Why does an elephant have a long trunk. Fairy tale by Rudyard Kipling

Many, many years ago, my beloved, the elephant did not have a trunk - only a blackish thick nose, the size of boots; True, the elephant could turn it from side to side, but did not lift any things with it. At the same time, a very young elephant lived in the world, an elephant-child. He was terribly curious, and therefore he always asked everyone various questions. He lived in Africa, and no one in this vast country could satisfy his curiosity. Once he asked his tall uncle the ostrich why the best feathers grow on his tail, and instead of answering, the ostrich hit him with his strong paw. The baby elephant asked his tall aunt giraffe where the spots on her skin came from, and this aunt of the baby elephant kicked him with her hard, hard hoof. And yet the young elephant continued to be curious. He asked a fat hippopotamus why she had such red eyes, but she hit him with her fat, fat leg; then he asked his hairy baboon uncle why melons taste like melons, and the hairy baboon uncle slapped him with his hairy, hairy paw. Yet the elephant was filled with an insatiable curiosity. He asked about everything he saw, heard, smelled, touched or smelled, and all the uncles and aunts of the baby elephant only pushed and beat him; nevertheless, an insatiable curiosity was seething in him.

One fine morning, as the equinox approached, a curious baby elephant asked new question which has never been asked before. He asked, "What do you serve a crocodile for lunch?" And everyone said, "Sh!" - in a loud and fearful whisper, then they began to beat him and for a long time everyone pounded and pounded.

Finally, when the punishment was over, the baby elephant saw the bell bird; she sat in the middle of a thorn bush, which seemed to say: "Wait, wait." And the elephant said: “My father beat me; my mother beat me; my aunts and uncles beat me, and all because I am so insatiably curious, but I still want to know what the crocodile eats at dinner?

The bell-bird cried out sadly and said:

Go to the banks of the great greyish-green quiet river Limpopo, fringed with trees that make people sick with fever, and then you will know.

The very next morning, when there was no sign of the equinox, the curious elephant-child, taking a hundred pounds of bananas (small, short and yellow), a thousand pounds of sugarcane stalks (long, purple), seventeen melons (green, brittle), said to all my dear relatives:

Farewell, I'm going to the grey-green swampy Limpopo River, shaded by trees that smell of fever, and I'll see what the crocodile eats for lunch.

All the relatives beat him just like that, for luck, and beat him for a long time, although he very politely asked them to stop.

Finally, the baby elephant left; he was a little hot, but he was not surprised at this, he ate melons and threw crusts; after all, he could not lift them from the ground.

He went from the city of Gregham to Kimberley, from Kimberley to the Kama region, from the Kama region he headed north and west and ate melons all the time; finally, the elephant-child came to the bank of the great grey-green swampy river Limpopo, shaded by trees that smell of fever. Here everything was as the bell bird said.

Now, my beloved, you must learn and understand that until this very week, until this very day, hour, even until the last minute, the curious baby elephant had never seen a crocodile, and did not even know what he looked like. That's why he was so curious to look at this creature.

First of all he saw the two-colored rock python; this huge snake lay, surrounding the stone with her rings.

Excuse me for disturbing you,” said the baby elephant very politely, “but please tell me, have you seen anything like a crocodile anywhere in the area?”

Have I seen a crocodile? - answered the two-colored python of rocks in a voice contemptuous and spiteful. - Well, what else do you ask?

Excuse me, continued the elephant child, but can you kindly tell me what he eats at dinner?

The two-colored rock python quickly turned around and struck the elephant with its scaly, whip-like tail.

What a strange thing, - said the elephant child, - my father and my mother, my uncle and aunt, not to mention my other aunt, the hippo, and my other uncle, the baboon, beat me and kicked me for my insatiable curiosity, and now seems to start the same thing again.

He very politely said goodbye to the two-colored rock python, helped him wrap his body around the rock and left; the elephant felt hot, but he did not feel tired; he ate melons and threw rinds, because he could not lift them from the ground. And then the elephant-child stepped on something, as it seemed to him, on a log lying on the very bank of the large gray-green swampy river Limpopo, overgrown with trees that smell of fever.

And this was the crocodile, my beloved, and this crocodile winked with one eye.

Excuse me, - said the elephant-child very politely, - but have you seen a crocodile somewhere nearby?

The crocodile winked with the other eye, lifting its tail from the mud; the baby elephant stepped back politely; he didn't want to be beaten.

Come here, baby, said the crocodile. - Why do you ask?

I beg your pardon, the elephant child replied very politely, but my father beat me; my mother beat me, in a word, everyone beat me, not to mention my tall uncle the ostrich and my tall aunt giraffe, who kick cruelly; not to mention also my fat aunt, the hippopotamus, and my hairy uncle, the baboon, and including the two-colored rock python with its scaly, whip-like tail that hits the hardest of all; so, if you do not really want this, I ask you not to whip me with your tail.

Come here, baby, - the crocodile drawled, - the fact is that I am a crocodile. - And to prove that he was telling the truth, the crocodile cried crocodile tears.

The baby elephant stopped breathing in surprise; then, panting, he knelt on the shore and said:

It's you I've been looking for all these long, long days. Would you agree to say what you eat at dinner?

Come closer, baby, said the crocodile. And I'll whisper it in your ear.

The baby elephant pushed his head towards the crocodile's toothy mouth, and the crocodile grabbed the baby elephant by its short nose, which until that very week, until that day, hour and until that minute was no more than a boot, although much more useful than any shoe.

It seems, - said the crocodile (he said it through his teeth), - it seems that today I will start dinner with a baby elephant.

Hearing this, my beloved, the elephant felt annoyed and said through his nose:

Let it go! I'm in pain!

Tales of Kipling R. D. - Elephant-child (Elephant)
This is an elephant-child; the crocodile tugs at his nose. The elephant is very surprised and amazed, and it also hurts a lot, and he says through his nose: “Let go, it hurts me!” He tries his best to yank his nose out of the crocodile's mouth; the crocodile drags the elephant in the other direction. A two-colored rock python swims to help the baby elephant. The black streaks and spots are the banks of the great grey-green quiet Limpopo River (I was not allowed to color in the pictures), and the trees with curved roots and eight leaves are exactly the kind of trees that smell of fever.

Below this picture are the shadows of African animals walking into the African Noah's Ark. There are two lions, two ostriches, two bulls, two camels, two sheep and many pairs of other animals that live among the rocks. All these animals mean nothing. I drew them because they seemed pretty to me; and if I were allowed to color them, they would be downright lovely.

At that moment the two-colored rock python descended from the shore and said:

My young friend, if you do not pull your nose with all your might now, I believe your new acquaintance, covered in patent leather (he meant "crocodile"), will drag you into the depths of this transparent stream before you can say: "Jack Robinson.

This is the way the two-colored rock pythons always speak.

The baby elephant obeyed the rock python; he sat down on his hind legs and began to pull his nose out of the crocodile's mouth; he kept pulling and pulling it, and the baby elephant's nose began to stretch. The crocodile fussed and beat the water with his big tail, so that it foamed; at the same time he was pulling the elephant by the nose.

The baby elephant's nose continued to stretch; the elephant spread all his four legs and did not stop pulling his nose out of the mouth of the crocodile, and his nose became longer and longer. The crocodile, on the other hand, led the water with his tail, like an oar, and pulled and pulled the elephant by the nose; and every time he pulls on this nose, it will become longer. The elephant was in terrible pain.

Suddenly the elephant-child felt that his feet were slipping; he rode them along the bottom; Finally, speaking through his nose, which was now extended almost five feet, the baby elephant said, "I've had enough!"

The two-colored rock python descended into the water, wrapped around the hind legs of the elephant like two loops of rope and said:

Imprudent and inexperienced traveler, from now on we will seriously devote ourselves to important business, we will try to pull your nose with all our might, as it seems to me that this self-propelled warship with armor on the upper deck (in these words, my beloved, it meant a crocodile) will interfere with your further movements.

All bicolor rock pythons always speak in such confusing terms.

A bicolor python was pulling an elephant; the baby elephant stuck out its nose; the crocodile pulled him too; but the baby elephant and the two-colored rock python pulled harder than the crocodile, and at last the baby elephant released the nose, and the water splashed so that this splash could be heard along the entire length of the Limpopo River, up and downstream.

At the same time, the baby elephant suddenly sat down, or rather, plopped into the water, but before that he said to the python: “Thank you!” Then he took care of his poor nose, which had been tugged at for so long, wrapped it in fresh banana leaves, and dipped it into the water of the great, grey-green, quiet Limpopo River.

Why are you doing this? asked the two-colored rock python.

I beg your pardon, replied the elephant child, but my nose has completely lost its shape, and I am waiting for it to wrinkle and shrink.

You will have to wait a long time, - said the two-colored rock python. - Still, I note that many do not understand their benefits.

For three days the baby elephant sat and waited for his nose to shrink. But this nose was not made shorter; besides, he had to squint his eyes cruelly. My beloved, you will understand that the crocodile has stretched the elephant's nose into a real trunk, like those that you see now in all elephants.

Tales of Kipling R. D. - Elephant-child (Elephant) 2
Here is a picture of a baby elephant at the moment when he is about to pick bananas from the top of a banana tree with his beautiful new long trunk. I don't find this picture good, but I couldn't draw it better because drawing elephants and bananas is very, very difficult. Behind the baby elephant you see blackness, and stripes across it; I wanted to portray a marshy swampy area somewhere in Africa. The elephant-child made most of his cakes from silt, which he got from these swamps. It seems to me that the picture will become much more beautiful if you paint the banana tree green and the elephant red.

On the third day, a tsetse fly came and bit the elephant on the shoulder. The elephant, not understanding what he was doing, raised his trunk and killed the fly with its end.

Benefit number one, said the bicolor rock python. - You couldn't do that with your little nose. Well, now try to eat.

Before he had time to think what he was doing, the elephant-child stretched out his trunk, plucked a large tuft of grass, pounded these green stalks on his front legs to shake off the dust from them, and finally put them in his mouth.

Benefit number two, said the bicolor rock python. - You couldn't do that with your shorty nose. Do you think the sun is too hot?

Yes, - the elephant-child agreed and, before he even had time to think what he was doing, he scooped up silt from the gray-green swampy river Limpopo and smeared his head with it; the silt made a cool silty hat; water flowed from it behind the ears of a baby elephant.

Benefit number three, said the bicolor rock python. "You couldn't do that with your old shorty nose." Well, what do you say about the beaters that you were treated to? Will it start again?

I beg your pardon, - said the elephant-child, - I do not want this at all.

Wouldn't it be nice for you to beat someone up? - the two-colored python of rocks asked the elephant.

I would like it very much, - answered the elephant-child.

Well, - said the two-colored rock python, - you will see that your new nose will be useful when you decide to beat someone with it.

Thank you, - said the elephant-child, - I will remember this, and now I will go home to my dear relatives and see what happens next.

The baby elephant did indeed go home through Africa; he waved and twisted his trunk. When he wanted to eat fruits from trees, he took them from high branches; he did not have to wait, as before, for these fruits to fall to the ground. When he wanted grass, he tore it from the ground and he did not have to kneel down, as he did in the old days. When flies bit him, he tore off a branch from a tree and turned it into a fan; when the sun burned his head, he made himself a new, cool, damp hat of silt or clay. When he got bored, he sang, or rather, trumpeted through his trunk, and this song sounded louder than the music of several brass bands. He deliberately made a detour to see a fat hippo (she was not related to him) and beat her hard with his trunk to see if the two-colored rock python was telling the truth. For the rest of the time, he picked up melon peels from the ground, which he threw on the road to Limpopo. He did this because he was a very clean, thick-skinned animal.

One dark evening, the baby elephant returned to his dear relatives, folded his trunk into a ring and said:

How are you?

They were all very glad to see him and immediately said:

Come closer, we'll spank you for your insatiable curiosity.

Ba, - said the elephant-child, - I don't think that any of you knew how to fight; I know how to beat and now I will teach you how to do it.

Then he straightened his trunk, hit two of his dear relatives, so hard that they flew somersaults.

Miracles, they said, where did you learn such a thing? And pray tell, what have you done to your nose?

The crocodile gave me a new nose, and it happened on the banks of the big gray-green marshy river Limpopo, - answered the baby elephant. - I asked him what he had for dinner, and he stuck out my nose for it.

What a disgrace! - remarked the baboon, the hairy uncle of the baby elephant.

He is ugly, - said the elephant-child, - but very comfortable, - and, saying this, the baby elephant grabbed one leg of his hairy uncle with his trunk, picked him up and put him in a hornet's nest.

After that, the bad baby elephant beat all his dear relatives for a long time, beat him until they became very hot. They were completely surprised. The baby elephant tugged at his tall uncle the ostrich by his tail feathers; caught his tall aunt giraffe by her hind leg and dragged her through a thorny bush; when his fat aunt, a hippopotamus, after eating, was resting in the water, he put his trunk to her very ear, shouted two or three words to her, at the same time blowing a few bubbles through the water. But neither at that time, nor later, did he ever allow anyone to offend the bell bird.

Finally, all the cute relatives of the baby elephant began to get so excited that one by one they ran to the banks of the large gray-green swampy river Limpopo, shaded by trees that smell of fever; each of them wanted to get a new nose from a crocodile. When they returned home, they no longer beat each other; the uncles and aunts did not touch the baby elephant either. From this day on, my beloved, all the elephants you see and all that you do not see have very long trunks, just like the one that the curious baby elephant had.

The elephant is one of the largest land mammals. Its weight can reach up to 5 tons, so it has short legs that serve as a powerful support. Elephant tusks are actually just grown to huge size upper teeth, which play an important role in the life of the animal. But the most important organ of an elephant is the trunk. Some people think that the trunk serves only as a respiratory organ, but this is only one of its many functions.

What is a trunk?

The first thing a person notices when he sees, in addition to his size, is his trunk, which is an upper lip fused with a nose as a result of evolution. Thus, the elephants got a rather flexible and long nose, consisting of 500 different muscles, and at the same time not having a single bone (except for the cartilage on the bridge of the nose).

The nostrils, like in humans, are divided into two channels along the entire length. And at the tip of the trunk are small, but very strong muscles that serve the elephant like fingers. With their help, the elephant will be able to feel and pick up a small button or other small object.

First of all, the trunk performs the function of the nose, but with its help, elephants breathe, smell, and can also:

drink;
get your own food;
communicate with relatives;
lift small objects;
bathe;
to defend;
express emotions.

From all this it follows that the trunk is a useful and unique tool. AT Everyday life an adult elephant cannot do without a trunk, just as a person cannot do without hands. Reference. The baby elephant is not trained to properly use the trunk and constantly steps on it when walking. Therefore, before fully learning to control the trunk, the baby elephant simply uses it to hold on to the parent's tail while moving.

Food and drink

One of the most important functions of the trunk is the extraction of food and water. With the help of this organ, the animal searches for and extracts these vital products.

Food

The elephant differs from other mammals in that it consumes food mainly with its nose, with which it gets it. The diet of this animal depends on the type of elephant. Since the elephant is a mammal, it feeds mainly on plants, vegetables and fruits.

Protection from enemies

In conditions wildlife, in addition to tusks, the elephant also uses its trunk for protection. Due to the flexibility of the organ, the animal can repel blows from any direction, and the number of muscles in the trunk give it tremendous strength. The weight of the organ makes it an excellent weapon: in an adult, it reaches 140 kg, and a blow of such force is able to repel an attack from a dangerous predator.

Communication

Despite the fact that scientists have proven the ability of elephants to communicate using infrasound, the trunk plays an important role in the communication of these animals. Most often, this communication is as follows:

greeting - elephants greet each other with the help of a trunk;
helping offspring.

Elephants also use their trunks to communicate with their babies. Despite the fact that the little elephant still walks rather poorly, he has a need for movement, and his mother helps him in this. Holding on with their trunks, mother and cub move little by little, as a result of which the latter gradually learns to walk.

Also, adults can use the trunk to punish the offending offspring. At the same time, of course, the elephants do not put all their strength into the blow, but lightly spank the children. As for communication between elephants, these animals are very fond of touching each other with their trunks, stroking their “interlocutors” on the backs and showing their attention in every possible way.

They feed on plant foods, namely fruits and leaves, tree bark, grass. Elephants living in do not refuse sweets, cookies and bread. These large animals need a lot of water to maintain normal hydrobalance in the body. During the day, an elephant drinks up to 300 liters of water and eats about 300 kg of food.

A distinctive feature is the long trunk. The distant ancestors of elephants lived in and the trunk, then very small, allowed them to breathe underwater. After millions of years of evolution, elephants came out of the swamps and increased in size, the trunk lengthened as a result of adaptation to life.

The trunk is a sensitive organ with grasping reflexes, consisting of many muscles. There are about 40,000 of them, which makes this long process very strong and flexible. trunk performs a large number of functions, being for the same as hands, nose, lips and tongue.

With its trunk, an elephant picks leaves and fruits and bushes, collects grass under its feet, draws water from a pond, puts food and pours water into its mouth, waters itself during the heat, feels objects, makes a characteristic trumpet sound and uses it as protection. In addition, babies hold on to the tail of the one walking in front with their proboscis.

When collecting food, the elephant feels and sniffs it with the help of its trunk, and only then rips it off and puts it into its mouth. The giant loves sweet food and chooses sweet fruits like bananas. In captivity, he does not refuse apples, carrots and sweets. There is a misconception that an elephant drinks with the help of a trunk, in fact, he simply collects water, and then sends it to his mouth.

African elephants during intense heat or a long absence of rain, they refresh themselves with water from reservoirs, throwing their trunk back behind their heads and pouring water on their backs. When an elephant makes a trumpet sound, it spreads for several kilometers. This is how elephants let each other know where they are.

The elephant uses its trunk to protect itself and from predators. With one blow, he can kill the enemy or break his bones.

There is an unofficial holiday, Elephant Day, celebrated around the world on November 30th. It is sometimes called "Elephant's Elephant" and various events dedicated to elephants are held on this day. In addition, September 22 is World Elephant Day, on which animal advocates try to involve people in the problem of the extinction of this species.

In Thailand, the Elephant is a sacred animal, so the Elephant Festival is celebrated throughout. Ceremonies are held according to Buddhist rites, and a festive dinner is provided to the elephants. On this day, many foreign tourists flock to the country, which significantly affects the improvement of the economy.

Many, many years ago, my beloved, the elephant did not have a trunk - only a blackish thick nose, the size of boots; True, the elephant could turn it from side to side, but did not lift any things with it. At the same time, a very young elephant lived in the world, an elephant-child. He was terribly curious, and therefore he always asked various questions to everyone. He lived in Africa, and no one in this vast country could satisfy his curiosity. Once he asked his tall uncle the ostrich why the best feathers grow on his tail, and instead of answering, the ostrich hit him with his strong paw. The baby elephant asked his tall aunt giraffe where the spots on her skin came from, and this aunt of the baby elephant kicked him with her hard, hard hoof. And yet the young elephant continued to be curious. He asked a fat hippopotamus why she had such red eyes, but she hit him with her fat, fat leg; then he asked his hairy baboon uncle why melons taste like melons, and the hairy baboon uncle slapped him with his hairy, hairy paw. Yet the elephant was filled with an insatiable curiosity. He asked about everything he saw, heard, smelled, touched or smelled, and all the uncles and aunts of the baby elephant only pushed and beat him; nevertheless, an insatiable curiosity was seething in him.

One fine morning, as the equinox approached, a curious baby elephant asked a new question that had never been asked before. He asked, "What do you serve a crocodile for lunch?" And everyone said, "Sh!" - in a loud and fearful whisper, then they began to beat him and for a long time everyone beat and beat.

The bell-bird cried out sadly and said:

Go to the banks of the great greyish-green quiet river Limpopo, fringed with trees that make people sick with fever, and then you will know.

Farewell, I'm going to the grey-green swampy Limpopo River, shaded by trees that smell of fever, and I'll see what the crocodile eats for lunch.

All the relatives beat him just like that, for luck, and beat him for a long time, although he very politely asked them to stop.

Finally, the baby elephant left; he was a little hot, but he was not surprised at this, he ate melons and threw crusts; after all, he could not lift them from the ground.

First of all he saw the two-colored rock python; this huge snake lay with its coils around the stone.

Excuse me for disturbing you,” said the baby elephant very politely, “but please tell me, have you seen anything like a crocodile anywhere in the area?”

Have I seen a crocodile? - answered the two-colored python of rocks in a voice contemptuous and spiteful. - Well, what else do you ask?

Excuse me, continued the elephant child, but can you kindly tell me what he eats at dinner?

The two-colored rock python quickly turned around and struck the elephant with its scaly, whip-like tail.

And this was the crocodile, my beloved, and this crocodile winked with one eye.

Excuse me, - said the elephant-child very politely, - but have you seen a crocodile somewhere nearby?

The crocodile winked with the other eye, lifting its tail from the mud; the baby elephant stepped back politely; he didn't want to be beaten.

Come here, baby, said the crocodile. - Why do you ask?

Come here, baby, - the crocodile drawled, - the fact is that I am a crocodile. - And to prove that he was telling the truth, the crocodile cried crocodile tears.

The baby elephant stopped breathing in surprise; then, panting, he knelt on the shore and said:

It's you I've been looking for all these long, long days. Would you agree to say what you eat at dinner?

Come closer, baby, said the crocodile. And I'll whisper it in your ear.

It seems, - said the crocodile (he said it through his teeth), - it seems that today I will start dinner with a baby elephant.

Hearing this, my beloved, the elephant felt annoyed and said through his nose:

Let it go! I'm in pain!

This is an elephant-child; the crocodile tugs at his nose. The elephant is very surprised and amazed, and it also hurts a lot, and he says through his nose: “Let go, it hurts me!” He tries his best to yank his nose out of the crocodile's mouth; the crocodile drags the elephant in the other direction. A two-colored rock python swims to help the baby elephant. The black streaks and spots are the banks of the great grey-green quiet Limpopo River (I was not allowed to color in the pictures), and the trees with curved roots and eight leaves are exactly the kind of trees that smell of fever.

At that moment the two-colored rock python descended from the shore and said:

This is the way the two-colored rock pythons always speak.

The two-colored rock python descended into the water, wrapped around the hind legs of the elephant like two loops of rope and said:

Imprudent and inexperienced traveler, from now on we will seriously devote ourselves to an important matter, we will try to pull your nose with all our might, since it seems to me that this self-propelled warship with armor on the upper deck (those words, my beloved, he meant a crocodile) will interfere with your next steps.

All bicolor rock pythons always speak in such confusing terms.

Why are you doing this? asked the two-colored rock python.

I beg your pardon, replied the elephant child, but my nose has completely lost its shape, and I am waiting for it to wrinkle and shrink.

You will have to wait a long time, - said the two-colored rock python. - Still, I note that many do not understand their benefits.

Here is a picture of a baby elephant at the moment when he is about to pick bananas from the top of a banana tree with his beautiful new long trunk. I don't find this picture good, but I couldn't draw it better because drawing elephants and bananas is very, very difficult. Behind the baby elephant you see blackness, and stripes across it; I wanted to portray a marshy swampy area somewhere in Africa. The elephant-child made most of his cakes from silt, which he got from these swamps. It seems to me that the picture will become much more beautiful if you paint the banana tree green and the elephant red.

On the third day, a tsetse fly came and bit the elephant on the shoulder. The elephant, not understanding what he was doing, raised his trunk and killed the fly with its end.

Benefit number one, said the bicolor rock python. - You couldn't do that with your little nose. Well, now try to eat.

Benefit number two, said the bicolor rock python. - You couldn't do that with your shorty nose. Do you think the sun is too hot?

Benefit number three, said the bicolor rock python. "You couldn't do that with your old shorty nose." Well, what do you say about the beaters that you were treated to? Will it start again?

I beg your pardon, - said the elephant-child, - I do not want this at all.

Wouldn't it be nice for you to beat someone up? - the two-colored python of rocks asked the elephant.

I would like it very much, - answered the elephant-child.

Well, - said the two-colored rock python, - you will see that your new nose will be useful when you decide to beat someone with it.

Thank you, - said the elephant-child, - I will remember this, and now I will go home to my dear relatives and see what happens next.

One dark evening, the baby elephant returned to his dear relatives, folded his trunk into a ring and said:

How are you?

They were all very glad to see him and immediately said:

Come closer, we'll spank you for your insatiable curiosity.

Ba, - said the elephant-child, - I don't think that any of you knew how to fight; I know how to beat and now I will teach you how to do it.

Then he straightened his trunk, hit two of his dear relatives, so hard that they flew somersaults.

Miracles, they said, where did you learn such a thing? And pray tell, what have you done to your nose?

What a disgrace! - remarked the baboon, the hairy uncle of the baby elephant.

He is ugly, - said the elephant-child, - but very comfortable, - and, saying this, the baby elephant grabbed one leg of his hairy uncle with his trunk, picked him up and put him in a hornet's nest.

Of course, you know, little one, that in nature the one who is best adapted to the difficult, full of danger of life survives. Listen to the story of how the elephant got its trunk.

And it was all like this: a long time ago, millions of years ago, distant ancestors of elephants roamed the earth. Instead of a trunk, they had a slightly elongated fused nose and upper lip. With such a nose - a lip, elephants grabbed tidbits from trees. Some of the animals had a nose-lip that was at least a little longer, that got more food. These animals grew strong and hardy. But in nature, the fittest survive. This is how those elephant-like survived, whose nose-lip was at least a little longer than the rest. To cubs born into the world with more long noses-lips than their counterparts, life was easier. And the cubs of their cubs also had an easier life. So from generation to generation animals appeared, at least not by much, but with longer and longer noses - lips.

Centuries passed. And nature sifted out, selected from all animals the most enduring, most adapted to the difficulties of life, including elephants with long noses. Thanks to this natural selection nose - lip turned first into a short nose, and then into a real trunk. At the tip of the trunk, at first, something like a finger turned out, with which an elephant can even pick up a blade of grass from the ground. Once - and the elephant plucked a bunch of grass for them, two - a green twig, a delicious fruit, three - doused it on a hot day with water, like from a hose, four - sprinkled sand on the sides. The elephant even learned to trumpet with its trunk.