The gentleman in the jungle by jomo kenyatta?

Answer 1

O

nce upon a time an elephant made a friendship

with a man. One day a heavy thunderstorm

broke out, the elephant went to his friend, who had

a little hut at the edge of the forest, and said to him:

"My dear good man, will you please let me put my

trunk inside your hut to keep it out of this torrential

rain?" The man, seeing what situation his friend was

in, replied: "My dear good elephant, my hut is very

small, but there is room for your trunk and myself.

Please put your trunk in gently." The elephant

thanked his friend, saying: "You have done me a

good deed and one day I shall return your kindness." But what followed? As soon as the elephant

put his trunk inside the hut, slowly he pushed his

head inside, and finally flung the man out in the

rain, and then lay down comfortably inside his

friend's hut, saying: "My dear good

f r i e n d , yo u r s k i n i s h a rd e r t h a n

mine, and there is not enough room

for both of us, you can afford to

remain in the rain while I am protecting my 'delicate skin from the

hailstorm.'"

The man, seeing what his friend

had done to him, started to grumble; the animals in the nearby forest

he a rd the noi s e and c ame to s e e

w h a t w a s t h e m a t t e r. A l l s t o o d

around listening to the heated argum e n t b e t w e e n t h e m a n a n d h i s

friend the elephant. In this turmoil

the lion came along roaring, and

said in a loud voice: "Don't you all

k n ow t h a t I am t h e K i n g o f t h e

Jungle! How dare any one disturb

t h e p e a c e o f m y k i n g d o m ? " O n

hearing this the elephant, who was

one of the high ministers in the jungle kingdom,

replied in a soothing voice, and said: "My lord, there

is no disturbance of the peace in your kingdom. I

have only been having a little discussion with my

friend here as to the possession of this little hut

which your lordship sees me occupying." The lion,

who wanted to have "peace and tranquillity" in his

kingdom, replied in a noble voice, saying: "I command my ministers to appoint a Commission of

Enquiry to go thoroughly into this matter and

report accordingly. . . . I am sure that you will be

pleased with the findings of the Commission." The

man was very pleased by these sweet words from the

King of the Jungle, and innocently waited for his

opportunity, in the belief that naturally the hut

would be returned to him.

T h e e l e p h a n t , o b e y i n g t h e

comand of hi s ma s te r, got bus y

with other ministers to appoint the

Commission of Enquiry. The following elders of the jungle were

appointed to sit in the Commission: (1) Mr Rhinoceros; (2) Mr

Buffalo; (3) Mr Alligator; (4) The Rt

Hon. Mr Fox to act as chairman;

a n d ( 5 ) Mr L e o p a rd to a c t a s

Secretary to the Commission. On

s e e i n g t h e p e r s o n n e l , t h e ma n

protested and asked if it was not

n e c e s s a r y to i n c l u d e i n t h i s

Commission a member from his

side. But he was told that it was

impossible, since no one from his

side was well enough educated to

understand the intricacy of jungle

law. Further, that there was nothing

to f e a r, for the membe r s of thCommission were all men of repute for their impartiality in justice, and as they were gentlemen chosen

by God to look after the interests of races less adequately endowed with teeth and claws, he might rest

assured that they would investigate the matter with

the greatest care and report impartially.

The Commission sat to take the evidence. The Rt

Hon. Mr Elephant was first called. He came along

with a superior air, brushing his tusks with a sapling

which Mrs Elephant had provided, and in an authoritative voice said: "Gentlemen of the Jungle, there is

no need for me to waste your valuable time in relating a story which I am sure you all know. I have

always regarded it as my duty to protect the interests

of my friends, and this appears to have caused the

misunderstanding between myself and my friend

here. He invited me to save his hut from being blown

away by a hurricane. As the hurricane had gained

access owing to the unoccupied space in the hut, I

considered it necessary, in my friend's own interests,

to turn the undeveloped space to a more economic

use by sitting in it myself. . . ."

After hearing the Rt Hon. Mr Elephant's conclusive evidence, the Commission called Mr Hyena and

other elders of the jungle, who all supported what Mr

Elephant had said. They then called the man, who

began to give his own account of the dispute. But the

Commission cut him short, saying: "My good man,

please confine yourself to relevant issues. We have

already heard the circumstances from various unbiased sources; all we wish you to tell us is whether the

undeveloped space in your hut was occupied by any

one else before Mr Elephant assumed his position?"

The man began to say: "No, but-" But at this point

the Commission declared that they had heard sufficient evidence from both sides and retired to consider

their decision. After enjoying a delicious meal at the

expense of the Rt Hon. Mr Elephant, they reached

their verdict, called the man, and declared as follows:

"In our opinion this dispute has arisen through a

regrettable misunderstanding due to the backwardness

of your ideas. We consider that Mr Elephant has fulfilled his sacred duty of protecting your interests. As it

is clearly for your good that the space should be put

to its most economic use, and as you yourself have

not reached the stage of expansion which would

enable you to fill it, we consider it necessary to

arrange a compromise to suit both parties. Mr

Elephant shall continue his occupation of your hut,

but we give you permission to look for a site where

you can build another hut more suited to your needs,

and we will see that you are well protected."

The man, having no alternative, and fearing that

his refusal might expose him to the teeth and claws

of members of the Commission, did as they suggested.

But no sooner had he built another hut than Mr

Rhinoceros charged in with his horn lowered and

ordered the man to quit. A Royal Commission was

again appointed to look into the matter, and the

same finding was given. This procedure was repeated until Mr Buffalo, Mr Leopard, Mr Hyena and the

rest were all were accommodated with new huts.

Then the man decided that he must adopt an effective method of protection, since Commissions of

Enquiry did not seem to be of any use to him. . . .

Early one morning, when the huts already occupied by the jungle lords were all beginning to decay

and fall to pieces, he went out and built a bigger and

better hut a little distance away. No sooner had Mr

Rhinoceros seen it than he came rushing in, only to

find that Mr Elephant was already inside, sound

asleep. Mr Leopard next came to the window, Mr

Lion, Mr Fox and Mr Buffalo entered the doors,

while Mr Hyena howled for a place in the shade and

Mr Alligator basked on the roof. Presently they all

began disputing about their rights of penetration,

and from disputing they came to fighting, and while

they were all embroiled together the man set the hut

on fire and burnt it to the ground, jungle lords and

all. Then he went home, saying: "Peace is costly, but

it's worth the expense," and lived happily ever after

Answer 2

do u agree with the actionof the men at theend?why?