[kj] The elephant story - a touching tale

[Brendan]

The elephant is a sacred animal. You have brought shame and dishonour on
The Gathering Jo. And reduced our karmic bank balance. I must atone for
your misdeeds:

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL18780625


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>     I'm not going soft, but sometimes I like these heartwarming stories,

> and this one truly is amazing.   Enjoy

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>     In 1986, Dan Harrison ( see picture above ) was on holiday in   Kenya

> after graduating from Northwestern University .

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>     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 Dan approached it very carefully.

>     He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a

> large piece of wood deeply embedded in it.   As carefully and as

> gently as he could, Dan worked the wood 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 curious look on its face,

> stared at him for several tense moments.  Dan stood frozen, thinking

> of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted

> loudly, turned, and walked away.

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>     Dan never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

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>     Twenty years later, Dan was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his

> teenaged son.

>     As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned

> and walked over to near where Dan and his son Dan Jr. were standing.

> The large bull elephant stared at Dan , lifted its front foot off the

> ground, and 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, Dan couldn't help wondering if this was the same

> elephant.

>     Dan 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.

>     The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Dan's

> legs and

>     slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

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>     Probably wasn't the same elephant.

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