The Elephant's Bicycle

One fine morning, a little elephant went for a walk in the jungle. As he wandered happily, his eyes caught sight of a small, shiny, two-wheeled bicycle standing near a tree. The walk was instantly forgotten. He rushed toward the bicycle, which looked brand new and sparkling clean.

“Wow, what a beautiful bicycle!” he thought.
“It looks just like the one I saw with that human child the other day.”

The little elephant admired it from all sides, his heart filled with desire.
“I wish this bicycle was mine… but whose is it?” he wondered.

He looked around.
The jungle was completely silent.
“No one's watching... then this bicycle is mine!” he said to himself excitedly.

He climbed up on the seat and began to pedal slowly. The bicycle started moving. His heart beat faster with joy. Soon, he reached a wider path and started pedaling faster.

But suddenly, he felt sad.
“This bicycle is amazing… but it’s not mine. It must belong to someone else. Wait… did I just steal it? Am I a thief?”

“No, no! I just found it lying here. So it’s mine now,” he argued with himself and began pedaling even faster.

Just then, he saw a mouse sitting inside a hollow tree trunk, reading a storybook.
“Hey, Mouse! How are you?” the elephant waved.

He stopped the bicycle and said proudly,
“I’m out for a morning ride… on my own bicycle!”

Mouse looked confused.
“Your bicycle? How is this your bicycle?”

The elephant replied,
“Of course, it’s mine! Can’t you see I’m riding it?”

Mouse said wisely,
“Just because you're riding it doesn’t make it yours. I’ve seen a little boy riding this same bicycle. He lives in a small house at the edge of the jungle. Our teacher says if we find something lying around, we don’t just keep it. We must return it.”

The elephant got nervous.
“Go away, Mouse! Mind your own business. This is my bicycle now!” he said loudly, but inside, he was scared.
“What if Mouse tells everyone?”

Trying to forget the guilt, he rang the bell on the bicycle – trinn trinn!
The sound was so fun he rang it again and again. He even let out a happy trumpet – phrrraaaah!

At that moment, Choon Choon the sparrow was preparing breakfast in her nest. Hearing the bell and trumpet, she wondered,
“What's going on? Usually, the little elephant only cries like this when he’s punished for skipping school. But why is he ringing a bell today?”

She looked down and was shocked to see the little elephant riding a shiny new bicycle.
“How can elephants afford such expensive bicycles?” she thought.
“He must have taken it from somewhere!”

She flew off quickly to spread the news. But when she reached the meeting ground, all the jungle animals were already there! The mouse had gathered them and told them everything.

Everyone agreed the bicycle must be returned to its real owner – the boy.

Suddenly, the bell was heard again — trinn trinn! — and the elephant came into view.

When he saw all the animals staring at him, he got nervous. As he reached near, they surrounded him.

“Where did you buy this bicycle?” asked Rabbit, stroking the seat.

“Buy? Ha! He must have taken it from someone,” said Mouse.

“I didn’t snatch it from anyone!” protested the elephant.
“It’s mine!”

“Then tell us where you got it!” Fox scolded.
“If you found it, why didn’t you try to return it to its owner?”

Realizing the animals wouldn’t back off, the elephant gave Monkey a little push and tried to escape with the bicycle.

“Stop him! Catch him! Don’t let him get away!” shouted the animals.

The elephant pedaled with all his strength.
“I’m fast!” said Rabbit, “I’ll catch him!”
Fox and Mouse ran behind too. Choon Choon flew above them.

When the elephant looked back, he saw them chasing him.
So he sped up — faster and faster — too fast!

The bicycle went out of control. Suddenly, a big rock appeared in the path. The bicycle hit the rock, flew in the air, and crashed to the ground.

Thud!
The little elephant hit his head and lost consciousness.

When he woke up, he was in the jungle hospital.
His head was bandaged. Mom and Dad Elephant were beside him. All the animals were there too.

“Dear,” said Mom Elephant, “when we find something, that doesn’t make it ours. You took something that wasn’t yours and lied about it. That’s why you got hurt.”

“I made a mistake,” said the little elephant.
“I’m really sorry. Please forgive me.”

Dad Elephant smiled gently.
“It’s good you realized your mistake. That matters the most. We’ll get you your very own bicycle. But promise us you’ll never do something like this again.”

“I promise, Dad! I promise!” the elephant said quickly.

All the animals took turns talking to him kindly.
Choon Choon Sparrow flew off once again — to spread the happy news that the little elephant had admitted his mistake and learned his lesson.


---

Moral of the Story:
If you find something that’s not yours, it doesn’t become yours. Always return lost things and never lie.