The Stolen White Elephant

By Mark Twain

'The Stolen White Elephant' is a funny and satirical short story, following the investigations of Inspector Blunt when a pale pachyderm is stolen. Gifted from a king to a queen, the ship carrying the eponymous elephant stops at a harbour in New Jersey and goes missing. In this tale, Twain expertly parodies police investigative procedures, as forces fail to share information and a horribly expensive manhunt – or should that be 'elephant-hunt' – is launched. A laugh-out-loud read from the pen of one of the masters, 'The Stolen White Elephant' is sure to delight readers familiar with Twain's body of work. -

• Language: English
• Publisher: SAGA Egmont
• Release date: Feb 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9788726646054

Mark Twain

Frederick Anderson, Lin Salamo, and Bernard L. Stein are members of the Mark Twain Project of The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.

Book preview

Mark Twain

The Stolen White Elephant

SAGA Egmont

The Stolen White Elephant

The characters and use of language in the work do not express the views of the publisher. The work is published as a historical document that describes its contemporary human perception.

Cover images: Shutterstock

Copyright © 2023 SAGA Egmont

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ISBN: 9788726646054

1st ebook edition

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[Left out of A Tramp Abroad, because it was feared that some of the particulars had been exaggerated, and that others were not true. Before these suspicions had been proven groundless, the book had gone to press. —M. T.]

I.

The following curious history was related to me by a chance railway acquaintance. He was a gentleman more than seventy years of age, and his thoroughly good and gentle face and earnest and sincere manner imprinted the unmistakable stamp of truth upon every statement which fell from his lips. He said:

You know in what reverence the royal white elephant of Siam is held by the people of that country. You know it is sacred to kings, only kings may possess it, and that it is, indeed, in a measure even superior to kings, since it receives not merely honor but worship. Very well; five years ago, when the troubles concerning the frontier line arose between Great Britain and Siam, it was presently manifest that Siam had been in the wrong. Therefore every reparation was quickly made, and the British representative stated that he was satisfied and the past should be forgotten. This greatly relieved the King