Once upon a time, there were not so many people. In one small village in India lived a young man. This man liked to talk to everybody, to learn from the old men and women, and give help to anybody who would ask for it.

  He moved from village to village helping people, and soon he was known all over the valleys and mountains in India. Some people traveled long distances to talk with or solely to see that man. Everybody thought he was a very good man.

   One day, this man wanted to feel peace, just that, peace, because there were many people trying to talk to him, and he could not spend time as he wanted, and liked to do. So, he said goodbye and went to the jungle! Everybody stopped watching him walking inside there. That place was full of dangerous animals, tigers, wolfs, big monkeys, and huge elephants. Everybody was scared of them.

   He was inside the jungle, and he walked and walked, and finally...! He saw a fantastic small lake! It was very very nice place with even a little waterfall. He drank the water, cold and excellent, and ate some fruits he found there. He fall asleep...

  One big snake was going directly to him from the back, and he was sleeping! And then a tiger appeared, also going towards him from the front

  Both where moving very, very quietly trying not to wake him up, but the man’s stomach made a strange sound, and he opened one eye! He saw the tiger, and then, turning his head very slowly to look backwards he saw the snake! He though he was going to die. He remembered the people of the village, how they were afraid of the animals there!

  And, suddenly an elephant appeared! He thought that he was going to die for sure, that huge animal, with the trunk moving like a snake, and the huge teeth, bigger than those of a tiger!!.. Suddenly, the elephant made a big sound, which reminded Buddha that of a trumpet! The tiger and the snake disappeared!

  He thought "Of course, it is much bigger, and they are afraid too".
  The elephant was getting closer. The man was praying, and thinking that this was his end.

  The elephant stopped and then, put his trunk in the head of the man, and very slowly move it to his back, and then taking the clothes with the trunk lifted the man in the air. The man didn't shout. He was just looking to the big animal, trying to see his eyes, and fascinated by his power. He was still thinking he was going to die.

  Then, the man said to the elephant "what do you want?" The elephant was surprised. But stopped raising the man.
  The elephant moved the man so that he looked into his eyes. The man asked again "What do you want? Do you want to eat me?"

  The elephant released the trunk, and the man fell to the ground. "Maybe I shouldn't ask that, sorry" said the man. But the elephant was laughing! And the man thought, " Is he laughing? Is this possible?" so he got closer to the animal, and asked, "Are you laughing?" And the elephant made a very loud noise and nodded!

  The man was very surprised. He understood! So, the man said to the elephant

   "People call me Buddha, how are you called?"

  The elephant moved his head, as if he was thinking, and then cried "puuuuuuuuuaaaaaeeeeeeee"... Buddha was moved by the sound! "I cannot call you that! Listen: puuaae, it doesn't sound the same...” the Elephant drew an X on the ground with his trunk. "X, you want me to call you X?"
  The elephant moved the head agreeing. "Okay X, you are not going to eat me, are you?"

  X moved his head, and as explanation, took a lot of grass eating it. The Buddha understood why X was laughing when he said, "Do you want to eat me?" when he asked about that.

  "Are there more like you around here?"
  X "said" yes.
  "We call the animals like you Elephants."
  X laughed again.
  "Yes, maybe is not a very good name. I don't know. Do you have a name for us?"
  X said "poooooooooowwwwwwwwwww!"
  "I see, really interesting... although difficult!"
  X nodded.
  "By the way, Thanks for saving me from the tiger and the snake, I know that they are very dangerous"
  X moved the head.
  "What? They are not dangerous?"
  X agreed.
  "They wanted to eat me!"
  X took some grass giving part to him, and then eating the rest. Buddha understood that they were just going to kill him to eat, not for fun.
  "I think you are very clever"
  X hide his head.
  "Yes, really, very intelligent, do you want me to do something for you?"
  X didn't reply for a second but then said yes.
  "What?"
  X then moved very closed to the ground and guided Buddha to climb on him.
  "Why? Okay, okay, I am seated"

  Suddenly, X stood up, and started to run. "Hey, Hey! What happened? Be careful with that tree!" CRAAASH!
  "Ok, that's fine, no more tree". They run across the jungle until they got closer to its borders of the jungle, and X seated down. Buddha descended. "Well, it was good, but a little scary." X was not looking to him. Buddha turned to see where X was looking. It was a village very similar to others he had gone.
  And then he saw people killing each other. They were drunk, and stealing almost everything. Buddha was very impressed. He wanted to go there, but the elephant stopped him. There was nobody left to save. X made Buddha to ride him again. They ran quickly to another place. There, some people were working; while others were either doing nothing or maybe beating them to make them work. This time Buddha went out from the jungle.
  "What is this?"
  "It is not your business!"
  "Why are you beating that people?"
  "They belong to me, I can do whatever I want"
  "Can you tell me why they belong to you?"
  "I brought them from far away, they are barbarians, and... Maybe you can work for me too, CATCH HIM!" he ordered to some other people who were doing nothing.
  Buddha realized that he was in an unknown land, with strange people, with no respect for anything. And he was being attacked!
  The attackers stopped when they saw the huge elephant getting closer to Buddha and covering him with his shadow. X stood there. Then Buddha walked and released the people that were very scared as well.
  "Come on, come on" he said to them. X was ready to carry them. They disappeared in the jungle. Buddha talked with the people, and found out that they were slaves. They were pacific and had been kidnapped to work in the fields.
  X soon arrived closer to a village and the people went there, telling the story, but none believed them.
  Buddha asked X "How do you know all of that?"
  X made a sign with the trunk pointing the ears.
  "Aahh... so you know whatever happens in the jungle"
  X agreed.
  "What do you want from me? Help you and help the people"
  X agreed.
  "How can I help the people?"
  X pointed the body of Buddha, near the heart, then pointed Buddha's head, and finally pointed to himself.
  "That means, with my heart, my knowledge, and you?"
  X agreed.
  "And how I will help you? Using you?"
  X agreed, and a lot more elephants appeared behind him.
  Buddha understood.

  He would help the elephants to become friends of people and they would be safe from the attacks of the bad humans.

  It was clever. The people would also have the protection and the strength of the elephants, so everybody was going to obtain something.
  Buddha thought that it was not enough. He should do something more, and teaching, and talking about what he learnt in the jungle could be a good idea rather than going away alone. So, that was what he did.
  Once upon a time, there was a Buddha and an Elephant....

Thanks for their help to Patricia and Javi.

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