downtown clubs, when this elephant knows he could take it as far as the nearest graveyard.

RevRee said...

Woohoo! I'm at work! Who's excited about that?......anyone?....

DykesDog said...

Another reminder of why one should never mess with wildlife, caged or in the wild!!!

puerileuwaite said...

Crash - That's right. Let's get those toxic metaphors right out of the system before we accidently use them onstage (at Caroline's at 7PM ... I forget the day ... ). That's yet another use for my comments section ;-)

Rev - I'm excited! Yes! Working on a Saturday totally rocks! But then everything you do excites me.

Dykesdog - That's why I keep my women caged. Now if only I could stop messin' with 'em.

Little Lamb said...

No, you have it all wrong, working on a Saturday sucks. I hate working on Saturdays

DykesDog said...

Caged women ... bad dog ... fo you cage lambs or just sheer em to keep them undeer control?

RevRee said...

puerileuwaitedfhsprieajf, I just used the bathroom... does that excite you?

Mayden' s Voyage said...

Hey- It's late on Saturday...I'm guessing you are with your wife.

Hope you are having more fun than I am! :)

Charissa said...

Jesus... not how I expected that to end at all...

puerileuwaite said...

Lamby - For the most part, you're right. Occassionally I like it because (in my case) no one else is around, and I get a lot more accomplished in the same amount of time.

Dykesdog - No comment!

Rev - No. I too know what it's like to be used.

FM - Good morning.

Charissa - Welcome! Thank you for stopping by. The truth is that I was horrified when I first read it, but the punchline was way too compelling.

RevRee said...

puerileuwaitedjfhsoih, me too babe...me too

Chris Wilson said...

He should have yelled "Sit"!

puerileuwaite said...

Rev - Thanks. We can be there for each other. Lean on me, when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend ...

Chris - He probably yelled "Shit!".

puerileuwaite said...

Girlgoyle - Where did it say he was hung like an elephant? ;-)

Jmeped - You're ALIVE? Now I'm a HAPPY puppy!

puerileuwaite said...

Jmeped, but of course! If I put on the mask and THEN I shaved, what would be the point?

RevRee said...

If you were a bean, what kind of bean would you be?

puerileuwaite said...

Jmeped - Aren't you complicated enough WITHOUT the allergies? Geez, why don't we just seal you in a plastic bubble and be done with it? ;-)

Rev - Today? Today I feel like a jelly bean. Why? Because when a cute female asks: "You know what I mean, jelly bean?", I can say "Yes, I know EXACTLY what you mean.".

RevRee said...

I hope you're not the black jelly bean? I don't like the black ones...

leelee said...

lol...

Crashtest Comic said...

There's another side to 9/11, coming from a New Yorker who was there when it happened.

It didn't go down that way--

Bible prophecy and great forces were at play here...

read my blog. It gives the other side of the story.

DykesDog said...

Just stopping by to see if you have any thorns sticking out of your feet ... I would pull tehm out if you did!

puerileuwaite said...

Rev - That's not what I heard. Admitting you like 'em would make "the man" nervous. Isn't that the REAL reason?

Leelee - Thanks. Sometimes I think I like the comments better than the post itself.

Crash - I'll check it out. 9/11 is so intensely personal for me, that it's difficult to post or comment on the subject. I would likely piss a lot of people off if I did.

Dykesdog - You are sweet. I have absolutely no doubt that you would. Unfortunately I also have no doubt that I'd cheapen the gesture by looking down your blouse as you did so.

"Gratitude and lust quickly become indistinguishable here in the wild kingdom." - Marlon Perkins

Little Lamb said...

Are you mad at me? You haven't visited me in two days.

Little Lamb said...

I know why you haven't visited me. You think my blog is boring. You ask a question or make a statement and don't even check to see if I answered you or not.

Ok, I see how it is. I'm not as exciting as your "bad girls." Or even your "good girls."

puerileuwaite said...

Lamby - Chill, baby. I blog strictly for fun. I do it when I can. Though it may be difficult for many to believe (myself included), I have a life apart from the Internet ;-) Guilt trips don't work on me.

GG- Just teasin'. With us pugs, it's more "how you use it".

Jmeped - Good point. What flavor of beans are you gals?

RevRee said...

jmeped, hahah that made me giggle, I like! ;-)

Lamby, you need to settle down

puerileuwaiteasfhsrierlahsdjlh,

be afraid, be very afraid...

puerileuwaite said...

" be afraid, be very afraid..."

Rev - Talk like that scares me.

Little Lamb said...

Sorry

puerileuwaite said...

Das okay, Lamby.