Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1890-04-08
He Was Anxious To Hatch an Ele-
phant.


At the last fair at Tarascon, France
there were, of course, assembled &
troup of gymnasts, jugglers, acrobats
and a multitude of menageries, in one
of which was an Asiatic elephant re-
markable for the largeness of his ears.
His owner called him "Kiouki H."
Among the acrobatic troupe was a
maker of red balloons, so popular in
England and America. He travels
with the show, and seduced a couple
of sous from the pocket of many a
patron of it by selling him balloon.
A countryman stopped one day be-
fore the menagerie tent, and enticed
by painted representation of the
elephant, paid his money to see him.
Astonished at his size, he asked the
balloon man as he went out:
"Does that beast bring forth young
or lay eggs2"
"He lays eggs"
81 thought So"
"And if you wish one, to afford you
the happiness of possessing under
your own roof an individual of his
species, for franc | will guarantee
that you shall carry home what no
one else in the county possesses"
The greenhorn did not hesitate to
offer his money, and the acrobat pre-
sented a red balloon.
Behold the egg l had the honor to
promise you. 1t is one franc only
and only for you, because the Jardin
des Plantes, at Paris, buys all my
elephants eggs at six francs apiece,
for the Algerine expedition, where
they use all the elephants they can
find for the war against India. |
choose the lightest egg 1 could find
for you. that you might not wait too
long for it to hatch. Its mother
having sat upon it many days, it will
suffice you to wrap it in wool, and
lay it in a dry place, to obtain with
out expense and without effort, the
magnificent Asiatic produce which it
contains"
Astonishing but now in regard to
sucking himp
Easy enough. No consequence
what quadruped nourishes him
Lacking a COW, SOW or even goat
you can bring him up yourself on
turtle SOUP"
The countryman departed, charm
ed with his prize, and to keep it as
safely as possible wrapped it in {
blue cotton handkerchief, which he
had bought at the fair for his wife
But in spite of all the care of which
the egg that bore Kiouki III. was the
object, it was written in the Book Of
Destiny that its proprietor should
never see it Matched under his roof.
Some little distance from the vii
lage where our countryman resides
runs a stream. He approached it for
the purpose of making cup with his
hands, and deposited his precious
burden ON the ground. He drank
freely of the water, then rising, turn
ed to his elephants egg. He looks
above him, sees the egg rising higher
higher and carrying with it his
wife's handkerchief.
He believed that the elephant was
about to be Matched, and it was not
long after the egg was out OF sight
that he returned home crestfallen.
His wife asked him where the hand
kerchief was he had promised to bring
her. Then he narrated the entire adj
venture. The good woman opened
her eyes and ears, and, seeing hel
husbands grief not only at the loss
of the elephant but of the handker
chief, exclaimed:
"Content yourself, husband; I'll bt
content with my black handkerchief
and Pam glad to know that the poo
baby hasn't gore off without swad
ding clotheswl Boston Gazette.