Elias is tired of making wood beams and wants to find a way to make more money. He feels the other woodcutters look down on him. David Owage tells a story about a herd of elephants and the clever way they traversed a treacherous bend in a path that overlooked a cliff. Each elephant would walk to the edge, grab a tree with its trunk, and then ease its way along the precipice, holding itself in place with its trunk. Elias decides to cut through the tree enough to destabilize it, so that when an elephant grabs it, the tree will break and the elephant will fall to its death, allowing him to collect its tusks, which will fetch a higher price than wood beams. After a week of preparation and waiting, three elephants come onto the path, but, as if they sense that something is wrong, they take another way around. As Elias walks home, defeated, he stumbles upon several resting elephants that chase him away. When he gets home, the magistrate arrives and tells him they believe his missing son has been found.