Fourteen Trumpeting Elephants...what has that got to do with Cranbrook or the Kootenays of British Columbia? Why is there a statue of an elephant at the end of Baker Street? What is the best place to pick huckleberries? Grandpa is telling stories to an audience of Cranbrook town folk that include his 10 year old grandson. Grandpa's tales are based on the escape of a herd of elephants from a circus train in 1926. His tales include the imagined escapades of one Charlie Ed: an elephant who successfully evaded his pursuers, and in the weeks of his freedom "climbed mountains, swam rivers and worked at a logging camp. This story provides a much needed historical record suitable for children's as well as adult reading. Too often we do not know the history in our own back yard. This story will not only entertain but educate and hopefully plant seeds of curiosity in children and adults alike.

Fourteen Trumpeting Elephants...what has that got to do with Cranbrook or the Kootenays of British Columbia? Why is there a statue of an elephant at the end of Baker Street? What is the best place to pick huckleberries? Grandpa is telling stories to an audience of Cranbrook town folk that include his 10 year old grandson. Grandpa's tales are based on the escape of a herd of elephants from a circus train in 1926. His tales include the imagined escapades of one Charlie Ed: an elephant who successfully evaded his pursuers, and in the weeks of his freedom "climbed mountains, swam rivers and worked at a logging camp. This story provides a much needed historical record suitable for children's as well as adult reading. Too often we do not know the history in our own back yard. This story will not only entertain but educate and hopefully plant seeds of curiosity in children and adults alike....

This is the fourth volume of a translation of India's most beloved and influential epic tale--the Ramayana of Valmiki. As befits its position at the center of the work, Volume IV presents the hero Rama at the turning point of his fortunes. Having previously lost first his kingship and then his wife, he now forms an alliance with the monkey prince, Sugriva. Rama needs the monkeys to help him find his abducted wife, Sita, and they do finally discover where her abductor has taken her. But first Rama must agree to secure for his new ally the throne of the monkey kingdom by eliminating the reigning king, Sugriva's detested elder brother, Valin. The tragic rivalry between the two monkey brothers is in sharp contrast to Rama's affectionate relationship with his own brothers and forms a self-contained episode within the larger story of Rama's adventures. This volume continues the translation of the critical edition of the Valmiki Ramayana, a version considerably reduced from the vulgate on which all previous translations were based. It is accompanied by extensive notes on the original Sanskrit text and on several untranslated early Sanskrit commentaries.

This national bestseller exploring the complex emotional lives of animals was hailed as "a masterpiece" by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas and as "marvelous" by Jane Goodall. The popularity of When Elephants Weep has swept the nation, as author Jeffrey Masson appeared on Dateline NBC, Good Morning America, and was profiled in People for his ground-breaking and fascinating study. Not since Darwin's The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals has a book so thoroughly and effectively explored the full range of emotions that exist throughout the animal kingdom. From dancing squirrels to bashful gorillas to spiteful killer whales, Masson and coauthor Susan McCarthy bring forth fascinating anecdotes and illuminating insights that offer powerful proof of the existence of animal emotion. Chapters on love, joy, anger, fear, shame, compassion, and loneliness are framed by a provocative re-evaluation of how we treat animals, from hunting and eating them to scientific experimentation. Forming a complete and compelling picture of the inner lives of animals, When Elephants Weep assures that we will never look at animals in the same way again.

"India has many versions of the story of Rāma composed in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and various vernaculars of the north and south. Yet the ancient Sanskrit version, attributed to the sage-poet Vālmīki, by tradition the first work of true poetry, is the source revered throughout India as the original account of the career of Rāma, ideal man and incarnation of the great God Viṣṇu. This great Sanskrit epic of ancient India has profoundly affected the Literature, Art, Religion and Cultures of countless millions of people in South and Southeast Asia--an influence that is perhaps unparalleled in the history of World Literature. The volumes of this work will present the entire Rāmāyaṇa for the first time translated on the basis of the critical edition, which is based on manuscripts representing all recensional traditions. Translation consortium is as follows: Vol. I, Bālakāṇḍa; Vol.II, Ayodhyākāṇḍa; Vol.III, Araṇyakāṇḍa; Vol.IV, Kiṣkịndhāḳạnda; Vol.V, Sundarakāṇḍa; Vol.VI, Yuddhakāṇ̣ḍa; Vol.VII, Uttarakāṇḍa" --

The circus has been an art form since early Roman times, and was the best and only local, traveling entertainment, before huge electronic technology advances of the twentieth century. The history of the circus from early times to present is important, fascinating, and disappearing. There is another piece of history, soon to disappear forever, and sometimes linked with circus life, the cultural ethnic group of peoples called Gypsys. The gypsy world is underdocumented and somehow linked to a lifestyle of traveling and entertaining people. What is a circus without animals or a gypsy camp without horses? The main character of Adorina and the Elephant Choir is a gypsy girl, called Dori, who started life as an abandoned baby, and grew up to become the star of a circus. She became an animal trainer or one of those people who have an affinity with animals and a special way to communicate with them. Dori had no mother, in the beginning, but during her life in the circus is given, two special mothers. She is a twin and finds herself in danger, from her gypsy brother. She is by birth order, first born, and therefore Queen of the Gypsys. Dori also finds her selfworth and a boy to love. The circus she lived in, is a place most kids would love to run away to. Adorina and the Elephant Choir tells the story of the circus and the people who live and breathe circus. Also, the book deals with human relationships, trials and tribulations, emotions, and resolution. The book is generally geared for children and young people, but adults will enjoy reading the book also.

Elephants have captivated the human imagination for as long as they have roamed the earth, appearing in writings and cultures from thousands of years ago and still much discussed today. In Thirty-Three Ways of Looking at an Elephant, veteran scientific writer Dale Peterson has collected thirty-three essential writings about elephants from across history, with geographical perspectives ranging from Africa and Southeast Asia to Europe and the United States. An introductory headnote for each selection provides additional context and insights from Peterson’s substantial knowledge of elephants and natural history. The first section of the anthology, “Cultural and Classical Elephants,” explores the earliest mentions of elephants in African mythology, Hindu theology, and Aristotle and other ancient Greek texts. “Colonial and Industrial Elephants” finds elephants in the crosshairs of colonial exploitation in accounts pulled from memoirs commoditizing African elephants as a source of ivory, novel targets for bloodsport, and occasional export for circuses and zoos. “Working and Performing Elephants” gives firsthand accounts of the often cruel training methods and treatment inflicted on elephants to achieve submission and obedience. As elephants became an object of scientific curiosity in the mid-twentieth century, wildlife biologists explored elephant families and kinship, behaviors around sex and love, language and self-awareness, and enhanced communications with sound and smell. The pieces featured in “Scientific and Social Elephants” give readers a glimpse into major discoveries in elephant behaviors. “Endangered Elephants” points to the future of the elephant, whose numbers continue to be ravaged by ivory poachers. Peterson concludes with a section on fictional and literary elephants and ends on a hopeful note with the 1967 essay “Dear Elephant, Sir,” which argues for the moral imperative to save elephants as an act of redemption for their systematic abuse and mistreatment at human hands. Essential to understanding the history and experience of this beloved and misunderstood creature, Thirty-Three Ways of Looking at an Elephant is a must for any elephant lover or armchair environmentalist.

Reproduction of the original.

A stunningly lyrical work, The Great Golden Sacrifice of the Mahabharata reinterprets Vyasa’s epic from Arjuna’s point of view. As Arjuna relives the battle of Kurukshetra, he senses a profound change coming upon himself. He begins to understand the true meaning of surrender and sacrifice. The book comprises three parts, narrated principally by Arjuna. Part I takes us through the childhood and youth of the Pandavas and Kauravas, the game of dice, the Pandavas’ exile, and ends with the armies arrayed for battle at Kurukshetra. Part II recounts the battle itself, and the teachings of the Bhagvad Gita. Part III presents a moving and brilliantly original take on the Mahabharata, as Lidchi-Grassi gives a voice to the forgotten victims of every war—the ordinary citizens who must pick themselves up, and resume the business of life. An old order has been swept away, but can the new age—the Kali Yuga—help lessen human strife and misery? Vastly ambitious in scope and epic in scale, The Great Golden Sacrifice of the Mahabharata is an astonishing read.