Elephant belongs to the recurring cast of Kaguru animal tales as the figure of vast size and strength paired with a lumbering slowness of mind. Where the Lion embodies dangerous, kingly force, the Elephant embodies mere massive power, and both are prone to being led by the nose by the quick-witted. In the moral world these stories build, the Elephant illustrates the Kaguru conviction that greatness of body is no guarantee of understanding, and that the small may master the large through insight rather than force.