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by Marriott Edgar
Illustrations by John Hassall
The origin of the proverb 'an elephant never forgets' is obscure, but since an elephant's lifespan in a zoo or circus is 20 to 30 years (50 to 70 years in the wild), it no doubt has lots of experiences to mull over while awaiting its next iced bun.
The brain of the elephant is larger than any other land mammal and large also relative to its body size. This doesn't necessarily correlate to enhanced memory but does indicate mental flexibility.
This means that even if an elephant cannot remember whether staring in the tourist's camera lens will result in temporary blindness from the flash, it might at least have the intelligence to know that the tourist is unlikely to post a copy of the photo for the elephant to frame and keep on the mantlepiece.
So don't worry if you are not so adept at remembering things; it just means you are not an elephant.
See also this fascinating article about some real elephants.
When Joe Dove took his elephants out on the road There were fifteen in all, so 'twere rather a job The pace it was set by the big 'uns in front, They were walking one Sunday from Blackpool to Crewe, | |
They travelled along at a rattling good pace They came to a place where the railway crossed road, They was half way across when Joe saw the express, He saw if he didn't do something at once When they caught sight of buns they all started to run, |
Joe ran ahead and waggled the buns |
The express came dashing along at full speed, Joe thought she were dead when he saw her lyin' there, She waggled her tail and she twiggled her trunk; |
When driver of th' engine got down from his cab Said the driver, "There's no need to mak' all this fuss, Joe still walks around with his elephant troupe, |
Aggie just managed to say "Eighty-five" |