the_elephant_at_sea tt one day, the elephant built himself a raft and sailed out to sea. the carp, the pike, the bream, and the salmon swam along behind him. everyone knew it: the elephant was going to sea. on his raft without a mast, he was going to live at sea. "it's the only way," he had said to everyone, and everyone had nodded. it was the only way to stop him climbing on everything and falling off again. "is there really nothing at sea?" he had asked the animals who knew about the sea. "no, nothing at all," they had said. "not even one tree? one tree standing there accidentally?" "no." the elephant had sighed deeply and wiped a couple of heavy tears from his cheeks. he packed a chest of sweet beechnuts to take with him. then the thrush taught him to whistle so he had something to do while he floated along. the beach was crowded with animals who had come to see him off. "goodbye, elephant!" they called. they shouted, waved, and climbed on each other's shoulders. "goodbye everyone," said the elephant. the gull flew high above him and the frog jumped in the water and tried to swim over to him. "one final farewell!" he croaked. "goodbye, frog," said the elephant. the squirrel climbed onto his roof and raised his lamp high above his head so the elephant could see him one last time. the lamp squeaked in the sunlight. "elephant!" called the squirrel. "elephant!" the elephant looked and saw the lamp. "goodbye, squirrel!" he called. by evening, he had drifted far out to sea. the animals heard no more from the elephant. some forgot him or thought he had never existed. others missed him and thought about him every day. some time later, on the morning of his birthday, the squirrel received a letter from the elephant: "dear squirrel, happy birthday. are you still living in the beech tree, right up near the top? do you still have that lamp? the elephant at sea" that evening, as he celebrated his birthday, the squirrel missed the elephant more than anyone or anything. briefly, very briefly, he thought he could see him far away, beyond the woods, among the stars, waving and calling, "here i am!" just before he fell. but that was impossible. the squirrel knew that. he sighed and continued to celebrate his birthday. 130219 ... thwa thwa 140604 what's it to you? who go blather from