M’Pofo, His Cousin and the Mirror

M'Pofo, the elephant, was all excited. His cousin, Dassie, the rock hyrax, was coming to visit. Dassie came to visit once a year for a weekend. So naturally, M'Pofo looked forward to his cousin's visits with immense pleasure.

Just then, Dassie called, "Hello cousin, I'm here. Where are you hiding?"

The elephant trumpeted happily and greeted his cousin. "Good morning, Dassie. Did you have a good trip?"

"Oh yes, cousin, but I've not had breakfast yet," said Dassie, licking his lips. He knew just how tasty the tender leaves of the Mopani were. Usually, he ate the tougher leaves of smaller bushes growing on the rocks beside the ocean where he lived.

"We'll soon fix that," said M'Pofo, reaching up to the smallest and most tender leaves at the top of the tree with his long trunk and passing them on to his cousin. Once Dassie had eaten his fill, the cousins set off to visit some other friends. They followed well-travelled paths until they arrived at the open savannah.

They spotted giraffes eating from a big mimosa tree. Gabala, the giraffe, saw the pair coming and waved to them. She was always happy to see her friend M'Pofo. Her sister, Twiga, had never seen a rock hyrax before and started giggling.

"Hehe, that's so funny, hehe," laughed Twiga. She started rolling around on the floor, laughing uncontrollably, creating a small dust cloud. Tears of laughter still ran down her cheeks when M'Pofo and the Dassie arrived.

Dassie coughed due to the dust created by the giraffe and then sneezed. "Ah ah ahchoooo" sneezed Dassie, like a miniature elephant. Twiga started laughing again. Gabala was terribly embarrassed.

"Hello Gabala, this is my cousin, Dassie, visiting from far away. What is wrong with Twiga?" asked M'Pofo.

"Hi, M'Pofo, pleased to meet you, Dassie. You'll have to excuse my silly sister. She never saw someone like you here on the grassy savannah."

Dassie coughed from all the dust. Then, feeling sorry for him, "Why don't you two come and have a drink from our waterhole," offered Gabala. "The water is clear, and you can see almost to the very bottom."

The cousins agreed and drank their fill. Twiga came along too, but she still couldn't stop laughing. As the two cousins drank, they saw their faces reflected in the water. Indeed, they were vastly different from each other. No one would guess they were related.

"That silly giraffe has a point, Dassie. We look quite different,' said M'Pofo. 'I am big and grey, with large tusks. You are small and brown with no tusks at all.'

"M'Pofo, we do look funny standing next to each other," agreed Dassie.

A shout from Twiga startled everyone. She'd mistakenly dropped her favourite mirror down an old meerkat burrow.

"Oh no," cried Twiga, "I'll never be able to get my lovely mirror out of the deep hole! I'll never see my beautiful big eyes again." Big tears dripped off her long eyelashes, splattering onto the ground.

Meanwhile, Gabala rolled her eyes. "Twiga, pull yourself together! I know you think you're the most beautiful creature on the savannah, but this is ridiculous," she said.

"Excuse me," chirped Dassie, "but now I'll show you the benefits of my small size."

The little rock hyrax disappeared down the hole in the blink of an eye. A few seconds later, he called out, "I've found the mirror. M'Pofo help me climb out."

With M'Pofo's help, Dassie reappeared quickly, holding the mirror carefully.

"Oh goodness," exclaimed Gabala, "that was amazing. I am so impressed."

Twiga stood there, her mouth wide open in amazement. She didn't know what to do first. Grab her mirror or hug little Dassie, who had rescued it for her. But instead, the giant giraffe got down on her knees to bring her head level with Dassie.

"You're so kind to me, even though I laughed at you," sobbed Twiga, "I’ll never judge anyone based on their shape or size anymore. Now I know why we're all different shapes and sizes."

Dassie was moved by Twiga's little speech and returned her prized mirror. "Twiga, I am happy to help anyone who needs it. I saw how upset you were to lose your mirror," said the rock hyrax.

"I want you to keep it," said Twiga, with a toothy grin, "I don't need the mirror anymore. Being the most beautiful giraffe is no longer important to me. So, from now on, I will try to be the happiest and most helpful giraffe."

"Thank you very much, Twiga. I will hang it on the front door of my cave. That way, everyone who comes to visit me can look at themselves before knocking," said Dassie.

The others thought this was an excellent idea. Both giraffes and M'Pofo helped Dassie to eat his fill of tasty mimosa leaves. Finally, the cousins left their friends and returned to M'Pofo's home to rest for the night.

So, you see, little one, appearances are not the most important thing. You should accept everyone for who they are, not what they seem.