Ella the Elephant took a walk one day, to visit her friend Leo the Lion. It was a lovely morning, and as she strolled down the jungle path she put her trunk up into the trees to smell the beautiful flowers.
“I don’t know when I have spent such a nice morning,” she said out loud.
Leo the Lion was waiting for her just outside the entrance into his cave.
“Good morning, dear Ella,” he said. “Come in and see my babies.”
Ella the Elephant walked into the cave and saw the little lion babies rolling over and over on the floor, or trying to creep up to the huge paw of their father Lion, and pat it with their little claws, as they wanted him to play with them. When they heard somebody coming they all stopped and sat up, trying to look as innocent as possible.
“Good morning, my children,” said Ella. “I see you are all well this morning.”
Then the little lions all stood up and ran to their mother, and she licked their little faces with her tongue and gave them a fuss.
Just then little Leo, the youngest of them all, came crawling up to Ella, and she patted him with her trunk and said, “What, Leo, you here too! I am afraid you will get underfoot, you are so little.”
But she had gone a little too close, for at that moment Ella stepped on the tiny tail of Leo and gave a squeak of pain, and the lion baby squeaked too.
“Why, what is that noise?” said Leo the Lion.
“I am afraid, father, that I have stepped on little Leo’s tail,” said Ella.
“Better look where you are going, Ella,” said Leo; and just then they both heard a banging noise outside the cave.
“What can that be?” said Ella.
“That is nothing but the doves banging their wings. They have been having a fight about something or other, but they make so much noise just over my cave that I cannot sleep.”
Ella listened for a moment, and then said, “Listen, Leo, that is fish-hawk screaming overhead. He is too cross this morning.”
Just then a piece of paper blew into the cave. Ella took it up with her trunk, and looking at it said, “See how dirty our lovely jungle is getting! Why, look at that bit of broken glass that has blown up. It is very dangerous for the babies if they play about when the glass is on the ground at all. But see what filthy creatures the Apes are! They always throw things about.”
Little Leo rubbed his nose against Ella’s trunk and said, “I wish all the dirty things was picked up and burned.”
“I shall call a meeting of the entire jungle, and then we can sent the monkeys to the Human Beings to tell them what we want,” said Ella. “I shall tell the doves to fly up beside the fish-hawk, and to show him this bit of paper. Then he will tell all the jungle that the meeting is at Prince Leo’s Cave. Now don’t you forget, all you birds and animals; come to-morrow afternoon at four o’clock, and I will give you something to do when you come.”
So all the birds and beasts attended to their parts, and soon all the jungle knew that the meeting would be at the Prince’s Cave. At four o’clock all the animals, and the birds that could gather could pick their heads and down the iron steps to do the Princess was not at all pleased that all her children should be eaten for the first and second courses.
“Now that we are all here,” said Ella, “let us go to work. I suggest that we divide up into parties, and if you see a bit of rubbish lie on the ground and give a squawk or a roar! This will be quite enough to call to the other monkeys attention. They will come to your help at once and pick up everything that you point out.”
So that was what they all did, and by night the jungle looked quite different, and Ella and Leo and all the mothers of the jungle were very pleased.