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ONE—POLTENSON—5488

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“O, me! O, my!” wailed Dumbo, “I’m so unhappy!”

And wouldn't you be if you were a midget elephant whose ears were EXTRA BIG and also BRIGHT PINK?

“O, dear,” Dumbo sighed, “I’m the one unlucky elephant in the whole world.”

And wouldn't you feel that way too if your Mother Ella had christened you Jumbo, expecting you would grow up to be the BIGGEST elephant in the circus? And if you had been nicknamed Dumbo for spoiling the elephant act?

Poor little Dumbo’s extra-big-bright-pink ears hung down below his knees. If it weren't for his trunk poking out—why, you’d never think there was an elephant there at all!

“It’s a lucky thing, Dumbo, your ears are so big so you can hide behind them,” Big Boy, the biggest elephant in the circus had once said.

Big Boy always made up jokes about people, especially when they were smaller than he. In fact, it was Big Boy who had thought up the nick-name Dumbo, after the midget had spoiled the elephant act.

Dumbo hadn’t meant to spoil the act. This is how it happened.

The circus owner and Jack, the elephant trainer, decided to put Dumbo in the show with the other elephants. “After all,” they said, “he should do something to earn his keep!”

So, Jack taught Dumbo a few easy tricks. One was to place his two front feet on a striped box and balance a red rubber ball on his trunk. Dumbo practiced and practiced it.

Finally, the day arrived when he was to perform in the Big Tent. The big drum boomed the signal for the elephants to march into the circus ring. They lined up, each elephant holding the tail of the elephant in front.

Poor Dumbo was trembling like a leaf. He was so afraid that he wouldn’t do his trick right.

Suddenly, Dumbo found himself in the Big Tent. He was bewildered. The big drum in the band was making a noise just like thunder. The shouting of the children and grown-ups made even a louder noise. He had never known there were so many people in the world before. And the bright lights nearly blinded him.

Finally Jack gave the signal for Dumbo to stand on the box. “Up, Dumbo,” he directed.

Dumbo started to get up on the box, when—OH! OH! OH!—HOW TERRIBLE! His extra-big-bright-pink right ear covered his right eye, and he fell, PLOP! on his face.

The people LAUGHED and LAUGHED and LAUGHED! The elephants muttered, “The fool, the ignoramus, he’s spoiling our act.”

Jack, the elephant trainer, was so angry that he threw his hat to the ground. “Up, Dumbo,” he shouted.

And this time Dumbo did get his two feet upon the striped box.

“Balance the ball on your trunk!” commanded Jack.

Dumbo was getting the big red rubber ball into place when—WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED?—his extra-big-bright-pink left ear covered his left eye. He tumbled off the box, made a somersault, and pushed his foot right through the box. He landed KERPLONK! on his back.

Jack pulled and pulled, and tugged and tugged at the box, to get it off Dumbo’s foot.

The people YELLED and SCREAMED and SHOUTED and LAUGHED, holding their sides.

Jack rushed Dumbo out of the Big Tent, back to his pen. And that was the first and last time Dumbo ever performed in the Ring.

After that, Dumbo was always left alone in his pen. All the other elephants performed in the Big Tent without him.

“Nobody loves me, except my Mother Ella. And I'll bet sometimes even she is disappointed in me for not being like the other elephants,” sighed Dumbo. He wiped away a tear with an extra-big-bright-pink ear.

“I wish I could run away from this old circus,” he often thought, “but I couldn’t get very far with my short legs. If I could only fly away like a bird!”

Then Dumbo shook his head sadly. “Why, I couldn’t ever do that,” he said. “I’d need wings to fly. Any silly knows that.”

It was Winter, but instead of snow and ice, flowers and trees bloomed all about. Yes, you've guessed it. The circus was in its Winter quarters down South.

Of course, there was no work for the elephants to do. This was vacation time for the circus. Everybody was happy except Dumbo.

While the other elephants romped about and swam in the river, Dumbo just STOOD and STOOD, and MOPED and MOPED.

One day, while he was standing and moping as usual his leg fell asleep. (You know that pins-and-needles feeling.) He started to shake it.

Suddenly, he heard a little voice shout, “Hey, watch out, you big lummox!” Dumbo was amazed. That voice couldn’t be talking to him. Nobody would call him BIG. He must be hearing things, he thought.

He moved his leg again. And again, the little voice piped, “You big galoot, take care or you'll squash me.”

Dumbo blinked his eyes and lifted his extra- big-bright-pink ears to hear better. “Here I am, down here,” said the wee voice.

Dumbo looked down. There stood a robin with the reddest breast you ever saw. And he