Toomai of the Elephants is a short story by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

about a young elephant-handler. It was first published in the December 1893 issue of ''

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

'' magazine and reprinted in the collection of Kipling short stories, ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, ...

'' (1894). The character Petersen Sahib is thought to be modelled on India-born English naturalist

George P. Sanderson George Peress Sanderson (1848– 5 May 1892, Madras) was a British naturalist who worked in the public works department in the princely state of Mysore. He began a system for capturing wild elephants that were destructive to agriculture so as t ...

(1848–1892). The story was filmed in

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

as '' Elephant Boy'' directed by

Robert Flaherty Robert Joseph Flaherty, (; February 16, 1884 – July 23, 1951) was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, ''Nanook of the North'' (1922). The film made his reputatio ...

and

Zoltan Korda Zoltan Korda (June 3, 1895 – October 13, 1961) was a Hungarian-born motion picture screenwriter, director and producer. He made his first film in Hungary in 1918, and worked with his brother Alexander Korda on film-making there and in London. ...

, starring Sabu. The story was also produced in 1973 as the TV series '' Elephant Boy'' starring Esrom Jayasinghe.

Plot

Big Toomai, the boss driver of elephants, takes little pleasure from his work. But his 10-year-old son, Little Toomai, loves the elephants and they understand his kindness. Asking to go on a hunt, his father tells him he can go when he sees the elephants dance, which is something that no man has ever seen an elephant do.

References

Sources

*''Toomai of the Elephants''. London: Macmillan and Co., 1937 ("the photographs illustrating this edition are from the London Film Production «Elephant Boy» ... most of these photographs were taken in India by Mrs. F. H. Flaherty.")

External links

The story
an

on kipling.org.uk

— Online eBook format (''

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

'') The Jungle Book stories Short stories by Rudyard Kipling Works originally published in St. Nicholas Magazine Male characters in literature Child characters in literature Elephants in literature Literary characters introduced in 1893 Short stories adapted into films 1893 short stories {{1890s-story-stub