ng of the tale is suggested continually in expressions which
show visual imagination of a high order: such as, "And he lived in
Africa"; "dragged him through a thorn bush"; "blew bubbles into her
ear"; "hove him into a hornet's nest"; and "from Graham's Town to
Kimberley and from Kimberley to Khama's Country, and from Khama's
Country east by north to the Limpopo."

The tale possesses most delightful humor. A verbal magic which fairly
scintillates with the comic spirit, and clinging epithets of which
Kipling is a master, suggest the exact picture needed. Humor is
secured largely through the use of the unique word; as, "_spanked_,"
"_precisely_ as Kolokolo Bird had said," and "for he was a _Tidy_
Pachyderm." Often it is increased by the use of newly coined words;
as, "hijjus," "curtiosity," "scalesome, flailsome, tail,"
"fever-trees," "self-propelling man-of-war," and "schloop of mud."
Another element of humor in the tale is the artistic use of
repetition, which has been previously referred to as one of the
child's interests. Sometimes one meaning is expressed in several
different ways; as, "immediately and directly, without stopping, for a
long time." Or we are given contrasted terms; as, "a little warm but
not at all astonished," and then later, "very warm and greatly
astonished." One main element of humor is this way in which
expressions reflect back on preceding ones. Sometimes we are given
very surprising, startling, expressions; as, "wait-a-bit-thorn-bush
"--which reminds us of the "all-alone-stone" in _Water Babies_--and
"he sang to himself down his trunk."

As to imagination, _The Elephant's Child_ is a delightful illustration
of the appeal to the associative, the penetrative, and the
contemplative imagination. While its philosophy may be understood in
part by the child it has a deeper meaning for the adult. It seems to
imply that it is the way of life to spank somebody else. It is the
stronger who spank the weaker until they become strong enough to stand
up for themselves. Then nobody spanks anybody any more and there is
peace. When the Child asked a question that no one would answer he set
out to find his own answer just as in life it often is best to work to
answer one's own questions. When the Elephant trusted the Crocodile he
got something to keep just as in life the innocent may bear the marks
of a contest though in no sense responsible for the contest.
Experience in the guise of the Python helped the Chil