I take a walk for nothing? – dad did not believe.
– Exactly, – confirmed the administrator. – The only condition is that you have to feed your pet lunch, exactly on schedule.
– Well, that’s logical, – dad agreed. – Тhey shouldn't go hungry.
– Who do you want? – dad asked Misha.
– Elephant, – answered the son.
– May I have an elephant? – dad asked the administrator.
– No problem, – the administrator replied. – There is an Indian elephant named Terimerisund.
– What kind of name is Terimerisund? – dad was indignant.
– It translates from Hindi as Crooked Trunk, – the administrator replied. – It's an Indian elephant.
– Do you have elephants with straight trunks? – dad asked.
– With direct all sorted out, – answered the administrator.
– With a crooked trunk will we take? – dad asked Misha.
Misha shrugged his shoulders in response.
– Okay! – dad said. – Give us a crooked!
– He's not crooked, – offended the administrator. – He has both eyes and he walks straight. Only the trunk is slightly bent in the wrong direction.
– Well, if a little, then it's not scary, – agreed dad. – Lead!
Administrator number forty-seven picked up the phone and said to someone:
– Vasya! Lead Terimerisund! – And then he turned to dad: – Your passport?
– Listen! – dad started up. – You said that the pet needs to be fed with dinner. And what does he eat, this Terimerisund of yours?
The administrator took out the elephant's lunch menu from the folder and read:
– Hay – 30 kilograms, grass – 30 kilograms, straw – 5 kilograms, oats – 7 kilograms, bran – 2 kilograms, rye bread – 5 kilograms, white bread – 5 kilograms, carrots – 20 kilograms, beets – 10 kilograms, potatoes – 15 kilograms, cabbage – 10 kilograms, apples – 10 kilograms, pears – 10 kilograms, bananas – 5 kilograms, sugar – 1 kilogram.
– Are you kidding me? – dad said. – I do not earn so much to buy it all. Take back your elephant – we don't need your Lame Trunk!
– You haven't taken it yet! – said the administrator. – Besides, he is not Lame, but a Crooked trunk. Elephants walk with their feet, not trunks.
– All the same, he eats so much that we will not take either Lame or Crooked, – said dad.
The administrator picked up the phone again:
– Vasya! Bring Terimerisund back!
Misha was upset, tears appeared in his eyes.
– Do not worry! – dad reassured him. – Let's take someone else. Who do you want?
– Crocodile, – the son sobbed.
– Well, crocodile, so crocodile, – agreed dad.
– Available baby Nile crocodile named Kesul, – said the administrator. – Lead?
– Why a baby crocodile and not a crocodile? – dad asked. – He is OK? And what is this name – Kesul? He's not a goat, but a crocodile?
– The crocodile is all right, it's just still young. And Kesul in translation from Arabic means lazy, – answered the administrator.
– And all the hardworking crocodiles were dismantled? – dad asked.
– Do you want a hardworking one? – the administrator was wary. – I wonder what kind of work you are going to use it for?
–None, – dad replied. – We need him for a walk.
– Lazy is just right for a walk, – said the administrator.
– Okay! – agreed dad. – Lead!
– Vasya! Lead Kesul! – said the administrator and put down the phone.
– Crocodile menu, please! – asked the dad.
The administrator got into his folder, rummaged in it, took out the necessary sheet and handed it to dad.
– Okay, – Dad said, glancing at the menu. – Fish – four hundred grams, beef – three hundred grams. It suits us!
– In the wild, the Nile crocodile eats fish, as well as animals that come to the watering hole, – explained the administrator. – For example, zebras, buffaloes, giraffes, rhinos and even hippos.
– But the hippopotamus does not weigh three hundred grams? – dad was frightened.
– Of course, – the administrator agreed. – An adult hippo weighs up to four tons.
– Four thousand kilograms of meat? – dad was surprised. – Your Kesul's dinner will probably be more expensive than Terimerisund's!
– It’s not so, – the administrator reassured him. – First, crocodiles eat hippos in the wild. Secondly, they hunt the hippo in packs, therefore they then divide it among all. Thirdly, after that there is a week, or even two – the food is digested. And we feed them here little by little, but every day. I gave you the menu!
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