The Mice That Set Elephants Free

Once there was a place where the people had gone, and the houses and temples had fallen into ruins. The mice had lived there longer than anyone could remember. They filled the cracks in the floors of the old mansions with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, until their holes made a thick tangle. They were very happy there, and they spent their days having festivals, putting on plays they had written themselves, holding weddings and feasts and parties. So the years went by.

Then an elephant king came marching through with thousands of elephants behind him. He had heard there was a lake nearby and was leading his herd to drink. As they tramped through the town of the mice, they crushed every mouse that got in their way.

The mice who survived held a meeting. “These clumsy elephants are killing us,” they said. “If they come this way again, there won’t be enough of us left to start again. We must find a way out of this.”

So a group of mice went to the lake, bowed to the elephant king and spoke politely. “O King, our town is not far from here. Our families have lived there for generations. When you came to drink, you crushed thousands of us, and if you come that way again, none of us will be left. If you feel any pity for us, please take a different path. And remember that even creatures as small as we are may be useful to you one day.”

The elephant king thought about what they had said, decided that it was perfectly fair, and promised to do as they asked.

Some time later, a king ordered his hunters to catch elephants. They dug a trap by the water, caught the elephant king and his whole herd, and after three days dragged them out with great ropes and tied them to strong trees in that same forest. Then the hunters went away.

The elephant king wondered, “How can I get free? Who will help me?” Then he remembered: “Only the mice can save us.” One of his herd, a female elephant who had not gone into the trap and who knew where the mice lived, carried the message to them, explaining just how the elephants were tied.

When the mice heard what had happened, thousands of them hurried to the place, eager to repay the elephant king’s kindness. They gnawed through the ropes at the bottom of the trees, then ran up the branches and bit through the ropes higher up, until every elephant was free.

About this fable

This tale comes from Book II, “The Winning of Friends,” in Arthur W. Ryder’s 1925 Panchatantra. The tortoise Slow hears it from his friends, and it supports the book’s advice: make friends, however strong you are, because even the smallest friend may save you.

Read the original: Arthur W. Ryder, The Panchatantra (1925), Internet Archive

Reading guidance: Ages 9–12; the opening describes many mice being crushed to death. The later rescue is hopeful, but does not make the whole story a gentle preschool tale.

A closer reading

The elephant king’s first useful act is listening to an account of harm his herd has caused. He does not demand that the mice prove their future usefulness before agreeing to change paths. Respecting their safety is reasonable in its own right.

Later the balance of ability changes: enormous bodies cannot break the ropes, while small teeth can cut them. The free female elephant is also essential because she carries the message between the trapped herd and its helpers. The rescue depends on communication as well as size-defying strength.

Try this with the story

Draw the request and reply between mice and elephant king, then the later message carried by the free elephant. Explain what would fail if any one of those communications were missing. Discuss why changing the path would still be right even without a later reward.

Talk about it

• What harm does the elephant king agree to prevent?
• Why does the free female elephant matter to the rescue?
• Should the mice need to promise repayment before their homes are respected?

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• The Lion and the Mouse — Aesop’s famous small helper
• The Crow-Rat Discourse — the Book II frame about friendship
• The Rescue of a Deer — Book II friends to the rescue