An elephant made friendship with a man. Driven by a heavy thunderstorm, the elephant sought shelter in the man’s hut that was on the edge of the forest. The elephant was allowed partial admission, but eventually he evicted the man from his hut and took full possession of the hut, saying: “My dear good friend, your skin is harder than mine, and there is not enough room for both of us. You can afford to remain in the rain while I am protecting my delicate skin from the hailstorm.”
A dispute between the elephant and the man ensued. This attracted the notice of the King of the Jungle. In the interest of peace and good order the Lion assured the grumbling man that he would appoint a Commission of Inquiry: “You have done well by establishing a friendship with my people, especially with the elephant, who is one of my honorable ministers of state. Do not grumble anymore, your hut is not lost to you. Wait until the sitting of my Imperial Commission, and there you will be given plenty of opportunity to state your case. I am sure you will be pleased with the findings of the Commission.”
The Commission was duly appointed. It comprised (1) Mr. Rhinoceros; (2) Mr. Buffalo; (3) Mr. Alligator; (4) The Rt. Hon. Mr. Fox to act as chairman; and (5) Mr. Leopard to act as Secretary to the Commission. The man asked that one of his kind be included on the Commission, but he was assured that none of his kind was educated enough to understand the intricacy of jungle law, and that the members of the Commission were God-chosen and would execute their business with justice.
The elephant gave his evidence: “Gentleman of the Jungle, there is no need for me to waste your valuable time in relating a story which I am sure you all know. I have always regarded it as my duty to protect the interests of my friends, and this appears to have caused the misunderstanding between myself and my friend here. He invited me to save his hut from being blown away by a hurricane. As the hurricane had gained access owing [to] the unoccupied space in the hut, I considered it necessary, in my friend’s own interests, to turn the undeveloped space to a more economic use by sitting in it myself; a duty which any of you would undoubtedly have performed with equal readiness in similar circumstances.”
Next the man gave interrupted evidence and the Commission delivered its verdict as follows: “In our opinion this dispute has arisen through a regrettable misunderstanding due to the backwardness of your ideas. We consider that Mr. Elephant has fulfilled his sacred duty of protecting your interest. As it is clearly for your good that the space should be put to its economic use, and as you yourself have not yet reached the age of expansion which would enable you to fill it, we consider it necessary to arrange a compromise to suit both parties. Mr. Elephant shall continue his occupation of your hut, but we give you permission to look for a site where you can build another hut more suited to your needs, and we shall see that you are well protected.”
The man, fearing exposure to the teeth and claws of the members of the Commission, had no alternative. He built another hut. Mr. Rhinoceros came and occupied it. Another Commission of Inquiry was set up. The man was advised to look for a new site. This went on until all the members of the Commission had been properly housed at the expense of the man. Then the desperate man said to himself, “Ng’enda thi ndeagaga motegi” (There is nothing that treads on the earth that cannot be trapped; i.e., You can fool people for a time, but not forever).
So the man built a big hut, and soon the lords of the jungle came and occupied the big hut. The man shut them in and set the hut on fire and all perished. The man returned home, saying: “Peace is costly, but it’s worth the expense.”
Summarize this story in three to four sentences.