ゾウ　の　はな　は、なぜ　ながい
Zou no hana wa, naze nagai
Why the elephant's nose is long

Zou No Hana Wa, Naze Nagai
​Kipling no Douwa

Doubutsuen de ninki no hana no nagai doubutsu to ieba, zou desu ga, jitsu wa, zou no hana wa, hontou wa, mijikakatta no desu. Kore wa, naze zou no hana ga nagaku natta no ka no o-hanashi desu.

How the Elephant Got its Trunk
​A Rudyard Kipling Tale

When we think of a popular animal in the zoo with a long nose, we think of the elephant. But in actual fact, the elephant used to have a short nose. This is the story of how the elephant go its long nose.
​むかし、むかし、ある　ところ　に、ゾウ　の　おやこ　が　いました。もちろん、はな　の　みじかい　ゾウ　の　おやこ　です。
ある　ひ　の　こと、こゾウ　が　おかあさんゾウ　に　たずねました。「あの　かわ　に　すんで　いる　わにさん　の　だいすきな　たべもの　は、なに？」
すると、おかあさんゾウ　は、びっくりした　かお　で　いいました。「そんな　おそろしい　こと　を　きく　もの　では　ありません　よ。」
「そう　だ　よ。そんな　こと　を　きいて　は　いけない　よ。」となり　に　いた　おとうさんゾウ　も　いいました。
「うん、わかった。もう　きかない　よ。」
こゾウ　は、そう　いいました　が、でも、どうして  も　き　に　なった　ので、あとで、かわ　に　いる　わに　の　ところ　に　いって、たずねました。
「ねえ、わにさん。あなた　の　すきな　たべもの　は、なに？」
すると、わに　は、「へっ、へへへへっ。おれ　の　すきな　たべもの　は、こゾウ　さあ。とうさん　や　かあさん　に　きかなかった　の　かい？」と　いって、こゾウ　の　みじかい　はな　に　がぶっと　かみついた　の　です。
びっくり　じた　こソウ　は、からだ　を　うしろ　に　ひっぱって、わに　の　くち　から、はな　を　ひきぬこう　と　しました。しかし、わに　は、はな　に　かみついた　まま、なかなか　はなして　くれません。
「うんん、うんん、うううんんん。」
こゾウ　は、からだ　を　うしろ　に　ひっぱります　が、「ぎゅうっ、ぎゅうっ、ぎゅうっ。」わに　も　まけじ　と　はな　を　ひっぱります。
こゾウ　と　わに　の　りょうほう　も　ちから　いっぱい　ひっぱった　ので、その　うち　こゾウ　の　はな　が　だんだん　と　のびて　いきました。
「もう、はなして　よ。いたい　じゃ　ない　か。」とうとう、こゾウ　が　おこって、のびた　はな　で　わに　を　ひっぱたきました。
「びゅううう。」ひっぱたかれた　わに　は、その　まま　とうく　へ　とんで　いって　しまいました。
こんな　わけ　で、こゾウ　の　はな　は、ながく　なって　しまった　の　です。
そして、それ　から　うまれた　ゾウ　は、みんな　はな　が　ながく　なった　と　いう　こと　です。
Mukashi, mukashi, aru tokoro ni, zou no oyako ga imashita. Mochiron, hana no mijikai zou no oyako deshita.
Aru hi no koto, Ko-zou ga Okaasan-Zou ni tazunemashita.
"Ano kawa ni sunde iru Wani-san no daisukina tabemono wa, nani?"
​Suru to, Okaasan-Zou wa, bikkuri shita kao de iimashita.
"Bouya, sonna osoroshii koto wo kiku mono dewa arimasen yo."
"Sou da yo. Sonna koto wo kiite wa ikenai yo." Tonari ni ita Otousan-Zou mo iimashita.
"Un, wakatta. Mou kikanai yo."
​Ko-zou wa, sou iimashita ga, demo, doushite mo ki ni natta node, atode, kawa ni iru wani no tokoro ni itte, tazunemashita.
"Nee, Wani-san. Anata no sukina tabemono wa, nani?"
Suru to, Wani wa, "Heh, heheheheh. Ore no sukina tabemono wa, kozou saa. Tousan ya Kaasan ni kikanakatta no kai?"
To itte, Kozou no mijikai hana ni gabutto kamitsuita no desu. 
Bikkuri shita Kozou wa, karada wo ushiro ni hippatte, wani no kuchi kara, hana wo hikinukou to shimashita. Shikashi, wani wa, hana ni kamitsuita mama, nakanaka hanashite kuremasen. 
"Unn, unn, uuunnn."
Kozou wa, karada wo ushiro ni hipparimasu ga, "Gyuu, gyuu, gyuu." Wani mo makeji to hana wo hipparimasu.
​Ko-zou to Wani no ryouhou mo chikara ippai hippatta node, sono uchi Ko-zou no hana ga dandan to nobite ikimashita. 
"Mou, hanashite yo. Itai ja nai ka!" Toutou, Ko-zou ga okotte, nobita hana de Wani wo hippatakimashita.
​"Byuuu." Hippatakareta wani wa, sono mama touku e tonde itte shimaimashita. 
Konna wake de, Ko-zou no hana wa, nagaku natte shimatta no desu.
​Soshite, sore kara umareta zou wa, minna hana ga nagaku natta to iu koto desu.
Somewhere, long long ago, there was an elephant family. Naturally, this was a family of short-nosed elephants. 
One day, Baby Elephant asked Mother Elephant: "What's the favourite food of Mr Crocodile,  who lives in that river?"
Well, Mother Elephant, her face all astonished, said: "Son! You must not ask such dreadful things!"
"That's right. You can't ask such things!", said Father Elephant, who was right next to her. 
"Yes, I see. I won't ask any more", Baby Elephant replied. However, it still bothered him, so later he went up to the crocodile who was in the river, and asked: "Excuse me, Mr Crocodile. What is your favourite food?"
Well, the crocodile went, "Heh, heheheheh. My favourite food is baby elephants. Didn't your Mummy and Daddy tell you that?"
And so saying, the crocodile bit down on Baby Elephant's short nose. The frightened Baby Elephant pulled back, trying to pull his nose free from the crocodile's mouth. However, the crocodile kept biting down firmly and just wouldn't let go.
Grunting "Unn, unn, uuunnn", Baby Elephant pulled back, but with a "gyuu, gyuu, gyuu", the crocodile, not to be defeated, pulled on his nose.
With both Baby Elephant and the crocodile pulling with all their might, Baby Elephant's nose gradually got stretched. 
"Hey, let go! That hurts!" Finally, Baby Elephant got angry and, with his stretched nose, he pulled the crocodile up into the air.
With a "byuuu", the crocodile, who was still dangling from the elephant's nose, ended up being sent flying, far far away.
​So there you have it - this is how Baby Elephant's nose ended up becoming long.
And, apparently all the elephants born after that had long noses, too!

Zou-san
(A Japanese children's song)

Zou-san, Zou-san, ohana ga nagai no ne.
Sou yo. Kaasan mo nagai no yo.
Zou-san, Zou-san, dare ga suki na no?
Ano ne, kaasan ga suki na no yo.

Master Elephant, Master Elephant, your nose is long, isn't it.
That's right. Mummy's nose is long, too.
Master Elephant, Master Elephant, who do you love?
​Well, I love Mummy.