The Elephant Who Eats the Night
As soon as it gets dark, cries can be heard from the Black Mushroom Forest.
Little Bear Dodo buries his head in Mama Bear’s arms and cries, “Boohoo, I’m scared, I’m scared…”
Little Monkey Taotao grabs Mama Monkey’s hand and cries, “Boohoo, it’s too dark, I’m scared, I’m scared…”
Little Hedgehog Zhazha won’t let Mama Hedgehog leave his side. He curls up into a ball and cries loudly, “It’s so dark, it’s so dark, I’m scared, I’m scared…”
What can be done? The mothers are all very worried.
At this time, an elephant named Awu arrives in the forest. He’s very strange; he doesn’t eat bananas or leaves, only the night. When night falls, he gets excited because there’s food everywhere. He opens his big mouth, Awu a bite, Awu a bite, eating happily.
Mama Bear hears that Elephant Awu has come, so she finds him and says, “The little animals in the forest are all afraid of the dark. It’s great that you’ve come. Please help the little ones by eating the night!”
Elephant Awu says, “No problem, I love eating the night. It tastes better than bananas!”
That night, Little Bear Dodo is crying, and Elephant Awu arrives at his home. Elephant Awu says, “Why are you crying? Don’t cry. Watch me eat the night in one bite.” Saying this, he takes a big bite, and the night at Dodo’s house disappears. With the lights off, the room is as bright as day. Little Bear Dodo stops crying and starts jumping around and playing.
Elephant Awu then goes to Little Monkey Taotao’s house, hearing his cries. Elephant Awu says, “Don’t cry, don’t cry. Watch me swallow the night in one gulp.” He opens his big mouth, and sure enough, Taotao’s house lights up. You could even see a tiny black spot on the glass. Would Taotao still cry? No, he starts jumping around and playing.
Elephant Awu then goes to Little Hedgehog Zhazha’s house and eats all the night there too. Zhazha stops crying, runs out, and finds Dodo and Taotao to play together.
Elephant Awu walks through the forest, eating the night as he goes. The lake brightens up, the paths brighten up, the cherry orchard brightens up… The forest is as bright as day. Elephant Awu eats so much night that he pats his full belly and says, “I’ve eaten too much, I’m too full…” He lies down and falls asleep.
From that day on, there was no more night in the forest. The night was as bright as day, and the little animals kept playing. The mothers couldn’t sleep; they had to feed and take care of the little ones.
Days passed, and big trouble arose in the forest.
During the day, Little Bear Dodo fell asleep in the forest kindergarten, snoring so loudly that the blackboard fell off the wall.
Little Monkey Taotao was jumping from tree to tree and fell asleep on a branch. With a splash, he fell into the lake, drank a lot of water, and cried as he climbed ashore.
Little Hedgehog Zhazha was picking dates in the grass and fell asleep. Mama Hedgehog searched everywhere and finally found him in a pile of leaves. When she tried to carry him home, he said, “Don’t move, I want to keep dreaming about eating dates…”
Without night to sleep, the mothers yawned during the day. When they met, they didn’t say hello but “Yawn, yawn!” The trees and flowers couldn’t sleep well either and yawned. The forest became a dreaded yawning forest.
This couldn’t go on. Mama Bear found the sleeping Elephant Awu and woke him up, saying, “Please give us back the night. Otherwise, this forest…”
Elephant Awu patted his belly and said, “Alright, I didn’t realize you couldn’t live without the night!”
That night, Elephant Awu went to Little Bear Dodo’s house and spat out the night. Dodo’s house turned dark, and they slept peacefully.
Elephant Awu went to Little Monkey Taotao’s house and spat out the night. Taotao and his mother slept.
Elephant Awu then went to Little Hedgehog Zhazha’s house, to the lake, the paths, the cherry orchard, and spat out all the night. The forest turned dark, and everyone slept.
With his belly empty, Elephant Awu was hungry and had to leave the forest to eat the night in mines and caves, where he was welcomed. In the Black Mushroom Forest, no more yawns were heard during the day because the little animals could sleep well in the dark night. Although some were still afraid of the dark, they could dream of the day in the night. And after the night, there was always a fresh new day.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
