ould have done that from the first;
for he might find another feeding ground just as good somewhere near.
And besides, the quarrelsome herd will be punished soon enough!

"How will it be punished?" you may ask.

I shall tell you. A quarrelsome herd gets into the _habit_ of
quarrelling with other herds, just as a quarrelsome boy gets into the
habit of quarrelling with everybody--or even as a quarrelsome military
nation gets into the habit of quarrelling with other nations. Then that
quarrelsome boy might meet a stronger boy some day--and get a good
thrashing! And the quarrelsome nation might attack a more powerful
nation some day--and get a good thrashing!

So also that quarrelsome herd of elephants might some day attack a herd
which proves to be stronger. Then that naughty herd would also get a
good thrashing. So it is foolish, indeed, for the president of a herd to
domineer over weaker herds in the jungle.

Indeed, there is a still greater punishment for a quarrelsome herd. I
have already told you that there are hunters who lay traps to catch wild
elephants alive. Well, these hunters try specially to catch a
quarrelsome herd first! Why? Because quarrelsome herds kill or injure
other wild elephants with whom they fight. But the hunters do not want
to have any of the elephants killed or injured, as they want to catch as
many of them as possible in order to teach them to do useful work. So
they catch the quarrelsome herd first, before it can kill or injure many
of the other elephants.

Of course, the hunters know which is a quarrelsome herd, because they
send men into the jungle from time to time to watch different herds and
keep track of them.

_The Wise Elephant Leader Keeps Neutral_

There is still another duty that the leader of the elephant herd must
do. Sometimes it happens that as he is taking his herd through the
jungle, he meets two other herds that are fighting. Then what must he
do?

He must lead his herd by another path. He must not take part in the
fighting between the two other herds. He must keep _neutral_.

What does that mean? It means that he must not meddle with other
peoples' fights and quarrels. He must not take sides; that is, he must
not help either of the herds to beat the other. That is the usual rule
in the jungle which a wise elephant leader tries to keep.

But there is an exception to that rule. It sometimes happens that it is
impossible for the president of an elephant herd _not_