Parables of Wisdom
The Elephant and the Mice
हाथी और चूहे · હાથી અને ઉંદરો
The smallest creatures in the forest keep a very big promise
- 4 min full story
- 2 min children's telling
- For all ages
A herd of elephants on the way to the lake keeps trampling the homes of a thousand mice. When the mouse king makes a brave request, the elephant king listens, and neither of them knows how much that will matter.
What it teaches Kindness Gratitude Respect for all beings
The opening of the children's telling
Long ago there was an old empty town. No people lived there any more, but lots and lots of little mice did. They had cosy homes under the ground.
Near the town lived a family of elephants. Every day they walked through the town to drink at the big lake. Stomp, stomp, stomp! Their big feet squashed the mice's homes. The mice were very sad.
Read the whole story See plans
To carry into the day
No one is too small to matter, or too small to help.
To talk about together
The elephants did not mean to hurt the mice. Why was it still important for them to change their path?
Retold for JainStory from the traditional narrative and checked against published Jain sources. Details vary between tellings.