The Chained Elephant The baby elephant had her foot chained to a tiny stake nailed to the ground. Despite this, she yearned to know the world and learn many new things. So, from the first day that the circus owner tied her to the spot, the brave and vigorous little elephant tried to free herself from captivity. Every single day she tugged hard at the chain, trying to pull the stake out. Feeling exhausted at the end of each day, she would lay down crying and thinking that this wooden post was stronger than her. Then, she would fail sleep. However, this little elephant was obstinate, and relentlessly carried on pulling at the stake for weeks and then months until, one day, she finally gave up. Many years passed, and that cute baby elephant became a beautiful, gigantic adult elephant. She was admired by all the people who came to see her doing the silly pirouettes she had been forced to learn. The circus’s owner, after all these years, had only removed her chain in order to change it for a bigger one that better suited her large foot. However, he never cared to put a bigger stake in the ground, so the elephant was tied to the same tiny stick, just a few centimetres high. Nevertheless, she still remained unable to run away. Surely, she could have freed herself by just tugging lightly at the chain, if she had tried again, but she couldn’t try again. On that day, in her childhood, when she had relinquished her fight to get free, a terrible idea had grown up inside her, resting deeply engraved in her mind for ever: "I will never will be able to free myself. because I am not strong enough, nor, will I ever be."

The Chained Elephant. The little baby elephant had her foot chained to a tiny stake nailed down in the ground. She yearned to know more about the world and learned a lot of new things, so, from the very first day that the circus’ owner tied her to that spot, the brave, vigorous little elephant tried to free herself from her captivity. Every single day she tugged hard at that chain, trying to pull the stake out. Feeling exhausted at the end of the day, she used to laid down crying and thinking that this wooden post was stronger than her, and so she would fall asleep. However, she was obstinate and she carried on trying and trying restlessly for days, weeks, and months until one day she finally gave up. Many years passed, and that cute baby became a beautiful, gigantic adult elephant. She was admired by all the people who came to see her doing all kinds of silly pirouettes she had been forced to learn. In all these years, the circus’ owner had only removed her chain in order to change it for a bigger one that fit her large foot better. However, he never cared to put a bigger stake in the ground, so the elephant was only tied to a tiny one stuck in the ground just a few centimetres. Even so, she remained there unable to run away. Certainly, she could have got free herself, just tugging lightly at the chain if she had tried it again, but she couldn’t. That day in the past, when she gave up fighting, a terrible idea grew up inside her, remaining deeply engraved in her memory for ever: she will never be able to free herself, because she wasn’t strong enough, and she never would be.