The Tail Of The Princess Elephant

There once lived a woman who had three sons. These sons were very much attached to their mother and always tried to please her. She at last grew very old and feeble. The three sons began to think what they could do to give her great pleasure. The eldest promised that when she was dead he would cut a fine sepulchre in stone for her. The second said he would make a beautiful coffin. The youngest said, “I will go and get the tail of the princess elephant and put it in the coffin with her.” This promise was by far the hardest one to keep.

Soon after this their mother died. The youngest son immediately set out on his search, not knowing in the least where he would be likely to find the tail. He travelled for three weeks, and at the end of that time he came to a little village. There he met an old woman, who seemed very much surprised to see him. She said no human creature had ever been there before. The boy told the tale of his search for the princess elephant. The old woman replied that this village was the home of all the elephants, and the princess slept there every night. But she warned him that if the animals saw him they would kill him. The young man begged her to hide him – which she did, in a great pile of wood.

She also told him that when the elephants were all asleep he must get up and go to the eastern corner. There he would find the princess. He must walk boldly over, cut off the tail and return in the same manner. If he were to walk stealthily, the elephants would waken and seize him.

The animals returned as it was growing dark. They said at once that they smelt a human being. The old woman assured them that they were mistaken. Their supper was ready, so they ate it and went to bed.

In the middle of the night the young man got up and walked boldly across to where the princess slept. He cut off the tail and returned as he had come. He then started for home, carrying the tail very carefully.

When daylight came the elephants awoke. One said he had dreamed that the princess’s tail was stolen. The others beat him for thinking such a thing. A second said he also had had the dream, and he also was beaten. The wisest of the elephants then suggested that they might do well to go and see if the dream were true. This they did. They found the princess fast asleep and quite ignorant of the loss of her tail. They wakened her and all started off in chase of the young man.

They travelled so quickly that in a few hours they came in sight of him. He was afraid when he saw them coming and cried out to his favourite idol (which he always carried in his hair), “O my juju Depor! What shall I do?” The juju advised him to throw the branch of a tree over his shoulder. This he did and it immediately grew up into a huge tree, which blocked the path of the elephants. They stopped and began to eat up the tree – which took them some little time.

Then they continued their way again. Again the young man cried, “O my juju Depor! What shall I do?” “Throw that corn-cob behind you,” answered the juju. The lad did so, and the corn-cob immediately grew into a large field of maize.

The elephants ate their way through the maize, but when they arrived at the other side they found that the boy had reached home. So they had to give up the chase and return to their village. The princess, however, refused to do so, saying, “I will return when I have punished this impudent fellow.”

She thereupon changed herself into a very beautiful maiden, and taking a calabash cymbal in her hand approached the village. All the people came out to admire this lovely girl.

She had it proclaimed through the village that whoever succeeded in shooting an arrow at the cymbal should have her for a bride. The young men all tried and failed. An old man standing by said, “If only Kwesi – the cutter of the princess elephant’s tail – were here, he could hit the cymbal.” “Then Kwesi is the man I will marry,” replied the maiden, “whether he hit the cymbal or not.”

Kwesi was quickly fetched from the field where he was ploughing, and told of his good luck. He, however, was not at all delighted to hear of it, as he suspected the maiden of some trick.

However, he came and shot an arrow which struck the centre of the cymbal. The damsel and he were accordingly married. She was all the time preparing to punish him.

The night following their marriage she turned into an elephant, while Kwesi was asleep. She then prepared to kill him, but Kwesi awoke in time. He called, “O my juju Depor! Save me!” The juju turned him into a grass mat lying on the bed and the princess could not find him. She was most annoyed and next morning asked him where he had been all night. “While you were an elephant I was the mat you lay on,” replied Kwesi. The damsel took all the mats from the bed and burned them.

Next night the princess again became an elephant and prepared to kill her husband. This time the juju changed him into a needle and his wife could not find him. She again asked him in the morning where he had been. Hearing that the juju had helped him again she determined to get hold of the idol and destroy it.

Next day Kwesi was going again to his farm to plough a field. He told his wife to bring him some food to the resting-place. This time she had fairly made up her mind that he should not escape. When he had had his food she said, “Now lay your head in my lap and sleep.” Kwesi quite forgot that his juju was hidden in his hair and did as she bid. As soon as he was asleep she took the juju out of his hair and threw it into a great fire which she had prepared. Kwesi awoke to find her an elephant once more. In great fear he cried out, “O my juju Depor! What am I to do?” All the answer he got, however, came from the flames. “I am burning, I am burning, I am burning.” Kwesi called again for help and the juju replied, “Lift up your arms as if you were flying.” He did so and turned into a hawk.

That is the reason why hawks are so often seen flying in the smoke of fires. They are looking for their lost juju.

Moral

A princess elephant’s tail becomes the center of a family drama, where the youngest son’s curiosity and compassion triumph over his brothers’ vanity and greed, revealing that kindness outweighs material advantage.

Historical & Cultural Context

African folk tales, drawn from oral traditions across the Akan, Zulu, Yoruba and Swahili peoples among many others, blend trickster figures (especially Anansi the spider) with creation myths, moral parables and lessons about community, cunning and kinship.

This etiological tale – explaining a natural phenomenon through narrative – belongs to the Central and East African storytelling corpus, particularly among Bantu-speaking peoples where animal fables teach ecological and social lessons. The elephant holds sacred status in many African traditions, representing wisdom and family bonds. Such tales, recorded in the oral traditions of the Zulu and Xhosa peoples, explored sibling dynamics and the concept of ubuntu – the principle that one’s humanity is bound to others’. The story’s focus on a younger son achieving wisdom through right action mirrors Bantu narrative patterns where social hierarchy is challenged by moral virtue. The princess elephant’s predicament allowed communities to discuss proper conduct toward elders and sacred creatures.

Reflection & Discussion

1. Why did the brothers initially want the tail, and what changed their minds?
2. What does the youngest son’s choice reveal about his character compared to his brothers?
3. How does treating someone with respect change your own life for the better?

Did You Know?

• Elephants have remarkable memories and are the largest land animals.
• Anansi the Spider is one of the most beloved trickster characters in West African folklore.
• West African folk tales were carried across the Atlantic during the slave trade and influenced American folklore traditions.

What This Tale Teaches Us Today

Old stories keep their power because their lessons never stop being useful. Here is how this one still applies:

• Everyone has something about themselves that feels ‘different.’ These tales gently teach that difference, when honored rather than hidden, often turns out to be a gift.
• Real love sees the whole person, including what others dismiss. The tale asks us to become that kind of seer for the people we care about.
• Bullying and teasing based on physical traits are as old as these stories. The story is a 1,000-year-old argument that kindness is always the more beautiful response.

Why This Story Still Matters

Bengali folk tales like ‘The Tail Of The Princess Elephant’ belong to an oral tradition that is still alive today. Grandmothers in Bengali villages still tell these stories to children in the evenings, preserving not just the plot but the local accents, jokes, and asides that make each telling unique. When these tales are written down in books and websites, they reach children whose families long since left those villages, keeping a thread of culture connected across generations and continents.

Stories that celebrate unusual features – a long tail, a strange birthmark, an unusual voice – carry a message that children everywhere need to hear: you are not a mistake. What makes you different is often exactly what makes you valuable. In a world that sometimes pressures everyone to look and sound the same, old folk tales like this one are tiny acts of resistance in favor of uniqueness.