1866 – The Elephant and Cobblers

“The Elephant and Cobblers” is a full page illustration taken from “Animal Sagacity”, edited by Mrs S.C.Hall and published by S.W.Partridge, circa 1866.  It is accompanied by the following anecdote: “Two cobblers dwelt in a town in which a merchant owned an elephant, whose conduct was so gentle that it was allowed to walk about the streets. One day, passing the stall of some cobblers, they pricked his trunk with their awls, and enjoyed the manner in which it showed the pain they had caused. The animal might easily have killed them on the spot, but he seemed to think them almost beneath his notice. However, he went off to a neighbouring puddle, filled his trunk with the dirty water, walked back to the stall of his tormentors, and treated them to such a muddy shower-bath, that, in future, they did what all wise cobblers have always done, they “stuck to their last”  and gave up the pricking of elephants’ trunks.”

Available in A4, A3 and A2 sizing options.