The Real Me?

One day the thirsty baby elephant was drinking water from the river. He belonged to a group of elephants grazing in the meadows.

“Hey, look at this. I can see somebody just like me in the river. Oh, these ripples make it disappear. When there are no ripples in the water, it appears again,” the baby elephant was thrilled to see his look-alike in the water.

The baby elephant wondered who it was he saw in the river. He rushed to its mother to tell her what he saw in the river. The mother elephant came running to see what her son was talking about. When she saw the look-alike of the baby elephant, she burst out laughing.

“My dear son, it’s not a real one. It’s your own reflection you are seeing. See mine,” the mother elephant showed the baby elephant her reflection in the water.

“Reflection? What’s that?” the baby elephant was curious.

“Oh, you will learn about it later. You understand that the river is telling you it loves you,” said the baby elephant’s mother.