r than father's arm. His tail was small.
It did not seem to be as long as one of his
tusks. His legs were larger around than the
trunk of the biggest apple tree in our orchard.
His skin was something like a hog's skin, only
thicker, and he had no hair. His whole body was
a dirty, dark colour.

That is a fairly good description, Henry. You
have helped us to picture a very large
elephant.

PRESENTATION

As you have read this poem to yourselves, tell
me what it is about. It is about six blind men
"Who went to see the elephant".

As they were blind, how could they see him?
They couldn't see him as we do, but they could
feel him, and that was to them what seeing is
to us.

In what way was feeling the same to them as
seeing is to us? It was their way of knowing
the animal, and that is just what seeing is to
us.

Where did this happen? It happened in Indostan.

I told you to look for Indostan in Asia. Point
it out on the map. (A pupil points to it.)

What are we told about these men? They gave
much of their time to study.

What do you suppose was their favourite way of
finding out things? This lesson makes me think
that they liked to find out things by their own
efforts.

Why do you think that? Because it says that
they wanted to "satisfy" their minds by their
own "observations".

In what other ways do boys and girls satisfy
their minds about new things? By asking
questions about them until the answers satisfy
them.

What other way do you use sometimes? We read
books to learn about many new things.

What did the first man learn? He thought he had
learned that the elephant was "like a wall".

Why do you say thought? He hadn't really
learned it. He stopped making observations just
as soon as he had one idea.

Why do you think he did that? I think he was in
a hurry to be the first to state what he knew.

What words in the poem suggest that idea to
you? The words "At once began to bawl".

How did this man come to think the elephant was
"like a wall"? He fell against the animal's
huge side, and it made him