The Six Blind Men and the Elephant

Once upon a time there were six blind men who lived in a small village in India.

The men could touch and hear but they couldn’t see.

One day and elephant came to the village. The men wanted to know what an elephant looked like.

So they decided to go and touch the elephant.

The first blind man- Param touched the elephant’s body and said:

An Elephant is big, hard and tall. It is like a wall.

The second blind man- Sujit touched the elephant’s tusk and said:

An Elephant is long, hard and sharp. It is like a spear.

The third blind man- Kumar touched the elephant’s trunk and said:

An Elephant is Round and long. It is like a snake.

The fourth blind man- Anbu touched the elephant’s leg and said:

An Elephant is large and round. It is like a tree.

The fifth blind man- Kirit touched the elephant’s ear and said:

An Elephant is big and wide. It is like a Fan.

The sixth blind man- Ravi touched the elephant’s tail and said:

An Elephant is long, thin and hairy. It is like a rope.

The six men talked about what they learned. They began to shout.

Each man said that he was right and all the others are wrong.

A wise old man heard the men argue and listened to what each blind man had to say.

Then he said:

You are all wrong, and you are all right.

You have to be clever and listen to each other.

When you listen to each other you will know what an elephant is like.